Big Deal !

There are some parched seasons. And some floods. And there are inbetweens. That’s the case with everything. Money. Happiness. People. People, this seems to be the season for travel. No. No complaints at all.

Travel took us to Tanjore. Down in the deep south. A kind friend and unfettered kindness meant we got to see some fabulous heritage monuments ! As usual, they left an indelible mark.

What the kings managed and accomplished in the past is no mean joke. They built tall buildings out of single rocks. Multiple rocks. Different buildings. Layers of architecture. Architecture with waves, folds, dramatic cuts and sincere corners. Without safety helmets, cement, mortar, B.E degrees or capitation fees.

Like this temple : The Brihadeeshwara temple.



This tower for instance, all of 216 feet tall. Made of granite. A 1300 odd years ago ! No cranes. No nothing.
Some splendid architecture, that deserves a separate blog. Leave alone a post.

But, but….‘One more post on architecture and history….’, the missus had remarked the other day. It has been my experience, that whenever she let silence to do sentence completion, the effects have been, well rather loud !

So, lets talk about something else. Like the chart that the amiable chap who showed us around at the Big temple. He insisted on speaking English, had such charts to show. Infact many such charts to show.


On that note, please do well to notice, Raja Raja Chola, the chap that built this temple, had 14 wives ! ’14 members’ he says ! Now, that sounds like a committee! Fourteen! FOURTEEN ! Imagine.

But then, suddenly the Brihadeeswara temple suddenly seems to be no big deal. The one woman in my life pushes me enough to get up from bed, go to work, get back and powers my completion of a sundry assortment of errands that makes my chest swell with pride often ! ( Notice people. I say ‘My’ chest )

But with Fourteen times that push…. well the big temple, is a sure possibility !

In other news, the big mouthed me, let that thought loose in the vicinity of the sharp ears of the missus. She has let silence do the talking since then.

hmm !

18 thoughts on “Big Deal !

  1. Raj says:

    14 wives and only 5 kids?

  2. Neha says:

    the question I wanted to ask; Raj asked already..

    you love taking panga with missus right?

    the structure looks massive; but the 14 wives funda makes it normal for the Raja Raja Chola..:)

  3. radha says:

    Rest assured the rest of your posts will be restricted to architecture!!
    But the power of the woman ( one vs 14) is not to be missed!

  4. PNA says:

    haaaa haaa:) ur end notes take the cake, my my!! to think that they built all those gr8 looking monuments without modern sophitication, something, blogs needed, I agree:)

  5. Arundhati says:

    Haha hilarious 🙂

    I love the way Brihadeeswara temple looks from afar. The gopuram is so different from the usual ones

  6. Yes, splendid architecture indeed!

    And I’m glad you credit your missus for your accomplishments- as they say- behind every successful man….

  7. Aleta says:

    Your wife sounds like an absolute delight, every time that you write about her, I smile!

    As for the 14 wives – goodness…. first thing I thought of ‘catfight!’

    Beautiful pictures!

  8. sm says:

    interesting
    nice pics

  9. 14 wives, and a structure which goes up 72 yards vertically. (Thanks to some great artisans, sculptors ,masons etc, while Raja Raja probably sat around imbibing Somras.)

    Compare this with 1 wife, and a fellow who runs 21 horizontal kilometres , every step himself….he gets no guides, no tourists, no plaques outlining his wife’s name.

    The second one wins, and you know why ? Its all that imbibing of Payasam, and listening to the missus. …..

  10. Insignia says:

    Raja Raja Chola had lots of time in his hand. 14 wives!!!!!!!! but 5 kids only!! Hmmmm…..queer!!

    The Tanjore temple is a masterpiece. I was there as a kid, forgotten most stuffs. Need to revisit. 🙂

  11. sujata says:

    loved the humour..14 wives..thats a tall feat..imagine so many tantrums and so many in laws.sheesh..definitely makes sense of the temple, it would be better building that temple than being home!!

  12. Sriram says:

    Periya kovil! I was there in Feb. Absolutely loved that kovil. Adavallan is so majestic! Still in awe actually.

    14 wives – wow. Raja Raja Chozhan seem to be one kalaarasigan after all! 😀

  13. How lucky u r to visit such a place! 🙂

  14. nsiyer says:

    What a monument is the temple. I have had the previlege to see this great architecture and it is mind boggling. Looks like you had a great guide who made it more lively.

  15. Now it is explained. It was wife power and not crane power that is required for tall imposing structures.:D

  16. RGB says:

    Wonder how they did that? Masterpiece architecture with none of the modern architectural & engineering know-how or technology! Loved the light side of your post.

    Just curious….Why did that chart mention only 6 names (of Raja’s wives) and just make a passing mention of ‘8 others’? Separated? Can’t imagine the 1:14 ratio!

  17. starry says:

    14 wives and a beautiful temple.

  18. Kavi says:

    Raj : Yes. Well, he had the temples to build and lands to conquer you see ! 🙂

    Neha : Whats life without a little bit of a panga ! 🙂

    Radha : Well, i will constantly keep posting about architecture ! For sure ! The power of women can never be missed

    PNA : 🙂 Well, the 14 wives theory is the only one that seems congruent to the scale of what they achieved given they didnt have enough tools ! 😉

    Arundhati : This time i got to going ‘inside’ the gopuram. Did you know it is ‘hollow’ inside. Only the marathas decided to put a roof over Lord Shivas head. Otherwise the top of the gopuram could be seen from within the sanctum sanctorum !

    Manju : I credit the missus with everything ! 😉 I am not sure if she would agree if you would call much of what i do as ‘ accomplishments ‘ though !

    Aleta : Thanks ! I have to earn my brownie points you see ! 😉 Well, she is a delight !

    And the the 14 wives..catfight is what came to my mind as well ! Even if he spent one day with one lady, it would be a fortnight before he could see her the nex time ! Well, i dont know how they managed !

    SM : Thanks ! 🙂

    Ugich Konitari : ROTFL ! Imbibing somras called payasam !! LOL !!

    Well, and so he mentions and writes about his wife on what he calls as a blog ! 😉 Thats the closest he comes to a plaque carrying her name ! 😀

    Insignia : You need to revisit indeed. i have been there before too. But this time, i took the time to soak in every word and look at all what was possible in the time available ! Its a wonderful piece of architecture !

    Sujata : Yes, he built temples and conquered foriegn lands. He had a navy at his command. One of the earliest of kings to do that. Well, he was in deep waters early on ! 🙂

    Sriram : Its majestic, isnt it ! I was just mesmerised by all three temples of the Chola period…And kalaarasigan..well, thats a nice way of putting it !

    Chandrika : Well, God, good friends, and some interest ! 🙂

    NS Iyer : the guide had us in splits. both with his logic and his language ! 🙂

    The Holy Lama : Yes sir ! Yes sir ! Wife power is crane power ! What else is required to pull up the proudest of gents strutting around with ego !

    RGB : We asked the same question to the guide ! He didnt know. He said he doesnt know either ! ‘There were too man of them’ he said ! Well, that, we couldnt dispute !

    Starry : Yes ! And a few conquests and a great empire ! 🙂

Leave a Comment

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.