Trail of Raja Raja Chola - Part II

Trail - Day 2

I got up early the next morning. I was excited that the second half of my trail would take me to some of the less travelled roads. Unlike Thanjavur, most of these places are not popular and hence expected to spend considerable time looking out for these places. I left Kumabakonam at 7 15 AM.

Dharasuram - UNESCO Heritage site

My first stop was Airavateeswarar temple in Dharasuram. This temple is not associated with Raja Rajan I but was built by  Raja Raja Chola II in the 12th CE. The temple is very neatly maintained as UNESCO Heritage site. The temple architecture is awesome and definitely worth visiting. I visited this temple first as a matter of convenience as this is closer to Kumbakonam and comes first when you travel out of the town.

Pazhaiyarai - Where Raja Rajan grew up

Before Thanjavur became the capital of Cholas, Pazhayarai was their capital. Pazhayarai consisted of Patteeswaram,  ThiruSakthiMutram (Rajarajapuram),  Muzhaiyur & Keezha Payazhayarai. Even after Thanjavur became the capital, Pazhayarai continued to play an important role as the place where the Chola princes had their education and military training and served as a retirement place for the ageing kings. These villages still exist around Kumbakonam with each one having some relevance or other in Raja Rajan's life. Hence I decided to visit each one of these villages and take a look as to how they are today.

Above: Pazhaiyarai – Ancient Capital region of Cholas

Cholan Maaligai - Palace of Cholas

After my brief stopover at Dharasuram, We reached Cholan Maaligai at 8:05 AM. Though it was not difficult to find this place I was very particular to visit a pond called Thirumalai rajankulam, where a recent excavation had revealed a well belonging to the Raja Rajan period that led to the temple tank in Patteeswaram.

Cholan Maaligai is a very small village and a drive around the village revealed a large number of remains, mostly temples and Mandapams, half buried Sivalingams, walls and pillars. However, it is not clear as to which period these excavations belonged to. As we passed through the village, we kept asking the locals for the above mentioned pond but surprisingly no one was aware of such pond. With frustration slowly creeping up, we came across a person on a bicycle, and he was able to provide the exact route to this pond, which is referred to as "Mela Kulam" by the locals. After driving for less than a kilometre on an unpaved road, we reached the pond. The excavated well was fully visible, though not reachable due to water level, with the flag bearing "Tiger”, the emblem of Cholas, fluttering on top of the well. Some locals should have planted the flag recently after the excavation.

 Cholan Maaligai remains                                 Mela Kulam with the ‘Tiger” flag of Cholas

After spending time roaming around the village and trying to imagine how the place might have looked like during the Chola period, with Palaces, Horses, Chariots and warriors moving around, I left for Patteeswaram.

Patteeswaram, ThiruSakthi Muttram & Final resting place of Raja Rajan's wife

We reached Patteeswaram by 8 45 AM. Unlike Cholan Maaligai, there are no excavations or remains here. Patteeswaram houses the famous Durgai & Thenupureeswarar temples. After darshan at these temples, I proceeded to Sakthi Vaneswaraswamy temple in Thirusakthi Muttram. These temples assumed considerable significance during Chola period as they were part of Pazhaiyarai.

The place I was eagerly looking for was the final resting place (referred to as "Pallipadai") of Raja Rajan's wife Panchavan Madevi. Though I had seen in the google map that this place is around 1 KM from the Durgai temple in Patteeswaram, a few enquiries with the locals led us to a totally different route and ended up at Keezha Pazhayarai. We returned to Patteeswaram and this time, we asked the Durgai temple priest, who guided us correctly to the Ramanathaswamy temple. We reached the temple after driving down a few narrow lanes only to find the temple locked. We asked a few people as to when the temple would be open. One of them guided us to a house. Ravi managed to get hold of a person who came with the keys to open the shrine for us. The shrine here is referred to as "Mangala Nayaki' by the locals. After a quick visit, we left for Muzhaiyur.

Pallipadai (Final resting place) of Raja Rajan’s wife Panchavan Madevi.

Muzhaiyur - Entry point of Pazhaiyarai Capital Region

A 10 minute drive from Thirusakthi Muttram took us to Muzhaiyur. I was told by locals that the original name of Muzhaiyur was Nuzhaiyur, meaning entry point to the capital Pazhaiyarai. Even today, if we look at the Pazhaiyarai capital region in google maps, Muzhaiyur seems to be entry point.

There is nothing much to see in this small village except for the Parasunathar temple. After a 5 minute visit to the temple, we left for Keezha Pazhayarai.

Keezha Pazhayarai - Where Raja Rajan spent his post-retirement

After travelling for 10 minutes we reached Keezha Pazhaiyarai.

Keezha Pazhayarai was also called as Keezhthali. This was one of the 4 "Thali"s that housed the Guardian temples on 4 sides of ancient Chola Capital Pazhaiyarai, Muzhavur (Vadathali), Aarai metrali (Melthali), Harichandram (Thenthali) being the other three.

Our next stop was Somanathaswamy temple. According to some, after Raja Rajan abdicated his throne in 1012 AD and crowned Rajendra Chola as the Chola Emperor, he became a Saivite Saint and changed his name to Sivapatha Sekaran and spent his last days here in Keezha Pazhaiyarai.

When we reached the temple, the temple was closed (It is open only between 6 AM and 8 AM in the morning and same timings in the evening). We had to collect the key from one of the houses neighbouring the temple.

The main gopuram of the temple is in ruins and when we went inside, it was not different. The outer walls were in shambles with pillars lying around. However, the second gopuram had been given a fresh coat of painting. The main shrine looks pretty old. After the darshan, took some time going around the temple and left for Udaiyalur.

Above: Keezha Pazhayarai where Raja Rajan had spent his post retirement life, according to some.

Udaiyalur - Final resting place of Raja Rajan

A 20 minute drive from Keezha Pazhaiyarai took us to Udaiyalur.

My first visit was to Selva MahaKaliamman Temple, which was considered as the "Kula Deivam" temple of Cholas. This temple is quite small. From there, I proceeded to Kailasanathar temple.

My next visit was to Paalkulathi Amman Koil. In one of the materials on net,I had read that there is an inscription in one of the pillars in this temple that there was a "Raja Rajan Thirumundril" in which Raja Raja Devar "Ezhuntharuliya" mandapam is located in Siva Pathasekara Mangalam and this Siva Pathasethasekara Mangalam is the present day Udaiyalur.

Raja Rajan's Pallippadai

We proceeded to Udaiyalur looking out for the "Pallippadai" (Final resting place) of Raja Rajan. After a few enquiries, we came across a dilapidated, rusted board, proclaiming the final resting place of the great king, who died in 1014 AD at the age of 71. There is a very small lane that leads us to the place. When we reached us, we were shocked.

Here lies the Great Emperor who ruled the whole of South from Vengi (Andhra) to Ceylon and from the East coast to Maldives, under a small thatched shed. Under the thatched roof, there is a half buried Sivalingam, with a laminated photo of the Emperor, and a few flowers scattered around the Lingam. An old man probably in late 60s, takes care of this "memorial".

I had read that there is still a dispute on the exact location of the Samadhi of the Emperor with some saying that this may not be his final resting place. It is a pity that this place is not getting the attention it deserves given that Raja Rajan ruled not just "Thamilakam" but "Thennagam".

Above: Board indicating the final resting place of Raja Rajan

Final Resting Place (Pallippadai) of Raja Raja Chola

End of the trail

That brought me to the end of my trail of the great emperor, from his birth place to his final resting place. The feeling was awesome, having gone on a trail of my favourite king, though there is nothing much left to see in terms of palaces or forts. The Raja Rajan Memorial Museum that houses so many artefacts on the life and rule of the Emperor and the final resting place in Udaiyalur will remain etched in my memory for long.

The time was 11:15 AM and it was getting hotter by the minute. We left for Gangai Konda Cholapuram, Capital city built by Rajendra Chola,  enroute to Chennai.

Gangai Konda Cholapuram

After an hour's drive, we reached Gangai Konda Cholapuram. The temple had closed by then. I just went around the temple looking at the sculptures and other excavations.

We left after about 15 minutes and reached Maaligai Medu, which is about 3 kms from the temple. This place was called Utkottai and excavations had revealed the palace ruins of Rajendra Chola. We spent some time going around the ruins, confined to a very small area and also the nearby shed that housed sculptures and other materials excavated from the Palace ruins.

Above: Utkottai (Maaligai Medu) Palace ruins of Rajendra Chola, son of Raja Rajan I

Back to Chennai

It was 1 PM when we left Maaligai Medu. Sun was beating down and we could feel the heat even inside the AC car. I closed my eyes and started rewinding the entire trail and trying to imagine how these places might have looked during those golden days under Raja Rajan.

I was rudely shaken out of my dream when the car grinded to a halt with the driver applying sudden brake. When I opened my eyes, there were no chariots or horses. My car was in the midst of the modern day traffic maze in Vandalur with every form of vehicle from cycle to bus jostling for some road space with drivers honking their horns indiscriminately, polluting the air with noise and smoke, every other person mouthing foul words in frustration and nothing moving even an inch.

I was back to my chaotic world. God Bless all.

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