Some more of the majestic splendours!!!

The 360-degree view of the Brahadeeshwara Temple
(download it to your computer to see in its original size)

Front View of the Brahadeeshwara Temple

Another majestic view from the front of the Brahadeeshwara Temple

Brahadeeshwara Temple from behind


SriRangam Main Gopuram


SriRangam Gopurams (view from inside the temple)



Fine Carvings and Statues



Chidamabaram Temple

More to come until then...

Some pictures for comparison

Some pictures to show the comparison of the size of the magnificent masterpiece of all times, the Brahadeeshwara Temple

There are 8 such nandhis atop the Cupola, just compare the size with the person sitting nearby. Each such nandhi is carved out of a single rock

The base of the Periya Kovil, just compare the size of the Vimanam (Tower) with the people standing at the base. the view is from the behind of the Temple Vimana

This is the view from the terrace above the Mandapam

This is the image of the Big Nandhi of the Big Temple carved out of a single rock

The Periya Kovil not only contains massive pieces of architecture but also finest pieces and here is one such example of micro-technology, a small strand goes through the hole of the carvings

More to come, until then...

Some pics of the massive and exemplary pieces of architecture....

Take a glimpse at the massive pieces of architecture. More to come in the next blogs....

The Brahadeeshwara Temple (Front View)


Entrance to the architectural splendour

Overall View of the Magnificience


Gangai Konda Cholapuram (Built by King Rajendra Cholan - son of RajaRaja Cholan)

Ekambareshwarar Temple (Kanchipuram)

Another View of Ekambareshwarar Temple (Kanchipuram)

If only I could turn back time....

If I could turn back time, i.e., travel back in time. I would like to meet at least the following 3 persons from the past

1. Thirumoolar
2. Thirumangai Azhwar
3. King RajaRaja Cholan

Why I chose these three people was because of their masterpieces that they have created or in fact have bestowed for us and the generations to come!!!

Thirumoolar - famous for his exemplary masterpiece, The Thirumandhiram - stands out of the crowd because I am surprised at how he visualised and found great things that scientists of this modern era have found out after years of research. For e.g. he mentions the size of a human cell, with that of a cows hair, being divided into 1,00,001 parts is the size of the cell. However, I have not actually compared his measurement with the actual human cell's size. In spite, I am amazed at the way he says the proportion he mentions. In addition, he mentions that the pituitary gland is the control centre of the human body and he even infers it as the third eye of the human and compares it to Lord Shiva who is said to have 3 eyes. In fact, the reason, why Hindu women apply kumkum or stick the bindi and the men apply the holy ash on their forehead is to stimulate the pituitary gland that maintains the hormone levels intact and this helps prevent children attaining physical maturity at an early age. There are many interesting things to explore in his exemplary work. Nevertheless, the reason why I want to meet him is that I want to know, where he learnt all these great information from and who is his Guru? How long did he take to understand and get the knowledge of the things he mentions? Is it possible for us humans to attain such knowledge in our lifetime? More about him in the next blogs...

Thirumangai Azhwar - The most well known of the 12 Azhwars, the devotees of Lord Vishnu venerated as saints. His original name being Kaliyan, he was an army chief of the Chola king and then he was crowned as a king for a small land called Thirumangai. And hence the name, Thirumangai Mannan (means King - in Tamil). He has sung so many songs in praise of Lord Vishnu. I am really astonished how a normal man who plundered, had weakness for women and what not.., was able to be exalt himself to a position of an Azhwar. I have read a few of his pasurams and it really stands out of the crowd. The reason why I would like to meet him is because his attitude to accept all the mistakes and crime plainly without any justification to his act is simply the most divine aspect of a human. Most of us usually try to justify our mistakes but no one accepts them plainly that they have done a mistake/crime. One example of his pasuram is

Kondraen palluyirai kurikol ondrillamayinal....

meaning, "I have killed lots of lives, without any reason......"

Maanay kann madavar mayakirrpattu maanilathu naanay naanavidha naragam pugum pavam seidhaen...

meaning, "For the love of women, I committed sins that would take me to all the four types hell.."

The absolute surrender to GOD accepting all his mistakes and crimes without any justification has exalted him to an Azhwar. I really admire him for his devotion to GOD and his pasurams are really out of this world. You need to read them, understand them, feel them to realise the ethereal and blissful connection with GOD, and hence the name Dhivya Prabandham, for all the pasurams by all the Azhwars.

King RajaRaja Cholan - I really admire this great Chola king for many things esp, the magnificient masterpieces that he has left for the his next generations and the generations to come. What really make me think that i need meet him are

• His passion to construct the stupendous masterpiece of all times, The Brahadeeshwara Temple at Thanjavur (Tanjore) - The Granary India.
• The engineering behind the great temple and the massive efforts
• The administrative skills becoz without it, it is almost impossible to build such a massive architecture within 6 years, yes I mean SIX years.

It is simply awe-inspiring to just even imagine these details. Some thought provoking questions arise viz.,

1. How was he able to have such great engineers, called Sthabadhees, at that time?
2. What tools did they use to decide the plan, select the land, transport such heavy granites?
   
   For splitting apart massive pieces of granite, the technology is from Avaiyar's song
   
   "Methenavai Vettenavai Vellavam Vezhathil
   Patturuvum Kol Panjil Paayaathu
   Nettirupaaraikku Nekku Vida Paarai
   Pasumaraththu Verukku Nekku Vidum"
   
   meaning, "Hard and Aggressive things will never win over Soft and Humble things. The spear that pierces through an elephant will never pierce through cotton. Likewise, a hard rock that never gives way to strong iron crowbar gives way to the slender root of a green tree". Amazed!!!!. Still to come, but how did this song help him!!!, The thing is that the rock was cut with such a precision, where the rock was selected and lots of small shaft like holes were made in the rock across a stretch and then in those holes, tree roots were driven and water was poured into it. As water, soaks the root, the root starts to expand and that would slowly break the rock apart. And those large rocks were transported the temple spot using elephants. More about this in the next blogs...
   
3. Where did he learn the technology from?
   I guess it should be anscetral, as there is a literature and rules on how to build temples called Aagama Vidhis
   
4. Who was behind him to build such a massive piece of architecture?
   I found that the person behind him was his sister Kundavai Naachiar and his grandmother Chembian Maadevi
   
5. How was he able to handle such a great kingdom and then administer the temple building activites?
   

For some of the questions, that I have provided the answers by probing into Tamil Literature and many other books to find answers to those questions, but for the rest that are unanswered, I have to meet him...

More to come in my next blogs, until then....

Fascinating Thirumandhiram

Thirumandhiram, the name seems to sound like something that is involved with some magic etc. But it is a great work that describes various parts of the human life - Birth, Living, Death. Not only the book describes a great deal of Science that really makes me wonder, how it was possible to ponder about such things at that time , having no modern tools or technological advances as we have now. Thirumandhiram is written by a Siddhar (loosely a saint, rather a discipline one), Thirumoolar, whose real name was Sundarar and then later due to reason that he had to transfuse his soul into to the body of a sheperd named Moolan, he got the name Thirumoolar. But the work that he has given to the work is an extraordinary piece of work, that even if he is reborn, it is a doubt that he could produce such a work. It is vast and cannot be explained in just one blog entry like this. His work consists of medical information, human virtue, scientific terminology and many others that one has to delve deep into it to understand and realise the truth he has described. For example, he states that human's have 10 senses, contrary to what the world believes, six. The song that says this is

"Uttrarivu Ainthum Unarntha Arivu Arum Ezhum
Kattrarivu Yettum, Kalantha Arivu Onbadhum
Pattriya Pathum Pala vagai naazhigai
Attrathu Ariyathu Azhigindra Vaaray"

The five senses, Vision, Hearing, Touch, Taste, Hearing is inbuilt. The sixth one being Common Sense. The seventh one that you get out of Experimenting. The eighth one is the one you get by Experience. The ninth one being Public Relations. The tenth one being realisation of GOD. And it takes a long time to attain all these. So don't let bad things disturb you in the process of attaining these senses.

Not only this, he gives the size of human cell, the position of the pitutary gland, the components of the gene ( A,C,T,G), in such a simple manner that I really wonder how he got the knowledge and how he was able to identify them. Apart from the physiological aspects of humans. He also describes about the practices of Yoga and how that would have a positive impact on the life of humans.

More to be explored. Lets do that in the upcoming blogs. Till then take a look at Thirumandhiram by downloading it from the site

Proud to be an Indian!!!

I am proud to be an Indian, because India has a very long tradition and heritage and numerous things that makes the people of the world wonder. From art, architecture, engineering, medicine, mathematics and what not. For art, Ajanta Ellora caves are the best examples and the arts; for Architecture and Engineering, the various temples built across the subcontinent - the Meenakshi Temple - Madurai, The Brahadeeshwara Temple - Tanjore, The Srirangam Temple - Srirangam - to name a few, and the various dams, the Kallanai for example across the Cauvery. For medicine- Ayurveda, Siddha - these medicinal treatment are known to cure most diseases without any side effects. For mathematics, many stalwarts Aryabhatta (for PI), Bhaskara (Calculus), Bramhagupta (for the numbers that we are using even today) and so on. And the list grows on. Not only in these fields, there were people who mastered astronomy. Infact, the father of surgery, Sushrutha did many complicated surgery even before others civilisations knew that humans could be cured by operating them. if we consider the engineering and architecture of the temples, it is a herculean task to move the massive granite rocks. But how did they cut such huge rocks and shaped them without any tools that are available today and how they transported. In fact, I know how they cut it the rocks so precisely, the technology is from Avaiyar's song and they transported the them using elephants It is still a wonder how these people gained the knowledge. There are answers to these and more informations to be posted in this blog. But for the lack of time, I will continue posting them as i find time. A lot of people need to be described and made known to the world. Their achievements, works are what they have left for us and the generations to come. Lets unravel them in the days to come. Until then read more in Wikipedia

Hello World!!!!!

As the subject itself implies, I am a programmer, and every programmer starts with the Hello World Program 😊. So do i started this blog. Will post more info abt many things that i aspire, wonder and yearn to know how it happened.... Coming soon on these blogs.... Till then view my homepage at its initial stages.