Why is Emperor Raja Raja Cholan Standing outside Big Temple?

Thanjai Nalankilli
TAMIL TRIBUNE, April 2001 (ID.2001-04-03)
Definitions:
Hindians: People whose mother tongue is Hindi; much of Uttar Pradesh, Madya Prad
esh and some surrounding areas in northern India is their homeland. Hindian poli
ticians control and dominate the Indian government because they form the single
largest block in the Indian parliament.
Outline
1. Background
2. A Brief Biography of Raja Raja Cholan
3. The Reason Why?
A Note about Names
The three ruling dynasties of old Tamil Nadu are written and pronounced in Tamil
as Cheran, Cholan and Pandian (or Cherar, Cholar and Pandiar) but most English
writers write them as Chera, Chola and Pandia. We may use it interchangeably. (C
holan is sometimes spelled as Chozhan. Pandian is also sometimes spelled as Pand
yan or Pandiyan).
1. Background
Emperor Raja Raja Cholan built the Thanjai Big Temple (also referred to as Thanj
avur Peria Koil or Tanjore Big Temple) almost a thousand years ago; it took 4 ye
ars of construction and was dedicated in1010 AD. Why is his statue not allowed i
n the temple grounds and is standing on a public street further away from the vi
ew of the thousands of visitors to the temple? We are not talking about installi
ng the statue inside the temple but within the outer walls of the temple where v
isitors can see it. There are other structures within the outer wall. In fact, w
e see a statue of Raja Rajan and his queen Ko-perum-thevi in the Tiruvisalur tem
ple. This statue was there well before there was an Indian Government. But, alas
, the Indian Government would not permit the statue of this great Tamil emperor
to be installed on the grounds of the temple he built.
Some two decades ago the Tamil Nadu State government commissioned a statue of th
e Emperor and intended to place it within the outer walls of the Thanjai Big Tem
ple. The Indian Government told the Tamil Nadu Government that it would not allo
w the statue inside the temple grounds. So the latter placed it in a nearby stre
et. The outcome is, the many thousands of devotees and tourists who visit the te
mple do not see the statue.
You may wonder why the Tamil Nadu Government has to get Indian Government s permis
sion to install the statue of a Tamil emperor within the outer walls of a Tamil
Temple built by the Tamil Emperor on Tamil soil with Tamil money and labor? Indi
an Government decided, without any consultation with the Tamil Nadu Government,
that it would take over the major temples in Tamil Nadu. Now nothing significant
can be done without the consent of Hindians who control and dominate the Indian
parliament.
2. A Brief Biography of Raja Raja Cholan

Who is this Raja Raja Cholan (more precisely, Raja Raja Cholan-I)? Readers who a
re fans of the popular Tamil novelist Kalki may be familiar with his historical
novel Ponniyin Selvan . That novel is woven around the life of Raja Raja Cholan, al
so known an Arunmoli. Of course, much of the novel and many of the characters in
it are fiction although that fiction is wrapped around historical events. What
we present in this section are historical facts taken from such authoritative wo
rks as Dr. M. Rajamanickam s Cholar Varalaru , Nilakanta Sastri s The Cholas and T. V. S
adasiva Pandarathar s History of the Later Cholas .