Tamil constructions which are competing to world wonders

1. Tanjore Temple
2. Srirangam Temple
3. Rameeswaram Temple
4. Music Stone Temple – Nellai Appar Temple
5. Kallanai Dam
6. Chidambaram temple
7. Keeladi

We have seven wonders in this world, which are astonishing and great to see, when I look at this
world wonders, are these are the only wonders on this world, no other construction are greatly
impressed to attain the world wonders, I can understand that the world wonders are selected based
upon the people vote but there are some monuments which are far beyond the wonders of this
world forever. First I would like to check and see in my state where I live because it is considered to
the oldest man made civilization in this world. When I look through my state I could lot more
admiring and stunned constructions which are still remarkable till today.

Let us see the list of new world wonders:

- Christ the Redeemer

- Taj Mahal
- Machu Picchu
- Chichen Itza
- The Colosseum
- Petra
- Great Wall of China

The Great Pyramid of Giza, largest and oldest of the three pyramids at the Giza Necropolis in Egypt
and the only surviving of the original Seven Wonders of the Ancient World, was granted honorary
status.

I totally accept the fact that these are great monuments, but I consider there are few more
monuments which are left to list under great wonders of the world.

1. Granite Temple:

It is located in Thanjavur, Tamilnadu, India (10° 46′ 58″ N, 79° 7′ 54″ E). It is one of the largest South
Indian temples and an exemplary example of fully realized Tamil style architecture. It is also known
as The Brihadheshwar Temple, dedicated to lord Shiva and it is completely constructed with granite
rock, there are no stones, bricks nor woods used in this temple construction. A unique interlocking
technique of rocks has been used for this temple construction instead of cementing the sculptured
rocks. This temple ageing 1009 years (Built on 1010AD). This temple was built in the year 1010 by
Chola ruler Rajaraj Chola First, the most ambitious king the world had ever seen. This is the only
major temple in the world, which is made full of granite stones, one of the hardest materials on the
Earth.
This temple has been declared as a UNESCO World Heritage site. Its 13-storey building height is
about 66 meters (216 feet). Above these storeys is a single square block of granite weight 80 tons,
and 7.77 metres (25.5 ft) side. One lakh thirty thousand weigh of granite rock was used for this
temple construction. This is the tallest temple in India at that period of time. More than one lakh of
prisoners were used to build this temple and it took seven years to complete this construction. Also
think about the military forces which are equipped to control the huge enemy prisoners to get in
control over them and to feed them for three times a day for seven years, how rich their agriculture
yield will be.

Interesting part is there are no traces of Granite rocks in and around Thanjavur for 60 Kms, then how
and from where did these huge rocks transported from? And how did they fine carve the sculptures
on the hardest rock? Imagine the brilliance of the people who made this huge construction with high
accuracy. This temple has faced six huge earthquakes and still going strong without any effect is a
real wonder.

2. Music Stone Temple :

This Temple is located in Tirunelveli (8°43'39"N 77°41'15"E), a city in the South Indian state
of Tamil Nadu. Temple named Nellaiappar, is a Hindu temple dedicated to the deity Shiva. In this
Nellaiyappar temple, gentle taps on the cluster of pillars carved out of a single piece of rock can
produce the keynotes of our Indian classical music.

You can hear the saptha swarangal (the seven basic Music notes) come like a wave as it were from
the stone pieces. Archaeologists date the temple before 7th century and say it was built by
successive rulers of the Pandyan dynasty. Each huge musical pillar carved from one piece of rock
comprises a cluster of smaller columns and stands testimony to a unique understanding of the
sound.

In the South Tamilnadu though, several temples having these Music pillars, like those at Azhavar
Thirunagari, Tenkasi, Kalakaadu, Kuttralam, Shenbagarama Nallur, Kanyakumari. But the pillars of
Tirunelveli completely stand out.

What is unique about the musical stone pillars in the Tiruelveli Nellaiyappar temple is the fact you
have a cluster as large as 48 musical pillars carved from one piece of stone, a delight to both the ears
and the eyes. It is really a wonder how my ancestors procured Music from a stone is simply mind
blowing.

3. Kallanai dam:

Kallanai (10° 49′ 48.6″ N, 78° 49′ 7.62″ E also known as the Grand Anicut) is an ancient dam, which is
built (in ferocious running water) across the Kaveri river in Tamil Nadu. This dam was constructed by
the Chola King Karikalan in the First Century. Even considered to be the world’s first man made
constructed dam in running water.
The dam has a strong foundation as well as a solid design. Due to its stunning engineering, the dam
is still an inspiration to most of the modern dams and Kallanai dam is still used for various irrigation
needs in Tamil Nadu.

The important feature of this dam is that no binding materials like limestone or cement were used. It
was constructed by the method of interlocking the granite stones like Thanjavur, Brihadheshwar
Temple.

The wonder part of the dam is how brilliant they built the dam on the ferocious running water and
how strong the construction was, still we are using.

4. ChidambaramTemple:

It is a Hindu Temple dedicated to Nataraja as the lord of dance – in Chidambaram, Tamil

Nadu(11° 23′ 58″ N, 79° 41′ 36″ E). This temple has trace in the Tamil literature sung 4000 years ago,
so not sure about the exact time of the temple built.

On this Temple the magnetic equator passes, which means magnetic dip is zero at this location.
Temple also located at 11 degree latitude. On this co-ordinate the Spinning Earth has outward force
called centrifugal force. At this degree the centrifugal force is directed upward, So this will help to
channelize our energies upward to the cosmos which in turn enhances our spiritual power.

Also if you closely look at the temple construction, the roof has 21600 tiles (later golden tiles has
been procured), denoting the number of times a person can breathe in a day. These tiles are fixed to
the wooden roof with the help of 72000 nails depicting the number of veins. On the top of the roof
we can find 9 kalasas indicating the 9 gateways in the human body. The mandapa next to the artha
mandapa has 18 pillars symbolising the 18 puranas. The roof has 64 cross wooden reapers denoting
the 64 kinds of art. As the heart is to the left of the body, the sanctum is slightly aligned to the left
side. The chit Sabha roof is supported by 4 pillars symbolising the 4 vedas.

If we travel out in space and look at our cosmos it will be in the shape of the Nataraja deity. Time
Travel techniques are possible if we intently monitor the cosmic dance as it closely identical with
Albert Einstein 'Theory of Relativity'. How come my Tamil ancestor able to view the cosmos at those
ages and how brilliant they are when it come to cosmic and geographic knowledge.

5. Keeladi:

Keeladi (9.8631° N, 78.1821° E) is a small village near Silaiman on the border

between Madurai and Sivagangai districts in Tamil Nadu, India. Keeladi excavation site is a Sangam
period residence that is being excavated by the Archaeological Survey of India. This is a large scale
excavation carried out in Tamil Nadu till date. Till date 1lakhs inscriptions and monuments have
been found in the world and it includes 65000 repositories are from India and on which 45000
witness Tamil Brahmi scripts.
Keeladi has potential archaeological site to provide most important evidences to understand the
cultural transformation of Tamil people from Iron Age to Early historic period and further
developments that took place in subsequent periods in Vaigai river valley.

The area planned to excavate is spread over 80 acres with a 3.5 km radius, but the fact is the
Archaeological Department has only completed 0.5 acres. And the dates of the excavated remain
between 3rd century BCE and 3rd century CE.

More than 10 buildings have been found in the bottom. This is a strong proof that this is a developed
city. The excavation has changed the claim that there were no buildings in the Sangam period. Water
supply and wastewater are considered as important landmarks of civil development. At the bottom,
there are buildings with sewage canal facility that are made of ceramic tube.

Keeladi is found to be an ancient advanced Civilization in the history. As they dig deeper, the
antiquity will increase might see a bigger and older civilization than the world anticipates. This will
rewrite the history of ancient India.

K. Amarnath Ramakrishnan, the Superintendent of Archeology division, has said that

the Government of Tamil Nadu and India did not show any interest in setting up a museum in
Keeladi and therefore no efforts have been made further to explore Keeladi to showcase the
repositories to the rest of the world.

If the abandoned civilization and lost city is considered to be the world wonders then the present
Keeladi civilization can also be considered to be the wonders of the world.

We just shared our grievous on why did we miss this wonders to be left noticed by the rest of the
world. If abounded civilizations, tall iron pillar, white marble construction, leaning tower broken
garden are considered to the world wonders then the above irresistible and unable to recreate the
monuments are really world wonders, if they didn’t in the list also.