Adding to Vikram’s statement about Brihadisvara Mandir

Brihadisvara Mandir history: Cinema is a reflection of society. It has been said that cinema has a uniquely powerful ubiquity within human culture. With films having such an immense power to influence masses, the ones who form the cinema industry, apt to say the ones who establish direct connection with the audiences, to own the power to influence. Here, I am talking about actors. What they wear becomes the fashion, how they speak becomes the trend, so how they think about the civilisational history of Bharat also holds utmost importance as it can persuade thousands to go back and search and read about the richest civilisation of the world that is Bharat. While the Bollywood remains busy answering to the Narcotics Control Bureau about their misdeeds, the film stars down south are setting examples.

Ponniyin Selvan- Rantam’s mammoth to hit the theatres on Sept 30

Mani Rantam’s magnum opus Ponniyin Selvan, starring Chiyaan Vikram, Aishwarya Rai, Jayram Ravi, Karthi and Trisha Krishnan all set to storm the theatres worldwide on September 30. The film will be released in five languages namely Tamil, Telugu, Malayalam, Kannada and Hindi. The film is based on the 1955 novel Ponniyin Selvan written by Kalki Krishnamoorthy that revolves around the Chola Empire– the world’s longest ruling kingdom, which was reduced to a weaker dynasty by India’s marxist distorians.

The aforementioned cast is currently touring the length and breadth of the country to promote the mammoth. During the pre-release Mumbai event, something happened that has attracted all the eyeballs.

Chiyaan Vikram speaks about the great Cholas

Vikram, at the Mumbai event went on to deliver a 2-minute-long monologue, that must have delivered a sense of pride to every Indian hearing that. He stated that when England and Europe were in dark ages, several feats were achieved by Indians.

He said, “Someone once said that we are appreciating a building (The Leaning Tower of Pisa) that doesn’t even stand straight, but we have temples today that stand and they didn’t use plaster.” He criticised the public taking selfies in front of a falling tower at the West, while blatantly forgetting about the Indian architecture.

Talking about Rajaraja Cholan, Vikram mentioned that the king had built 5000 dams during his period, gave loans to people, ran free hospitals, held panchayat elections and kept women’s names for cities. Cancelling the north-south divide, he elaborated the need to acknowledge the civilisational history of India. He said, “This happened in the 9th Century when our marine power reached Bali and Malaysia while America was not even discovered by Columbus, until 500 years later. Think about our culture. We need to be proud of it. There’s nothing called North India or South India. We are Indians and we need to feel proud about that,” stated Vikram.

**The Thanjavur Peruvudaiyar Temple mentioned by Vikram**

During his address, he made mention of the Thanjavur Peruvudaiyar temple (Brihadisvara Mandir) stating that the Brihadisvara Mandir had withstood six earthquakes. He further stated that a six-kilometre ramp was built to bring a stone weighing several tonnes to place over the tower without the use of any cranes or plaster.

The mandir he mentioned is commonly known as Peruvudaiyar Kovil aka Brihadisvara Mandir, situated in the Thanjavur district of Tamil Nadu, is one of the most important Shiv mandirs. This Shiva mandir stands tall as a deposition to the great architectural skills, artistic expertise and the wealth of the Cholas. It was built by Raja Raja Chola I and completed in 1010 AD, which implies that the temple is more than thousands of years old. The vimanam that is the tower of the mandir is 66 m high and is the tallest in the world. And the kumbam (the apec or the bulbous structure on the top) of the mandir has been carved out of a single rock and weighs around 80 tons.

***Brihadisvara Mandir*– An UNESCO world heritage site**

Brihadisvara Mandir is one of the largest Hindu temples and is amongst the oldest surviving temples. For nearly ten centuries, the temple was functioning well and then UNESCO happened. In 1987, the temple got designated as a UNESCO world heritage site along with the Brihadisvara Mandir at Gangaikonda Cholapuram and the Airavatesvara Temple at Darasuram. Together, the three temples are called “Great Living Chola Temples”. While many were happy with the decision, that is actually the worst thing that can happen to a Hindu mandir.

The ‘UNESCO world heritage site’ is a designation granted to protected sites due to its historical, cultural or architectural significance. But here the designation ended up blurring the old identity as the new imposed one does not retain the Sanskrit origin of the term-Brihadisvara. To add on, the UNESCO designation is completely centred on tourism. Thus, extreme tourist development brings consequence along with and reduce mandirs sanctity. The temple that holds the utmost importance in a Hindu’s heart turn out to be a mere picnic spot and it is not justified at all.

India that we see today, was a part of a great civilisation, the world’s oldest to say, along with many of its neighbours which are today divided due to man-made borders. Bharat has a history that needs to be told to the world. And films like Ponniyin Selvan and actors like Chiyaan Vikram are doing so.