In Search Of The ‘Chola Temple’ And Its Composite Reality: A Study Of The Chidambaram Nataraja Temple
Abstract What does it mean to look at a temple and call it a ‘Chola structure?’ Did a Chola king patronise his construction? Did we excavate it in erstwhile Chola territory ? Does it carry stylistic characteristics unique to the Cholas? Clearly, the ease with which we throw around dynastic labelling remains precarious and needs re-examination. This paper argues that our basic understanding of a ‘Chola temple’ is tainted by the overuse of dynastic labelling; this understanding being its very nature. I seek to argue that since early medieval South Indian dynasties fought for territories common to the whole region, the delineation of boundaries often remained blurred. Inadvertently – or perhaps out of convenience – the structural remains of these regions (secular or religious) tended to be stylistically similar, since all these dynasties were wresting control of the same region from one or the other. Not surprisingly, distinctly different dynasties produced (and reworked) temples that w