THE CHOLA ARCHITECTURE: A DRAVIDAN STYLE GLEAND FROM KAILASANATHA TEMPLE AT SEMBIANMAHADEVI

Architecture plays a significant role in the socio economic, and cultural life of any society. It helps us trace the historical changes and the reciprocal influence between different socio cultural units. In this context, the temples of medieval Tamil Nadu deserve special consideration because the interrelationship of the styles of their constructing and the changes introduced by the various ruling dynasties of the Tamil country in the growth and development the temple art and architecture in that region. Temple architecture in Tamil Nadu is largely indebted to the patronage of the Tamil kings. Generally, those who want to see the different types and their locations should necessarily have acknowledge of the political history and the chronology of temple art in Tamil Nadu. Generally, the characteristic features of the Chola architecture show that it was continued from the past. The early Chola architecture was enriched in general by the inherited tradition of the Pallavas. The early Chola temple architectural forms and designs are modest in scale and very elegant in plan. Fergusson¹⁴ makes a sweeping remark that “in nine cases out of ten, Dravidian temples are the fortress aggregation of parts, arranged without plan an accident dictated at the time of their erection. According to Douglas Barrett,¹⁵ the general plan was uniform throughout the early Chola period. The temple architectural design and main shrine comprised a rectangular flat-roofed mandapa (ardhamandapa) leading into a square flat-roofed sanctuary which supports a vimana. But at the same time, the early Cholas adopted certain forms of the Pallavas who designed the original forms. Among the early Chola kings, Aditya I (871-907 A.D) was the real founder of the Chola architectural tradition.  The study of the architecture of Kailasanatha temple at Sembianmahadevi is interesting for it throws much light on some of the distinctive architectural features that were developed in South Indian. The history of the temple reveals that many of its structures were built in different epochs.