UPSC Mains Previous Year Questions: Chola Architecture | History for UPSC CSE PDF Download

Q1: The Chola temples represent an outstanding creative achievement in the conception of the Dravidian style of architecture. Explain.
Answer: 
Introduction 
The Chola kings utilised their wealth earned through their extensive conquest in building exquisite monuments. It is due to this, the Chola period witnessed the culmination in evolution of dravidian temple architecture making the Chola temples of that era artistically elaborate and sophisticated. Chola temples are characteristized by:

• Circular and Square Sanctums.
• Beautified inner side of the external walls.
• Special vimanas on the upper side of the sanctum.
• Dome shaped sikhara and kalasa on the top of Gopurams.
• Intricate sculptures and inscriptions on the walls of these temples.
• Pillared mandapams namely ardha mandapa, maha mandapa and nandi mandapa.

Contribution of Chola in the development of temple architecture

• More elaborative structures: The temple architecture evolved from the early cave temples and Monolithic temples of Mamallapuram to more elaborate and complex in the Chola period. Example: Brihadeshwara temple.
• Stones replaced bricks: During this period stones were used instead of bricks for making temples. This added aesthetics and value to its temples.
• Gopurams become meaningful: In the chola period simple gopurams evolved into more exquisite and well composed structures with carvings and series of effigies on them.
• Elaborate pyramidal storeys: Pyramidal storey about the deity room depicts the maturity and grandeur Cholas brought in the temple architecture. Example Shiva temple of Thanjavur depicts the material achievement of the Chola Temple.
• Monolith shikaras: The Chola temples have evolved beautiful shikharas at the top with elaborate meticulous carving. Example: Octagonal shikhara of Gangaikondacholapuram temple.
• Dwarapalas became permanent: The guardian figures (dwarpalas), at the entrance to the mandapa, or hall which started from the Pallava period, became a unique feature of the Chola temples.
• Polished sculptures: During this period the architectural development reached its zenith. The temples were decorated with artistic stone pillars and wall decoration. Emphasis was on elongated limbs and polished features. Example: Carvings of the wheel chariot in Airavatesvara Temple are so fine that all the minute details are visible.

Conclusion

Thus,Chola temples flourished under the royal patronage of imperial chola kings. The artists patronised by them, through their influences from Amravati at school and various other contemporary schools, elevated the Dravidian architecture styles to greater height. Due to their grandeur, Chola temples have been recognised for their international importance and therefore get special protection as world heritage by UNESCO.

Q2: Chola bronze sculptures are considered as the most elegant. Substantiate. (UPSC GS 1 Mains)
Answer: 
Introduction
Indian sculptors had mastered the bronze medium and the casting process as much as they had mastered terracotta sculpture and carving in stone. The bronze sculptures are characterised by exquisite beauty and aesthetic appeal. The ‘Dancing Girl’ from Mohenjodaro is one of the earliest simplified figurines.
Body
The making of bronze sculptures reached a high stage of development in South India during the medieval period. Although bronze images were modelled and cast during the Pallava period in the eighth and ninth centuries, some of the most elegant and exquisite statues were produced during the Chola Period:

• The ninth-century kalyanasundara murti is highly remarkable for the manner in which Panigrahana (ceremony of marriage) is represented by two separate statuettes.
• The union of Shiva and Parvati is very ingeniously represented in the Ardhanarishvara murti in a single image.
• The well-known dancing figure of Shiva as Nataraja was evolved and fully developed during the Chola Period and since then many variations of this complex bronze image have been modelled.
• A wide range of Shiva iconography was evolved in Thanjavur (Tanjore) region of Tamil Nadu during this period.
• In spite of being devoid of ornamentation, the Chola bronze sculptures are elegant, expressive and exquisitely beautiful. The poses and the expressions on the faces of the figures are very explicit.
• Apart from the mudras or the poses, the artisans have taken special care of the other details such as the weapons and the ‘vahana’.
• Chola bronzes are created using the lost wax technique. In artistic terms, it is known as “Cire Perdue” which demands a high degree of skill.

Conclusion
The Chola period was an age of continuous improvement and refinement of Dravidian art and architecture. The circumstances in which bronzes were cast during this period, and the contexts within which they were and are sited, continue to have profound relevance for our present-day understanding of art, poetry, science, history and society.