Society, Art & Architecture The Cholas - History for UPSC CSE PDF Download

Society

The social order of the Chola period rested on the broad framework of varna-ashrama dharma, but in practice local customs, occupational groups and hereditary castes played a dominant role. The society displayed both continuity with earlier southern traditions and distinctive regional developments that affected class, gender relations, village institutions and cultural life.

General social features

• The Chola social system accepted the ideals of varna and ashrama, yet different varnas and castes generally lived in close proximity and co-operated in social and economic life.
• Inter-caste marriages occurred in some contexts and contributed to the proliferation and differentiation of occupational groups.
• There was no widespread practice of purdah; women participated relatively freely in social and religious activities.
• Sati was not widely practised; it appears to have been confined to certain royal or elite contexts rather than being a general social rule.
• Women could inherit and own property in their own right and took part in arts such as music, dance and drama.
• The Devadasi system existed: women proficient in music and dance often became attached to temples to perform daily services and festival rituals; in some sources they are referred to as devaradiyar or talichderi pendir.
• Prostitution was present in urban centres as noted in contemporary records.

Caste, occupational groups and social status

• The caste system functioned largely as a hereditary occupational organisation; each caste (jati) was associated with particular jobs and customary rights.
• The Brahmanas were socially influential as the learned and priestly class; as a recognition of their services many villages were granted to Brahmanas and exempted from taxes - such grants are referred to as brahmadeyas or chaturvedi magalams.
• Among non-Brahmanas, the Vellalas constituted a powerful and influential agricultural landholding group; they enjoyed privileges including exemption from certain local dues.
• The Kamala group (a privileged non-Brahman class) is attested in inscriptions but they were not permitted to perform Vedic rites.
• The Paraiyars (an occupationally defined community) lived in separate settlements called cheris and had distinct burial or cremation grounds; they occupied a low social position in caste hierarchy.
• A mixed-origin group referred to as Rathakaras (born of high-class husband and lower-class wife) is attested in the records, indicating social mobility and complexity in marital alliances.
• Two important social-economic groupings in the south were the Valangai (right-hand) and the Idangai (left-hand) factions. The Valangai, largely composed of agricultural castes, generally enjoyed greater privileges than the Idangai, which included several artisan and trade groups.

Village administration and local corporations

• Local self-governing institutions - often called ur or village assemblies and sometimes described as village corporations in inscriptions - exercised significant authority over village land, resources and internal management.
• Such bodies were usually left undisturbed by the central government in matters of internal administration, and they could pass collective decisions for the welfare and interest of the village community.
• Epigraphic records include decisions prescribing penalties for those who acted against the village or its temples, labelling offenders as gramadrohins (traitors to the village).
• Records also show royal confirmation and protection of local grants; for example, in A.D. 1090 Kulottunga exempted villages granted to Buddhist viharas at Nagapattana from the payment of royal dues.

State, military and maritime power

• The Chola state maintained effective military forces and a strong navy which enabled overseas expeditions and secured maritime trade routes across the Bay of Bengal; this naval capacity underpinned both commercial and political power.
• Rajendra Chola's campaigns northwards culminated in temporary control or influence over parts of the Gangetic delta; he commemorated these successes by adopting the title Gangaikonda and by founding Gangaikonda Cholapuram as a new capital.
• Contemporary and near-contemporary foreign accounts and local inscriptions together provide evidence for the Cholas' maritime contacts with Southeast Asia, including patronage and diplomatic contacts with rulers in the Malay archipelago.

Position of women

• Women generally enjoyed relatively secure social status: they could hold and inherit property and participate in religious and cultural life.
• Marital practices varied: monogamy was the norm among ordinary people while polygamy was more common among the royal and aristocratic classes.
• Dowry as a systematic social institution is not prominently attested for the period; girls were commonly married at a young age (often in early adolescence), and many marriages followed Vedic rites.
• Women were active in performing arts; those attached to temples (Devadasis) served both daily rituals and festival occasions and contributed to temple culture and music-dance traditions.

Scholars, literature and intellectual life

• Several notable scholars and poets flourished in the Chola cultural milieu. Among them, Trutakadevara is credited with the work Jiwanachintamani.
• Kamban (often anglicised as Kamban) composed the Kamba Ramayanam, a Tamil rendition of the Ramayana regarded as a masterpiece of Tamil literature.
• Other important Tamil works of the period include Sulamani by Tolamokti and Kalingatuppani by Jayagodar.
• The Buddhist scholar Buddhamitra wrote a text named Rasoliyan.
• During the reign of Parantaka I, Venkatamadhava is known to have written a commentary on the Rigveda, and Keshavaswamina authored the Sanskrit work Nanartharanov.

Art and Architecture

• The Cholas developed and consolidated the Dravidian temple architectural tradition inherited from the Pallavas and Pandyas, refining both the structural plan and sculptural programme of temples.
• There was a steady transition from structures of brick and wood to more permanent stone architecture; granite and dressed stone became principal materials for large temples.
• Chola temples are especially noted for their massive vimana (the tower over the sanctum), extensive enclosed and open courtyards, and richly carved sculptural decoration.
• In later Dravidian temple complexes, the monumental gopurams (gateway towers) grew in height and ornamentation, sometimes dwarfing the central vimana when viewed from a distance.

Notable temples and examples

• The early Chola phase includes important temples such as the Vijayalaya Choleswara, the Nagesvara temple, the Koranganatha temple and the Muvarakovintha (Muvarkovil) group of shrines; these display early experiments in Dravidian design and stone construction.
• The Koranganatha temple at Srinivasanallur (often dated to the reign of Parantaka I) is regarded as an exemplary monument of the initial phase of Chola Dravida temple art.
• Rajaraja I constructed the grand temple at Tanjore generally known as the Rajarajesvara (Brihadeeswarar Temple), a monumental granite temple noted for its scale, architectural proportion and sculptural detail.
• Rajendra Chola built a large Shiva temple at Gangaikonda Cholapuram, the capital he founded after his northern campaigns.
• Rajendra II constructed the Airavatesvara temple at Darasuram, while Kulottunga III built the Kampaharesvara temple at Tribhuvanam.

Sculpture, bronzes and temple art

• Chola sculpture ranges from large-scale stone reliefs and free-standing images to exquisite metalwork. The lost-wax (cire-perdue) technique was used to cast fine bronze images.
• Chola bronzes, especially representations of Nataraja (Shiva as Cosmic Dancer), are celebrated for their grace, balance and technical excellence and remain among the finest achievements of Indian metalwork.
• Temple walls and pillars carried elaborate narrative and iconographic sculpture illustrating episodes from Hindu mythology, local legends and royal achievement.

Construction techniqueS

• Large Chola temples required significant civil-engineering skills: quarrying and transporting heavy blocks (especially granite), dressing and laying masonry, complex joinery for stone elements and methods to erect tall vimanas and gopurams.
• Foundations had to be prepared carefully to bear massive superstructures; drainage, courtyards and access routes were integrated into temple complexes to manage crowds and processional functions.
• Stonemasons, master builders (often called sthapatis) and specialist sculptors worked together; inscriptions sometimes record the names and guilds of craftsmen, payments to them and the organisation of temple workshops.

Religious tolerance and patronage

• Chola rulers patronised multiple religious traditions. Inscriptions and records indicate royal support for Saiva and Vaishnava temples as well as for Buddhist establishments in and beyond the subcontinent.
• Rajaraja's assistance to the Sailendra king of Java and Kulottunga's grants to Buddhist viharas are examples of cross-regional religious and diplomatic contacts.

The Chola period combined an organised village society rooted in hereditary occupations and local institutions with an expansive state whose military and naval strength enabled regional dominance and overseas contacts. Temple architecture and sculpture reached high levels of achievement, reflecting advanced technical skills, organised patronage and a rich religious life. Women participated actively in cultural forms and enjoyed property rights in many contexts, while local corporations and brahmadeya grants shaped rural administration and landholding patterns.