tamil - chozlar kulam - rajarajan - rajendra cholan - kullottunga cholan

brihadeeswarar temple in thanjavur, gangaikondan temple in gangai konda cholapuram, the airavateeswarar temple in darasuram.

thanjavur - the districts of thanjavur, kumbhakonam and nagappattinam (constituting the erstwhile thanjauvr district) boast of hundreds of ancient temples. thanjavur was the seat of the glorious chola empire and was later on the seat of the nayaks and the marathas.

rajarajan was clearly the greatest of the chozlars. during his reign he brought stability and restored from obscurity the brilliant tevaram hymns from obscurity. rajaraja was a great builder, and the peruvudaiyar koyil or periya koil was his work. rajendra chola was a greater conqueror who marched all the way to the banks of the ganges. this march was commemorated with a new capital gangaikonda cholapuram and a replica of the periya koil. gangai konda cholapuram was the capital of the cholas for about two centuries and is situated 50 miles from tanjavur. 35 Kilometers from thanjavur lies darasuram, once known as rajarajapuram - a part of the chola's secondary capital of pazhaiyarai. it is here rajendra cholan built the airavateeswarar koil. kulottunga cholan built the Kambahareswarar temple at tribhuvanam.
the speciality of these four temples is that the vimanam towers over the entrance gopurams. after these four temples, the cholas went back to their traditional style of building temples with larger gopurams and smaller central vimanams.