A Thread on the Brihadishwara Temple at Gangaikonda Cholapuram,a Shiva temple built during the absolute zenith of Chola sovereignty, when they ruled over everything from the plains of the Ganga to lands far across the ocean in modern day Lanka,Thailand,Indonesia,Cambodia,Malaysia Built in the year 1025 CE by Rajendra Chola I,son of Raja Raja Chola, the temple was meant to showcase the might of the Cholas after they had established their sovereignty over vast territories. The name Gangaikonda translates to the one who conquered the kingdoms along the Ganga

The reconstruction of our temple has been on the family's agenda for a long long time. Multiple representations were made to the govt of karnataka in the 90's with no response from the govt. Here's the agenda plan we had. Its in Kannada & its English translation. Project lay inabeyance for so many years due to many reasons, a non-responsive & hostile govt, general lack of enthusiasm within the extended family, lack of funds. We had no internet in those days & such networking like today wasn't possible, for a lower middle family especially

A rare & highly ornate Murthi of Lakshmi Ganapathi belonging to the times of the great Narasimha Deva of the Eastern Ganga empire (Present day Odisha). It was smuggled & auctioned off in the year 1830 at Christie's. Now stashed away at the british museum artsandculture.google.com/asset/stone-sc… Another marvel from Kalinga desha at brit museum. Murthi of Uma Maheshwara belonging to approximately the same times of Narsimhadeva. While some of the Murthis are catalogued by brit museum website, some like these I am cross referencing from other sources sites.google.com/site/100object…

This Hoysala era reclining Maha Vishnu lies smuggled away at the National museum of Denmark. This Pala era Uma Maheshwara sculpture lies smuggled away at the Cinquantenaire Museum in Belgium

On this very day 707 years ago in 1311 CE, one of the most glorious cities in Bharat, Dwarasamudra, the capital city of the Hoysala empire was besieged by eunuch islamic barbarian malik kafur under the orders of murderous islamic tyrant khilji. The city was reduced to dust. The Hoysala king at the time, Veera Ballala III was given 2 choices by islamic barbarian malik kafur in return to spare the lives of the people of the Hoysala kingdom. Choices being
1) convert to islam or die
2) pay an annual zimmah(tribute) to khilji.

Ancient Madhya Pradesh was truly the pinnacle of Hindu Architecture. Unbelievable this 1500 yr Varaha lay in ruins for over 600 years before being rediscovered in the early 18th century. The kind of treasures Bharat lost due to invasions is unquantifiable

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For benefit of those asking, this is from the 5th century Vishnu temple at Eran in Madhya Pradesh, one of the most glorious ancient cities of the Gupta Empire. Totally destroyed by islamic barbarians.

On the occasion of Vaikunta Ekadashi sharing a detailed #WalkToTemple thread on one of the most significant Shri Vaishnava Kshetrams, the Cheluvanarayana Swamy & Yoga Narasimha Swamy temples at Melukote, Karnataka. This is the entrance to the Cheluvanarayana Swamy temple. The main temple itself dates back to the pre-Hoysala era & enjoyed the patronage of later rulers of Vijayanagara empire & the Mysore Wadiyars. Shri Ramanujacharya spend a significant amount of time here. #WalkToTemple

This is the Bhoga Nandeeshwara Temple situated at Nandi village, at the foothills of Nandi hills, just on the outskirts of Bangalore. It is one of the oldest known temples of the area. Its construction was initiated by the very little known Nolambas, yet they ruled over 300 yrs. The temple continued to expand under the Cholas, the Pallavas, the Hoysalas & finally under the Vijayanagara empire it reached its zenith in size & grandeur. Every aforementioned kingdom left their signature mark on the temple's architecture.A fine blend not seen in other temples