Though the great Cholas are no more yet their name is still remembered with great pride because of their highest achievements in the domain of art and architecture. Comment. (Answer in 250 words)

Introduction

The Imperial Cholas transformed temple building into an expression of sacred kingship, engineering skill, artistic excellence and institutional power.

Architecture

• Rajaraja I’s Brihadisvara Temple at Thanjavur established the monumental Dravidian vimana as an architectural landmark.
• Rajendra I’s Gangaikondacholapuram and the Airavatesvara Temple at Darasuram refined proportion, sculptural detail and spatial planning.
• Massive granite construction, corbelled engineering, axial layouts, enclosure walls and integrated water systems reveal high technical capacity.
• Temples functioned as religious, economic and cultural institutions, linking land grants, craft production, education and redistribution.

Artistic achievements

• Chola bronze casting, especially the Nataraja, achieved exceptional balance, movement and devotional symbolism through the lost-wax technique.
• Stone sculpture, mural painting and iconographic programmes integrated mythology with royal and social narratives.
• Inscriptional records provide evidence of administration, donations, guilds, dance and temple management.

Comment

These achievements shaped later South Indian and Southeast Asian traditions. Yet their splendour rested partly on agrarian surplus, labour and hierarchical institutions; appreciation should therefore combine aesthetic admiration with historical context.

Keywords: Brihadisvara, Dravidian architecture, Nataraja, lost-wax, temple economy, inscriptions.