Author: Vaandu Mama
Translator: Derpitron
There was a great Chola emperor Rajaraja cholan whose strength and valour are immeasurable. He belonged to the lineage of Vijayalaya Cholas and was their eighth descendant. During his rule, the Cholas had grown powerful with their territory extending all over the east coast of India and its northern limit was upto the Narmada river. Rajaraja chozhan is known for the great temple he had built in his capital city of Thanjavur.
There’s a story that explains the reason for building this temple. It’s said that once the king fell severely ill. Then he prayed to build a temple for Shiva if he gets well. Accordingly he built the temple when he was cured. But this is only a hearsay story without any evidence. The actual reason for building this temple was his devotion towards lord shiva.
In the Pallava city of Kanchi, there lived a sculptor named Somavarman. Once there was a big famine in the city and they couldn’t find any means to live. So Somavarman decided to leave Kanchi in search of some other kingdom where his sculpture skills would help him earn money. His wife who was pregnant then, also waited for her husband to arrive soon. But he didn’t return. The baby was born and he grew into a ten-year old boy who also became an eager sculptor like his father. When he knew about how his father had left Kanchi, that boy also set out to find his father.
Meanwhile at Thanjavur, preparations for building the temple had commenced. Sculptors from all over the kingdom came to the capital. The king had announced that the sculptors had to submit a model of the temple. The one whose model is the best would be given the chance to design the temple. There were sculptors among whom there was one exceptional sculptor. He had also designed the famous Meenakshi temple at Madurai. His hometown is Kanchi. That sculptor is none other than Somavarman. He also submitted his model of the temple and that impressed the king very much. So Rajaraja chozhan entrusted the responsibility of building the temple to Somavarman.
Then the young boy from Kanchi (referred to as Balasirpi) had set out on a journey to find his father. First he decided to come to Thanjavur since many sculptors had gathered there for the temple building activity. After a long journey Balasirpi reached Thanjavur. He was welcomed there by an old granny. She offered him food and asked him to rest for some time. In the afternoon a boy of about his age came there. He is that granny’s grandson named Kulasekaran. He too was a sculptor who works at the Thanjavur temple building site. He had come home for lunch. After lunch, both the boys were talking about sculpture and Rajaraja chozhan’s admiration for sculptures. Then they both went to the temple site. As Kulasekaran went for his work, Balasirpi visited the entire site. When he finally reached the basement, he was surprised. He went to Kulasekaran and asked who designed the basement. While Kulasekaran was explaining about the chief sculptor Somavarman, he arrived there. Balasirpi asked Somavarman whether he was sure if the basement he designed would support the temple. Everyone over there got surprised and upset about the boy’s impudence. However Somavarman only felt an unknown affection towards him. Anyway he ignored the question and got to his work. On returning home, that evening Kulasekaran also told Balasirpi that it was wrong that Balasirpi had asked such a question. Balasirpi replied that he couldn’t stay quiet after knowing the structure had mistakes. This made Kulasekaran amazed by his friend’s frankness.
The temple building activity progressed and one fine day, three layers of the temple were erected. Everyone praised the knowledge and talent of Somavarman. But the very next day, the structure collapsed. Then everyone was amazed and exclaimed about how that small boy’s words came true. Somavarman straight away went to Kulasekaran’s house to find Balasirpi. He wanted to know how that boy was able to predict this. But Kulasekaran’s granny said that both the boys had been to the neighbouring village and would return by evening. Somavarman said he’ll come later and left. On that evening, as they returned the boys came to know that the temple collapsed. Kulasekaran was impressed by his friend’s knowledge. When they came home, they came to know that Somavarman had been there in search of Balasirpi. They had dinner and before they could sleep, Balasirpi went to have a glass of milk which the granny had kept for him. To his surprise, Balasirpi saw the milk spilt all over the floor and a dead cat lying nearby. He realised that someone has poisoned the milk trying to kill him since they were jealous of his knowledge. So he immediately fled from that house. In the early hours of the next day, Somavarman came in search of Balasirpi. Only then Kulasekaran and his granny noticed the dead cat and spilt milk and realised that Balasirpi would’ve mistaken them to have poisoned the milk and hence ran away from the house. When Somavarman heard this, he asked Kulasekaran and his granny about the details of that young boy. They said that the boy was from Kanchi and they told his mother’s name and her story and how he had been here in search of his father. That was enough for Somavarman to understand that Balasirpi was his own son. He immediately left in search of the boy.
Meanwhile the boy ran hurriedly to where his legs took him. In the midst of darkness, he couldn’t see a thing. So the boy fell into a ditch which was covered with thorns. He got several bruises and was also exhausted and hungry. As he lay in there, he saw a faint image of a pair of eyes watching him from outside the ditch. It was a tiger. The tiger was waiting there for the sun to rise. In the dark, it wasn’t able to see how to get into the ditch. Balasirpi was very tense and sad that everything had come to an end like this. But at that time, he heard someone approaching. It was Somavarman. He jumped into the ditch without minding anything. Looking at that, the tiger also jumped in and there was a fierce combat between the tiger and Somavarman. Finally Somavarman strangled the tiger to death and fainted instantly. At the break of dawn, the nearby villagers had found the boy and Somavarman. They offered first aid and treated their wounds with herbs. When Somavarman became conscious, he told Balasirpi that he was the person Balasirpi had been searching for. The joy of that father and son knew no bounds.
Later, they went to the temple site and rectified it as per Balasirpi’s plans and the temple was erected majestically. The king was happy about how such a magnificent temple was built. He profusely rewarded all the sculptors with gifts and treasure. He specially rewarded Balasirpi and his father Somavarman. This is how the temple came into being and still stands tall to talk the laurels of our ancestors.