Gangaikonda Cholapuram was the capital city of Rajendra Chola, the greatest Chola king that ever lived. Born to an illustrious father, Raja Raja Chola, this mighty king ruled over large parts of south India over 1000 years ago. He wanted to anoint his new capital city with water from River Ganga. So he sent his army on a long expedition from Thanjavur in Tamil Nadu all the way to modernday Bangladesh. His army defeated many kingdoms en route, and brought back water from the holy river Ganga. He poured this water into a lake he built, the Chola Gangam, one of the largest manmade lakes in India till date. Gangaikonda Cholan literally means 'the Chola king who conquered the (plains of) River Ganga'. Rajendra Chola commanded the largest blue water navy in Indian history, and used it effectively to subdue Srivijaya, a southeast Asian kingdom that lay 3000 kilometres away. The magnificent Gangaikonda Cholapuram temple was built by him and it still stands tall as a charming celebration of his might and power.

#Storytrails #ThreeMinuteStorytrails #FiveMinuteStorytrails #History #India #IncredibleIndia #GangaikondaCholapuram #RajarajaChola #RajendraChola #Cholas #TamilNadu

If you liked this video, subscribe to our channel, and leave your comments below.

Become a Storytrails member and get access to a host of benefits: https://www.youtube.com/@storytrailsc...

Support us on Patreon   / storytrails_india  

Music credits: Mayank Kapri    / pahadisingshere  
Editing credits: Studio A, Chennai

Image credits
All images and video footage of Gangaikonda Cholapuram by Studio A

Brihadisvara Temple inscription reading "Rajaraja"
By David George Own work, CC BYSA 4.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index...

Rajendra Chola in Battle, Kolaramma Temple, Kolar
By WestCoastMusketeer Own work, CC BYSA 4.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index...

Brihadeeswarar Temple from the right side
By Nirinsanity Own work, CC BYSA 4.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index...

A Siamese painting depicting the Chola raid on Kedah.
By Everdawn at en.wikipedia Transferred from en.wikipedia, CC BYSA 3.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index...

Ornamented pillar Darasuram
By Ravichandar84 at English Wikipedia, CC BY 3.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index...

To experience more such stories of India, visit https://www.storytrails.in/
Or visit https://www.storytrails.app to download the stories to your mobile phone.

Storytrails is an awardwinning organisation that designs storybased walking tours, audio tours, local experiences and online learning programmes showcasing stories of India.

Follow our work on
  / storytrails  
  / storytrails  
  / storytrails  
  / wwwstorytrailsin  

If you liked our video, you will love our book, The Temple of Treasures and Other Incredible Tales of Indian Monuments. Find out more here: https://storytrails.in/books

Do write in to us with your feedback and suggestions: [email protected]