The Colas c17.18

c17.18

It is probable that Rājarāja signalised the Cōḷa occupation of Ceylon by the construction of a stone temple of Śiva in Polonnaruwa. This 'beautiful little' Śiva Dēvāle, 'constructed of granite and lime-stone' which 'stands within the walled confines of the old city' of Polonnaruwa is among the few Hindu monuments of Ceylon, which are still in a good state of preservation; and 'its architectural form seems at once to class it with the Hindu fanes of South India erected from the tenth to the twelfth centuries, of which the great temple of Tanjore is the finest and most elaborate exponent.'³⁵ The earliest inscription found in this temple is dated early in Rājēndra I's reign. An officer from the Cōḷa country by name Tāḷi Kumaran built another temple called Rājarājēśvara at Mahātittha (Mantota), which was also named Rājarājāpura, and richly endowed the new temple.³⁶