The Colas c35.61

c35.61

The influence of Cōḷa art on other countries, especially on Indo-China and the Far-East, is an interesting question to which we can make only a brief reference here. We have seen that the Cōḷa empire was in active communication along trade channels and otherwise with China and the Hindu states of Indo-China. It seems possible that the great temples of Angkor and these temples of Tanjore and Gaṅgaikoṇḍacōḷapuram had a mutual influence in their conception and execution, and belonged to the same line of evolution in religious architecture. A closer and more surprising parallel, nay, a regular copy, of Cōḷa architectural and sculptural designs has been pointed out by A. K. Coomaraswamy,⁴⁵ as found in old Zayton, modern Chuan Chou, opposite Formosa, where in an old temple of about the thirteenth century A.D. or later, he has discovered a plinth with mouldings very similar to those of a Cōḷa *upapīṭha* and sculptured panels of the *līlās* (sports) of Śiva and Kṛṣṇa on pillars (XI, figs. 20-A, B, C). This furnishes a glimpse into a little known chapter in the history of South Indian Art.