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Incarnations: India in 50 Lives

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Incarnations: India in 50 Lives: Rajaraja Chola: Cults of the Imagination

Rajaraja Chola: Cults of the Imagination

21/05/2015

BBC Radio 4 - Incarnations: India in 50 Lives, Rajaraja Chola: Cults of the Imagination

Sunil Khilnani on the life of Rajaraja Chola, cult figure and self-styled king of kings.

Professor Sunil Khilnani, from the King's India Institute in London, finds connections with Rajaraja Chola, self-styled 'king of kings', in modern-day India.

Rajaraja was not the first of the Chola dynasty but he took their empire to its zenith - from a relatively small kingdom to the dominant empire in India. Professor Sunil Khilnani, from the King's India Institute in London, visits Tamil Nadu where he finds modern day connections with the ruler whose name means 'king of kings'. Professor Khilnani visits the temple at Thanjavur which Rajaraja built a thousand years ago and named after himself, utilising the profits of trade. "For Raja Raja had pulled off something that no Indian ruler before him seems to have done," says Professor Khilnani. "He'd commandeered trading boats, timber sailed craft and launched maritime expeditions, bringing far flung wealth back home." The king was lavish with his gifts and used his wealth to capture the imaginations of those he ruled. His most important gift to art history came at the temple's consecration: 60 portable icons of Lord Shiva, the Hindu deity.

Producer: Mark Savage
Researcher: Manu Pillai
With incidental music by the composer Talvin Singh
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