With the accession of Rajaraja I (985-1014 AD) began the most glorious epoch of the Cholas. In this context,
The given headlines are described as below:
(a) Rajaraja defeated the Cheras and then he seized Madurai and captured the Pandya king Amarbhujanga. He also annexed Kalinga. He carried out powerful raids into the territory of Western Chalukyas also. He invaded the Island of Sri Lanka and annexed its northern parts. Towards the end of his reign he conquered Maldives. Thus, Rajaraja made himself the overlord of almost the whole of the present state of Tamil Nadu, parts of the State of Karnataka, its adjoining regions, Sri Lanka arid other islands.
(b) Rajaraja I was also a capable administrator, a great builder and a patron of arts and literature. A chief mark of his administrative system was an expansion of rural self-governing institutions. He constructed the famous Brihdeswara Temple (also known as ” Rajarajeshwara Temple) at Thanjavur. He endowed and built some Vishnu temples also. H0w worshiped Shiva, but was tolerant of other sects and religions, as is evident from the fact that he granted to a village to the Buddhist Vihara at Nagapattam in the Malay peninsula.
