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Ponniyin Selvan star Vikram praises Chola Dynasty: We should be proud of our culture and how far we've come

Chiyaan Vikram spoke about the greatness of Chola King Rajaraja I and his administration work during his reign. 

Ponniyin Selvan star Vikram praises Chola Dynasty: We should be proud of our culture and how far we've come
Madras Talkies/Instagram

Last Updated: 08.23 AM, Sep 25, 2022

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Time and again, we have seen several period dramas come on the big screen and enthral the audience in every possible way. For the first time and after several attempts, people will be able to see the story of the epic Chola Dynasty through the vision of Mani Ratnam. During the promotions of Ponniyin Selvan: Part 1, which is set to hit the big screens on September 30, 2022, in Mumbai, Vikram spoke about how important it is to show our history and culture to the present and future generations.

The talented actor stated, "See, everybody has an interest. Some people like science, astronomy, geography, and history, but I think the most important thing is history. As children, all of us have listened to stories of the past. We've been told stories about the past, about our kings. We've had such an illustrious past."

Sharing about the architecture of the Hindu temples built during the Chola Dynasty, Vikram said, "It's just a small thing that I want you to notice. We all talk about the pyramids and how they could have possibly built them. What did they do so many years ago? But did you know that while India has many temples, the one with the tallest gopuram is in Thanjavur, built during the Chola dynasty? That particular temple has the highest gopuram in the whole world. The top stone alone is a single stone that weighs 80 tons. How did they do it? But do we know that? We all go to the pyramids. Go see the Leaning Tower of Pisa. Someone said something very nice, 'We are actually appreciating a building that doesn't stand. It's falling over, and wow, let's take a picture. Let's take a selfie.' We're getting excited. But we have temples today that stand, and they didn't use plaster."

The Cobra actor further shared, "Do you know that before this particular stone, they had to use a ramp that was six kilometres long, which was pulled by bulls, elephants, and people? It was six kilometres long to get it up there without any machinery, without cranes, or anything. It withstood six earthquakes. What they have done is to have an outer wall. Then inside that, they have a corridor of six feet, which is an open distal corridor. And then they have another structure inside, which goes all the way to the top, which is why they can withstand earthquakes, which is why they have stood so long. So these are all things that we need to know about."

Talking about Rajaraja I and his greatness during the Chola Dynasty, Vikram also said, "This particular king built 5000 dams in his time. He created a water management ministry at that time. He's had elections for the village leaders. He's asked him to name cities after women; why should it only be men? Why can't it be named after the Queen? They've had free hospitals, and he used to give loans, used to help people get dignity, not just throw money around. So this is so illustrious, and it happened in the ninth century. In today's world, we talk about superpowers. All of this occurred in the ninth century, when we had the world's largest maritime. And it went all the way to Bali, all the way to Malaysia, and also to China. What was this superpower doing at the time? America hadn't been discovered by Columbus till 500 years later. When we think about our culture and how far we've come, we should be proud of it. It's nothing to do with North India, South India, or West India. We are Indians."

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