The rule of the Chola dynasty in South India between the ninth and thirteenth centuries was a period of unparalleled creativity in Indian art. Known as the Golden Age of Tamil Culture, the Chola period produced dynamic royal personalities who shaped the artistic activity of theirtimes. Art of the Imperial Cholas examines the dynasty's architectural and sculptural achievements, which stand among the masterpieces of India.

Study of the contributions of the queens of a medieval South Indian dynasty to the development of temple architecture, art, and sculpture.

The period of Early Cholas (850 A.D – 970 A.D) forms an important epoch in the history of Tamilnadu. Starting from a scratch the Early Chola rulers exerted to establish a vast empire by their conquests. Rulers like Vijayalaya I, Aditya I and Parantaka I were great warriors who built the Chola empire inch by inch. Vijayalaya conquered Tanjavur, Aditya I annexed Tondai-mandalam and Parantaka I occupied Madurai. During the reign of Parantaka I his empire extended up to Nellore in the north to Kanyakumari in the south. Though the Takkolam battle put a poke into the expansion of the Cholas, it did not exhaust the vitality of the Chola empire. The Cholas recovered remarkably from the disaster and emerged like a phoenix and rebuilt the empire quickly. The early Cholas are best remembered for their signal contribution in the sphere of local administration. The rules relating to the mode of local administration best averred in the celebrated Uttaramerur inscriptions were conceived during the reign of Parantaka Chola I. The Early Cholas also left their imprints on art, architecture and sculpture.

To scholars in the field, the need for an up-to-date overview of the art of South Asia has been apparent for decades. Although many regional and dynastic genres of Indic art are fairly well understood, the broad, overall representation of India's centuries of splendor has been lacking. The Art of Ancient India is the result of the author's aim to provide such a synthesis. Noted expert Sherman E. Lee has commented: –Not since Coomaraswamyês History of Indian and Indonesian Art (1927) has there been a survey of such completeness.” Indeed, this work restudies and reevaluates every frontier of ancient Indic art _ from its prehistoric roots up to the period of Muslim rule, from the Himalayan north to the tropical south, and from the earliest extant writing through the most modern scholarship on the subject. This dynamic survey-generously complemented with 775 illustrations, including 48 in full color and numerous architectural ground plans, and detailed maps and fine drawings, and further enhanced by its guide to Sanskrit, copious notes, extensive bibliography, and glossary of South Asian art terms-is the most comprehensive and most fully illustrated study of South Asian art available. The works and monuments included in this volume have been selected not only for their artistic merit but also in order to both provide general coverage and include transitional works that furnish the key to an all encompassing view of the art. An outstanding portrayal of ancient Indiaês highest intellectual and technical achievements, this volume is written for many audiences: scholars, for whom it provides an up-to-date background against which to examine their own areas of study; teachers and students of college level, for whom it supplies a complete summary of and a resource for their own deeper investigations into Indic art; and curious readers, for whom it gives a broad-based introduction to this fascinating area of world art.