8th Standard, Social/History CHAPTER-21
THE CHOLAS AND HOYSALAS OF DWARASAMUDRA
EXERCISES
I. Fill in the blanks with suitable words:
1. The capital of the Cholas was Thanjavur.
2. The committee of the villagers in every village during the period of the Cholas was Ur.
3. The most famous Chola educational centre or agrahara was Uttaramerur agrahara.
4. The temple in Begur near Bangalore built by the Cholas is the Choleshwara temple.
5. The army of bodyguards during the time of the Hoysalas was Garuda.
6. The poetic work written by Raghavanka Harishchandra Kavya.
II. Answer the following questions in brief:
7. Who was the founder of the Chola kingdom?
Answer: Karikala Chola is the founder of the Chola kingdom.
8. Write a note on the significant features of the Chola administration.
Answer: The Cholas had set up an able and efficient administrative system. The kingdom had been divided into mandalam, kotwangi, nadu, kurram or community of villages and tara-kurram. There was a committee of villagers called Ur in every village. The foremost quality of the Chola administration was the development of the self-governance of the village. The grama sabhas were the first sabhas. Tara-kurram was a village. Every kurram had a village committee named mahasabha. This was also called perumguri and its members perumakkal. The members were chosen through election. Only Sanskrit scholars and rich people were allowed to stand for election.
9. Describe the encouragement given by the Hoysalas to literature.
Answer: Hoysalas encouraged the Kannada literature. Kannada literature flourished immensely. Rudrabhatta wrote ‘Jagannatha Vijaya’, the great poet Janna wrote ‘Yashodhara Charite’, Harihara composed the Champu poem ‘Girija Kalyana’, Raghavanka authored ‘Harishchandra Kavya’ and Keshiraja wrote ‘Shabdamani Darpana’. Even in Sanskrit, memorable works were composed. Sreebhasya by Ramanujacharya and Parasharabhatta composed Sri Guna Ratnakosha.
Some more Questions and answers.
- Fill in the blanks.
- The Brihadeeshwara temple was built by Rajaraja Chola I
- The Cholas constructed the Bellandur Lake near Bangalore.
- Vishnuvardhana was theimportant Hoysala king.
- Vishnuvardhana earned the title ‘Talakadugonda’.
- Answer the following questions.
- What are the temples built by the Cholas?
Answer: The Cholas were Shaivites, and they built many Shiva temples. The Brihadeeshwara temple built by Rajaraja Chola I in Thanjavoor, is a very famous one. The Brihadeeshwara temple in Thanjavur is 500 feet tall and it is in a courtyard 250 feet wide. Its shikara is 200 feet tall. The Choleshwara temple was built by Rajendra Chola. The Aprameya temple near Channapatna, the Choleshwara temple in Begur near Bangalore and the Mukteshwara temple near Binnamangala are the temples built by the Cholas in Karnataka. The temples used to function as economic and cultural centres. The idols of Shiva, Ganapati, Vishnu, Durga and Kartikeya of this time are famous.
- What are lakes built by the Cholas?
Answer: The Cholas constructed many lakes, and the Bellandur lake near Bangalore is one of these. They built a huge pond in Gangaikonda Cholapuram.
- Who was the famous among the Hoysala Kings?
Answer: Vishnuvardhana was the famous among the Hoysala Kings.
- How did Hoysala kings encouraged agriculture?
Answer: To encourage agriculture, the Hoysalas built innumerable lakes like the Shanti Sagara, Ballalaraya Samudra, Vishnu Samudra etc gave the imporatance to agriculture.
- Write a short note about the administration system of Hosala Kings?
Answer: The Hoysalas had brought into practice provincial system of administration. The power of ruling was given to the Princess, Queens and the Royal family. The officials looked after the administration of the nadu and vishayas. In the villages, there used to be the representatives of the government like the gowda, senabova, talawara and others.
- How the architecture of Hoysalas is world famous?
Answer: The architecture of the Hoysalas is world-famous. The Hoysalas carved their innumerable sculptures in soap stone. There are five feature that can be seen in all their temples. They have the star shaped sanctum sanctorum, upapeetha (Jagati) decorative panels, shikara and pillers. There are beautiful idols of Madanikas (Shilabalikas) on the brakets of the pillars of Chennakeshava temple at Beluru.
- Which are the famous temples built by the Hoysalas?
Answer: Vishnuvardhana built the Kirtinarayan temple in Talakadu and the Chennakeshava (Vijayanarayana) temple at Belur. Ketamalla built the Hoysaleshwara temple at Halebidu. The Keshava temple constructed by Somadandanayaka at Somanathapura is famous. There are many temples and basadis in Arasikere, Govindanahalli, Doddagaddavalli and Bhadravati. All these are noted for their extremely delicate carving.
