Page 89 - SST Class 06
P. 89

Chennai) and constructed the Ratha temples.              3. Narsimhavaraman     founded    the   town    of
            These temples have been carved out of a single              ___________  .
            rock and have one room only. These temples are           4. Vikramaditya was the son of ___________  .
            called the Ratha temples  because they are shaped
            like a ratha (chariot). These temples had a tall         5. The Chalukyas ruled over ___________   region of
            tower called shikhara  over the room in which the           the ___________  .
            image of the deity is placed. Gradually a large          Learning and Religion
            number of temples were built all over Deccan            The Pallava rulers were patrons of learning too.
            including villages.
                                                                    Sanskrit  was    fully  developed    and   was   an
                                                                    important language along with Tamil. Most of
                 Info Bits
                 Info Bits                                          their inscriptions are in Sanskrit. The temples were
                                                                    the chief centres of Sanskrit and Tamil learning.
            Under the Pallava dynasty, a unique form of             Dandin   was a famous author who has written
            Grantha script, a descendant of    script which is a    many Sanskrit books.
            type of Brahmic script, was used.
                                                                    Temples were not mere places of worship under
                                                                    the Pallava rule. They had a holistic viewpoint
            Activity
                                                                    towards all aspects of life, like social, cultural,
            On an outline map of India show the following :         economic, spiritual and educational. All religious

            1. The extent of Chalukya kingdom.                      rituals and ceremonies right from birth to death
                                                                    were held in temples. The schools and colleges
            2. The extent of Pallava kingdom.                       operated under temples. The village council,
            3. The towns of Vatapi, Mahabalipuram, Kanchi           called Mahasabha   , was also held in the temple
                                                                    premises. Temples were the important centres of
            4. The Narmada River
                                                                    activity during festivals.

                Quiz Time                                            Tamil Saints
            Fill in the blanks :                                    This period is marked by the emergence of Tamil
                                                                    saints who said that god could be worshipped by
            1. Hiuen-Tsang visited ___________      and wrote       praise and devotional songs. This type of worship
               about the ___________   .
                                                                    was called Bhakti  . These saints composed and
            2. The ___________    and ___________    kings were     sang hymns in praise of Vishnu and Shiva. For this
               Hindus.                                              purpose, they used Tamil, the common language
                                                                    of the people.






            v The two important dynasties in the Deccan were the Chalukyas and the Pallavas.
            v Pulakeshin II was the most important Chalukya ruler who defeated the Pallavas, but was later defeated and
               killed by Narsimhavarman.
            v The rulers in the Deccan had to be involved in constant wars.
            v The Chalukyas were tolerant towards all religions.
            v The Pallava kings were great patrons of art, learning and sculpture.
            v The Pallavas period temples have been carved out of a single rock are called the Ratha temples.
            v Temples during the Pallava rule were the centres of different activities.
            v The Tamil saints composed and sang hymns in praise of Vishnu, Shiva and God.

                                                                      Political Development : Chalukyas and Pallavas
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