Thus, the best part of Parantaka’s reign was marked by increasing success
and prosperity, though it ended in disaster brought about by the hostility of
the Rashtrakutas. After Parantaka I there was confusion and disorder for
about 30 years. His successors were Ganaraditya, Arinjaya, Parantaka II and
Uttama Chola. Among the four, only Parantaka II is important, for he
recovered a part of the lost territory from the Rashtrakutas.
Rajaraja I Known originally by the name of Arumolivarman, he was the
son of Parantaka II. The real greatness of the Cholas began with him. He
defeated a confederation of the three king- doms of Pandya, Kerala and
Ceylon and occupied their territories. Destruction of Anuradhapura (capital of
Ceylon) after defeating Mahinda V led to the establishment of a Chola
province in north Ceylon with Polonnaruva as its capital. His annexation of a
few parts of modern Mysore (Gangas) intensified the conflict with the new
power of the Chalukyas of Kalyani. He invaded the Chalukya kingdom in
order to force the Chalukyas to retreat from Vengi, whose ruler was a Chola
ally. He also annexed the Maldives probably for securing the trade routes of
the Indian Ocean.
    He constructed the magnificent Siva or Brihadeesvara (also known as
Rajarajesvara) temple at Tanjore. Rajaraja I encouraged Sri Mara
Vijayottungavarman, the Sailendra ruler of Sri Vijaya (South-East Asia), to
build a Buddhist vihara at Nagapattinam.        The vihara was called ‘Chudamani