Synopsis The Rajarajesvaram (Brihadisvara), the royal temple of the Cola monarch Rajaraja I, was the greatest monumental undertaking of the Colas. The inscriptions on its walls are a veritable registry of administrative details. The author, Dr. Geeta Vasudevan, has undertaken an indepth analysis of these inscriptions and examined the pivotal role of the royal temple in the economic, social, religious and political affairs of the empire. She convincingly puts forth the argument that the royal temples under the Middle Colas were instruments of imperial power and helped to enhance and consolidate Coal hegemony over a vast empire extending over 1000 kms from Andhra in the Noth to Northern Sri Lanka in the South. The thesis is also the first serious attempt to bring out the differences between bhakti temples (or temples sanctified through holy associations) and royal temples (or royal chapels of kings) ; the reasons the former have survived almost 1000 years as places of worship while many of