I'm about to start a longer playthrough to try and bring the Chola dynasty back to its earlier resplendence, but my impressions so far are that it's kind of slow-paced. You've got a gigantic area with few internal waterways that matter in-game, a whole bunch of religions that all get along with one another for the most part, and no way to start big wars besides chipping away with once-in-a-lifetime karma subjugations...IF you have neighbors of the same culture group.
On the flip side, you get crazy advanced empires thanks to Gurus and other mechanics reflecting India's intellectual gigantism of the period, and while holy warring your way to a blob isn't an option, there's all the opportunity in the world for marriage intrigue. I don't really like the Old Gods start for them, given that it's Romance of the Three Blobs, but I like the idea of building a kingdom that could stave off the Mongols and the Turks, slowly but surely. Like I said, it's a slow play style, which can be good or bad depending on the player. For people who tab in and out of the game while doing work, it's perfect.