Raja Raja Chola and Rajiv Gandhi

by Guest Tue Apr 11, 2017 8:53 pm

Reading this blog about (a theory of) how Raja Raja Chola died reminded me of Rajiv Gandhi's death.:

In Indian history, King Raja Raja Chola occupies a special place. A fierce warrior, a brilliant architect, a great philanthropist, but most of all, a man whose death is shrouded in mystery. He is known as the first Dravidian king who documented almost his entire life on stone inscriptions and copper plates, but no information is available about his death. It almost feels like a great king simply vanished into thin air, after a certain point in time....

I contacted several archeologists and they told me that the primary reason why a King's death would not recorded is if the King died an unnatural death. For example, if a King committed suicide or was murdered, then the ancient Tamils would not record that. I spoke to a lot of locals in Thanjavur to see if anyone knew how he died. After all, this city still has a considerable population whose ancestors were a part of the Chola kingdom. It is astonishing to see how many people still do the same line of work like their forefathers, like dancing or priesthood, even after 1000 years.

The locals tell a very different, but consistent story. I have given an example of this account in my video, around the 4:24 mark. It turns out that Raja Raja was actually murdered by a woman from Sri Lanka. In 993 A.D, Raja Raja conquered half of Sri Lanka and the defeated King Mahinda V fled to the south, to avoid being captured. Unable to defeat Raja Raja in the battlefield, King Mahinda sent a Buddhist woman from Sri Lanka who slowly got into the inner circle of Raja Raja. When Raja Raja was standing on the 8th floor inspecting the progress of the Big Temple, she simply pushed him down. This fall killed him instantly. People claim this is why the temple was not properly finished, a fact confirmed by archeologists. Some of the unfinished paintings in the upper levels show Raja Raja's international connections, like the mysterious French King sculpture on the outside. We might have also gotten more information about the Chola drilling technology, had the temple been finished.

This is why his son, Rajendra Chola created a whole new capital in a different city because he thought that Thanjavur was a cursed place. This story also explains why Rajendra Chola went after Sri Lanka with a vengeance, conquering the entire island. He then found King Mahinda who was hiding, brought him back and kept him as a lifelong prisoner. King Mahinda V died in this prison around 1029 A.D. This prison is rumored to be somewhere near the Royal Palace of Rajendra Chola, which is in ruins near the village of Gangaikonda Cholapuram.

http://www.phenomenalplace.com/2015/12/indian-king-raja-raja-cholas-mysterious.html

by Kayalvizhi Tue Apr 11, 2017 11:21 pm

good post

by ashdoc Wed Apr 12, 2017 2:34 am

Kayalvizhi wrote:good post

A devotee od lord shiva , the king was a true Indian who spread Indian culture outside India.

by Kayalvizhi Wed Apr 12, 2017 10:47 am

ashdoc wrote:
Kayalvizhi wrote:good post
the king was a true Indian who spread Indian culture outside India.

WRONG, WRONG, WRONG.

King Raja Raja Cholan spread TAMIL culture outside Tamil Nadu including outside South Asia.

He defeated northern Kings all the way to Bengal. His relationship with north was not friendly.

by Guest Wed Apr 12, 2017 10:59 am

Kayalvizhi wrote:
ashdoc wrote:
Kayalvizhi wrote:good post
the king was a true Indian who spread Indian culture outside India.

WRONG, WRONG, WRONG.

King Raja Raja Cholan spread TAMIL culture outside Tamil Nadu including outside South Asia.

He defeated northern Kings all the way to Bengal. His relationship with north was not friendly.

Renowned historian R. Champakalakshmi, Professor Emeritus in Ancient History in the Centre for Historical Studies in Jawaharlal Nehru University, was in the city to address a meeting organised by the Tamil Nadu Chapter of Indian National Trust for Art and Cultural Heritage (INTACH) recently.

Ms. Champakalakshmi is a recipient of H. L. Gupta Research Award for her book on South Indian urbanisation. She is on the Board of Trustees of a research organisation, MOZHI (Chennai), working on various projects in Tamil language and culture. She found time to speak to The Hindu .

As a historian of ancient studies how do you look at the Tamil political discourse, especially the Dravidian, which, instead of looking at the future, always harps on the golden past and comes out with symbols (Raja Raja Chola, Karikala Chola) to recreate the myth?

“Glorification of the past is not necessary at all, as part of the governance you can use the past, if there are visible remains of that particular era. In fact, Raja Raja Cholan never did anything great for the Tamil cause, but in terms of his administrative aspects what he did was great. For example, the revenue model, tax collection and land administration could be passed on to the coming generations.”

Chola period did see the emergence of an emotional, powerful, hymnical literature. The complexity of land rights in south India is one of the areas of literature that could be explored by scholars.” Discussing the competition among various castes in Tamil Nadu to appropriate the past and claim that Cholas belonged to their own caste, Dr. Champakalakshmi said, “There is no validity in such claims by different caste groups who are trying to appropriate the identity of Raja Raja Cholan. Since they claimed Kshatriya status and employed Brahmins as their priests, Cholas were very much part of the Brahmanical order and the alliance is important. Varna is the theoretical premise of Brahmanism and they were made to use that to claim Kshatriya legitimacy.”

“Moreover it was during the Chola regime that local temples were brahmanised and theories of Varna were used to show that they were the upper castes. Temples were then job providers and gave a sense of belonging to the social order. Temples were part of the spatial order, but there was enough space to elevate existing caste groups through the spiritual. It is how Vellalas and Kaikolars later got into the temple administration. However, it was a parallel authority structure where spiritual functioned on one side but the political, on the other, prevented such elevation.”

http://www.thehindu.com/todays-paper/tp-national/tp-tamilnadu/glorification-of-the-past-not-necessary-says-historian/article4374574.ece

by Kayalvizhi Wed Apr 12, 2017 11:11 am

It is true that northern religious practices entered Tamil Nadu between the Third Tamil Academy das and the Imperial Chola dynast days.

Yet it is in the name of Tamil Nadu he defeated northeern kings and spread launched the Tamil flag (Tiger flag) in northern South Asia and Southeast Asia.

We respect Raja Raja Cholan.

by Kayalvizhi Wed Apr 12, 2017 11:13 am

>>> Renowned historian R. Champakalakshmi

Never heard of the renowned ...

by Guest Wed Apr 12, 2017 11:20 am

Kayalvizhi wrote:It is true that northern religious practices entered Tamil Nadu between the Third Tamil Academy das and the Imperial Chola dynast days.

Yet it is in the name of Tamil Nadu he defeated northeern kings and spread launched the Tamil flag (Tiger flag) in northern South Asia and Southeast Asia.

We respect Raja Raja Cholan.

Raja Raja thought North Indian vadama brahmins were superior to the local brahmins in terms of their knowledge of hindu rituals. Consequently, Vadama brahmins were patronized by him. See this:

https://orientviews.wordpress.com/2013/10/02/native-brahmins-and-non-native-brahmins/

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