Karikāl Chola's conquest of Kanchi and the expedition to the Himalayas

Part 1 : Karikal Chola who built Kallanai (Grand Anicut) was a contemporary of Adi Shankara

Part 2: History of Karikāl Chola and Iḷam Thirayan and the route to Kanchi gleaned from Sangam texts

Karikāla wrested Kanchi from Trilochana Pallava

Trilochana or Trinetra Pallava was the ruler of the Telugu districts to the south of the rivers Krishna and Tungabhadra with his capital at Dharaṇikota which is presently known as Amaravati. He was an ardent devotee of Lord Shiva. It is said that like Shiva, he possessed a Third eye which gave him the name Mukkanti – the three-eyed. He was against the growing popularity of Jainism and Buddhism at his time that he worked towards shunning them and developing Vedic practices. Several local records called Kaifiyat-s from different places of Andhra about this king and his services to the people were documented by N. Venkataramanayya in his book ‘Trilochana Pallava and Karikāla Chola’ published in 1929.

Trilochana Pallava was also known as Mukkanti- Kāduvetti for having cleared the forests to create habitats, particularly from the region between Pennar in the South and Nallamalai in the North. The Kaifiyat-s of Sara (Kurnool), Chaudeswari-Nandavaram (Cudappah), Bandar (Krishna), Mandredu, Karasāla, Mottupalli and Perāla (all these places in Guntur) refer to his work in clearing the forests to make towns and villages, digging ponds and canals, and building temples. These activities indicate the antiquated period when most regions of the Deccan were forested and uninhabitable. According to several Kaifiyat-s, Trilochana was ruling from Dharaṇikota and had control over Cudappah, Karnool, Nellore, Krishna and Guntur which extended up to Kanchi. His supremacy in this region was challenged by Karikāl Chola.

His defeat in the hands of Karikāla is mentioned in the Kaifiyat of the Palli community in Andhra. The Kaifiyat of Anantavaram (Guntur) refers to Karikāla as the successor of Trilochana Pallava. The Kaifiyat of Chittivale refers to the Chola invasion under Karikāla. The whole region between Pennar in the North and Thirumalai in the South was forested during Karikāla’s regime. Karikāla cleared the forests and made habitats, dug up tanks and embankments. One may tend to dismiss such actions of Karikāla found in Nava Choda Charitra of Telugu Chola-s as overstatement of the Chola pride, but the same appearing in several local Kaifiyat-s cannot be ignored as deliberate imagination. It must also be noted that the Sangam text ‘Pattinap pālai’ refers to Karikaala clearing the forests to create habitats (lines – 283-84)

காடு கொன்று நாடாக்கிக்

குளம் தொட்டு வளம் பெருக்கி

Some scholars earlier said that Pattinap pālai is in praise of some other Chola king, not Karikāla, but Kalingatthu Bharani states in no uncertain terms that Karikaal Chola gifted sixteen hundred thousand gold (coins) to the poet who composed Pattinap Pālai about him (verse 198)

தத்து நீர்வரால் குருமி வென்றதுந்

தழுவு செந்தமிழ்ப் பரிசில் வாணர்பொன்

பத்தொ டாறுநூ றாயி ரம்பெறப்

பண்டு பட்டினப் பாலை கொண்டதும்

After winning the kings of the other two Tamil dynasties and several local Tamil chieftains, Karikāl Chola turned his attention to North. He brought Kanchi under the Chola domain and appointed Iḷam Thirayan, his cousin as its ruler. Since Karikāl Chola is remembered in Tiruvālangādu plates as one who remodeled Kanchi with gold, it is not possible to assume Iḷam Thirayan as the Chola King Rājasena mentioned in Shankara Vijaya Vilāsa.

The absence of reference to Varadaraja Swami temple in the Sangam verse on Iḷam Thirayan also speaks of an early time after the capture of Kanchi when the city was not re-designed. Sometime after the composition of that verse Adi Shankara arrived at Kanchi. On hearing about his arrival, Karikāl Chola paid a visit to him and as a staunch Vedic person, Karikāla carried out every request made by Adi Shankara.

Only after he built the Kāmākshi temple as per the advice of Adi Shankara, he must have made his northern expedition.

Karikāla’s northern expedition

It has been a practice among the Tamil kings to reach the Himalayas and engrave their emblem on top of the peak as a mark of supremacy over others. Generally, this was done after a king brought the other two Tamil domains under his control. The Pandyan king, Konnavil Kon Nedumāran was perhaps the earliest Tamil ruler to do so after he established his rule over the other two Tamil regions. He perhaps belonged to Southern Madurai which was not even part of Bharat. His feat of going to the Himalayas is mentioned in a series of verses from an ancient composition quoted by Nakkīrar in his commentary to Irayanār Agapporul.

Among the Chera kings, Senguttuvan (செங்குட்டுவன்) repeated that feat. Before him, Imaya Varamban Nedum Cheralaathan (இமய வரம்பன் நெடும் சேரலாதன்) had gone to the Himalayan peak to stamp his emblem. (Padhigam of 2^nd Patthu of Paripādal). This king was said to be the husband of Karikāl Chola’s granddaughter.

After winning and renovating Kanchi on the advice of Adi Shankara, Karikāla must have undertaken his northern journey. This can be said with certainty because he visited the temple of bangled Kāmākshi Devi to get the weapon, Cheṇḍu for chiseling the emblem on the mountain.

While passing through Andhra, he conquered many places and established Chola rule. The conquests of Karikāla of the regions of Andhra mentioned in the Kaifiyat-s must have happened when he passed through those places towards North. Kaifiyat of Pottapi (Cudappah) says that Karikāla cleared the forests of Karigiri Hill and created many towns which were clubbed together as Pottapi nādu.

From the Kaifiyat of Nyāyakallu (Bellary) we learn that Karikāl Chola built 101 temples for Shiva and created Agrahara-s. There is even a story of Karikāla’s son having killed a Brahmin. Kaifiyat of Divvur mentions Karikāl Chola as the king of that region. Several such Kaifiyat-s refer to Karikāla clearing the forests or making new habitats or renewing old habitats or building temples or renovating old temples or building tanks and dams.

All these works in Andhra region are un-reported in Tamil sources but are nevertheless reliable because Karikāla had crossed these regions to reach North India. As far as Tamil sources are concerned, Vikrama Cholan Ula refers to Senni having engraved the tiger emblem on the Himalayas (line- 25)

தெள்ளருவிச்

சென்னிப் புலியே திருத்திக் கிரி திரித்து

Rajaraja Cholan Ula also says the same (lines- 33-34)

கல் மலை மார்பும் கடவுள் வட மேருப்

பொன் மலை மார்பும் புலி பொறித்தோன்

Kaliṅgatthu Bharani also mentions about Karikaal Chola engraving his emblem on the Himalayas using the weapon, Cheṇḍu (verse 178).

செண்டு கொண்டு கரிகாலன் ஒருகாலின் இமயச்

சிமய மால்வரை திரிட்தருளி மீள

In Silappadhikaram, there are references to three countries of the North visited by Karikāl Chola where he received some special gifts. Those gifts were exhibited in Pūmpukār during the Indra Festival, reports Silappadhikaram.

The king of Vajra desa offered him a pearl canopy (முத்துப் பந்தர்). The Magadha king gave him a Vidya Mandapa (வித்தியா மண்டபம்). The king of Avanti gifted him a Torana (தோரண வாயில்). A special feature about these gifts is that they were made by artisans whose ancestors learnt the art of making them from none other than Mayan who taught them the techniques of making them in return for the help those ancestors rendered to him. (Si: ch 5- lines 105 to 107). This could be a reference to the Mahabharata period when Mayan, rescued by Arjuna and Krishna from Khāndava vana fire offered to build Maya-Sabha. The artisans who helped them had retained the knowledge of the techniques they learned from Mayan and passed on to their descendants.

That knowledge was alive until Karikāla-s time that he was gifted artifacts that retained the stamp of Mayan. Of the three gifts mentioned, only Torana appears familiar to us as they are still found in Buddhist shrines.

 Torana of Sanchi Stupa in Madhya Pradesh

Avanti in Madhya Pradesh seems to be well known for Torana art. Something like the Torana of Sanchi was given to Karikāla. This Torana design and art belonged to the pre-common era.

The three places visited by Karikāla were part of the 16 Janapada-s. Of these, the location of Vajra is unknown. Among the Janapada-s, a country by name Vajji appears. Vajji-s or Vraji-s are mentioned by Paṇini and Kautilya but the location is not exactly known. In Silappadhikaram, it is mentioned as Vajra surrounded by water. Some scholars place it in Bengal and some on the banks of Son River. But considering the route taken by Karikāl Chola, this writer suggests that Vajra was the country of Vajra, the great grandson of Krishna. It was Indraprastha of the old and New Delhi of the current times. Its location on the banks of river Yamuna fulfils the description of Silappadhikaram.

If we place Vajra in Bengal or in Son or near Nepal as some claimed that it is related to Liccāvi-s, it is found away from the expected path taken by Karikāl Chola. The probable route is shown in the map.

    Karikāla-s route of northern expedition

From Pūmpukār, Karikāla went to Kanchi where he worshiped Kāmākshi Devi and acquired the Cheṇḍu. From there he passed through the regions once held by Trilochana Pallava. Since there is no evidence of winning Dharaṇikota, he could have skipped that region and gone further north. Both Magadha and Avanti appearing in his itinerary, he could be expected to have passed through one of them at a time and crossed the other in the return journey (the red line represents the probable onward journey for illustrative purpose). In both onward and return journeys he could have crossed Vajra Desa if it was the same as Indraprastha. From Indraprastha, he had gone to Amarnath peak to engrave his symbol. On the return journey, he could have passed through Indraprastha and went to Magadha from where he turned southward.

This journey could have been through land and not through the sea though there is a Purananuru verse praising him for having a naval fleet (66^th verse). The numerous Kiyafat-s showing his presence in the entire Andhra region and his visit to the three important countries of the North show that he had taken a land-bound route.

(to be continued)