Athirajendra Chola

Athirajendra Chola reigned for a very short period of few months as the Chola king succeeding his father Virarajendra Chola. His reign was marked by civil unrest, possibly religious in nature. Athirajendra Chola was last clan of Chola Dynasty. He was killed in the religious chaos. Athirajindra and Virarajendra Chola interfered in the Vengi succession disputes after the Vengi king Rajaraja Narendra, who was closely related to the Chola clan through his mother Kundavai, a daughter of Rajaraja Chola, died in 1061 CE. The Vengi throne went to Saktivarman II in a palace coup. The Cholas wanted the Chola influence re-established in Vengi. Saktivarman II was killed, but Vijayaditya, Saktivarman’s father assumed the throne and repulsed the Chola attempts at unseating him. Vijayaditya however accepted to serving as a Chola vassal.

Rajadhiraja Chola II

Rajadhiraja Chola II reigned as the Chola king succeeding Rajaraja Chola II. Rajaraja Chola II chose Rajadhiraja II, a grandson of Vikrama Chola as his heir in 1166 as he did not have any sons of his own who were old enough to ascend the throne

Arinjaya Chola

Arinjaya Chola was a chola ruler of the Chola kingdom. He was the third son of Parantaka I and the younger brother of Gandaraditya Chola, whom he is thought to have succeeded in about 956. Arinjaya seems to have ruled for a very short time

Nalankilli

Nalankilli was one of the Tamil kings of Early Cholas of the Chola Dynasty mentioned in Sangam Literature. He is the son of Karikala Chola. Nalankilli is mentioned in context with a civil war between him and another Chola king Nedunkilli. We have no

Rajadiraja Chola II

Rajadhiraja Chola II reigned as the Chola king succeeding Rajaraja Chola II. He was not the direct descendant of Rajaraja Chola II, but a grandson of Vikrama Chola by his daughter. Rajaraja Chola II chose Rajadhiraja as his heir as he did not have any

Nedunkilli

Nedunkilli was a Tamil king of the Early Cholas mentioned in Sangam Literature. Nedunkilli is mentioned in context with a civil war between him and another Chola Nalankilli. We have no definite details about this Chola or his reign. The only information

Kirtivarman II

Kirtivarman II also known as Rahappa was the last ruler in the Badami Chalukya dynasty. He succeeded his father Vikramaditya II. His reign was continuously troubled by the growing power of the Rashtrakutas and Pandyas and finally succumbed to them

Tamil literature in the Chola Empire

Chola literature, written in Tamil, is the literature created during the period of Chola reign in South India between the 9th and the 13th centuries CE. The age of the imperial Cholas was the most creative epoch of the history of South India and was the

Pallavi Seshayyar

Pallavi Seshayyer (1842–1909) was a composer of Carnatic music, who followed the traditions of the famous composer Tyagaraja. Seshayyar was a singer in the court of the king of Mysore. As a singer, he was an expert of the techniques of Ragam-Thanam

Kār Nāṟpatu

Kaar Narpathu is a Tamil poetic work belonging to the Eighteen Lesser Texts (Pathinenkilkanakku) anthology of Tamil literature. This belongs to the 'post Sangam period' corresponding to between 100 – 500 CE. Kar Narpathu contains forty poems written by

Diminish and Ascend

Diminish And Ascend is a welded aluminum stairway sculpture by David McCracken. It is permanently installed in the Christchurch Botanic Gardens in New Zealand. The sculpture is an optical illusion