Poetry In Stone|கல்லிலே கலைவண்ணம் கண்டோம் has posted a new item, 'There is only one Raja - and that's Raja Raja, but is this he? | ராஜனுக்கு ராஜன் ராஜ ராஜன் தான் - இது அவரா ?'
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There are few persona who can create such an sense of awe among history lovers, and in that select brand there are fewer still who inspire a sense of belonging amongst his followers a thousand year hence. The supreme among this select band is our very own Raja Raja Cholar - A King, who continues [...]
somewhere i read that ( sakthi/bhakthi/varamalar/anmeega malar)- this temple has the images of sembian madevi and this picture was published. Dont know how for it is correct?
Thevaaram.org has some details. But it dose not mention anything about sembian madevi.
Hate to spoil the fun with RRC. External observations of the Cholas has been less than generous, for obvious reasons as they were defeated. Here is an article that examines Chola and Pandya dynasty interaction with Eelam, and the records are extracts from Mahavamsa, which I believe was a contemporaneous recording of events.
This is a research paper written by Professor Spencer, and here is the proper citation:
The Politics of Plunder: The Cholas in Eleventh-Century Ceylon Author(s): George W. Spencer Source: The Journal of Asian Studies, Vol. 35, No. 3 (May, 1976), pp. 405-419
Here are some extracts.
There was apparently some Indian colonization of northern Ceylon during the Pallava period as well, for the Ceylon Chronicle refers to Tamil settlers in the early ninth century, and suggests that in time of crisis they would become a kind of fifth column, ready to join the Pandyan invaders against the Sinhalese.8Just such a crisis developed during the reign of King Sena i (ca. 833-851), when the Pandyan forces of great Mara Srivallabha landed in Ceylon. Local Tamils joined the invaders to capture the capital, Anuradhapura, with results described in the Chronicle:
/The Pandu King took away all valuables in the treasure house of the King and plundered what there was to plunder in vihara and town. In the Ratnapasada the golden image of the Master [Buddha], the two jewels which had been set as eyes in the stone [image of the] Prince of Sages, likewise the gold plates on the cetiya in the Thuparama, and the golden images here and there in the viharas-all these he took and deprived the Island of Lanka of her valuables, leaving the splendid town in a state as if it had been plundered by yakkhas./
Another extract from Mahavamsa quoted in the paper is:
/The Colas seized the Mahesi, the jewels, the diadem that the King had inherited, the whole of the [royal] ornaments, the priceless diamond bracelet, a gift of the gods, the unbreakable sword and the relic of the torn strip of cloth. But the Ruler himself, who had fled in fear to the jungle, they captured alive, with the pretence of making a treaty. Thereupon they sent the Monarch and all the treasures which had fallen into their hands at once to the Cola Monarch. In the three fraternities and in all Lanka [breaking open] the relic chambers, [they carried away] many costly images of gold, etc., and while they violently destroyed here and there all the monasteries, like blood-sucking yakkhas they took all the treasures of Lanka for themselves./
This paper makes an interesting reading for further discussion. You can download a pdf file of the entire article at one of the following links. [I hope to collect research papers on Cholas published in scholarly journals, and will be placing them in the same folder. I have several on related topics, and will place them in the same folder.]
can you show me one undefeated dynasty in the world ?
since anything connected with elam evokes strong feelings - would request not to interwine such into this.. a few years ago a learned scholar presented a similar view in a talk based on observations from the mahavamsa. while i do agree with that mahavamsa is a good parallel account of the other side and is a valuable counter ref, you must keep in mind that it was essentially a diary kept the buddhist monks and it is also THEIR view of things. i would request to you please read the full mahavamsa and not the concise one and see if it makes such clear sense to you. the victorious always turn up the volume when they sing praise and the conquered on atrocities. we cannot judge who is correct from reading one account, but by studying events at more depth.
coming to the citied paper - the start itself shows the shallow work done - " There was apparently some Indian colonization of northern Ceylon during the Pallava period as well, for the Ceylon Chronicle refers to Tamil settlers in the early ninth century, and suggests that in time of crisis they would become a kind of fifth column, ready to join the Pandyan invaders against the Sinhalese"
the whole line makes no sense at all. back to you, have you read sivagamiyin sabatham. if you had done you would have remembered the contribution of manavamman to naraishma's vatapi campaign - and if you had checked you would have found out that to repay this , narasimha pallava sent his army to reinstate manavamman on the lankan throne - he was an exiled lankan prince. so where is the question of tamil settlers and pandyas come in during the pallava period. the interactions happened much before and the story of the consecration of kanangi idol, gajabahu sync - pl study them to know the love hate relationship of the pandya and lankan dynasties.
coming to the chola part. what is referred here is a good example of biased reporting.
first of all again you have to keep in mind that RRc had just helped set up the buddhist vihara in nagai, would the same king plunder them in lanka. pl note the events that led to this was not an isolated incident. the chola pandya battle was fought for centuries. the pandya was defeated but until the diadem was with him someone would keep claiming the throne. he gave it to the his FRIEND, the lankan king for safe keeping - he too kept it for how long ? Sundara couldnt get it, Uttama couldnt ( did he search dont know) , RRC couldnt, and his son finally did it. but even then the lankan king was captured but not killed.
the tamil version of the above came in PS souvenier magazine. I would request you to please read this fantastic effort by vairam, who has worked to make my intitial sketch board into a broad paper. https://karkanirka.wordpress.com/2010/03/09/indra_aaram1/
I don't hold a particular view on matters such as the article I shared. I overlooked the Sri Lanka - Tamil sensitivity. If it inflamed any hard feelings, I do apologize.
I prefer to read broadly and share what I encounter. I was not suggesting what the author concludes or quotes is true or untrue. It is always a good idea to keep an open mind. Having said that, it appears that conquests were accompanied with collecting the wealth of the defeated. Can we be certain that the Cholas never plundered ?