Karunakara Tondaiman was a general of Chola Emperor

Kulottunga I Kulottunga I (;1025 CE - 1122 CE) also spelt Kulothunga (), was a Chola Emperor who reigned from 1070 CE to 1122 CE succeeding his cousin Athirajendra Chola. He also served as the Eastern Chalukya king from 1061 CE to 1118 CE, succeeding his f ...

. He is renowned for leading the Chola invasion of

Kalinga Kalinga may refer to: Geography, linguistics and/or ethnology * Kalinga (historical region), a historical region of India ** Kalinga (Mahabharata), an apocryphal kingdom mentioned in classical Indian literature ** Kalinga script, an ancient writ ...

during the reign of Kulottunga I and is the hero of

Jayamkondar Jayamkondar was the poet laureate of Kulottunga Chola I. He is renowned for the poem '' Kalingattu parani'', in which he describes the Chola-Kalinga war and celebrates the victory of the Chola king.Studies in Tamil Literature and History by V. R. ...

's poem '' Kalinkkattuparani'' In the ''Parani'' poem he is referred to as the lord of Vandai. while in the

Draksharamam Draksharamam is a village in Konaseema district of the Indian state of Andhra Pradesh. The Bhimeswara Swamy Temple in this town is one of the five temples of Shiva known as Pancharama Kshetras. Ashta Someswaras Eight lingas are consecrated in ...

inscription of Kulottunga I, he is called as Vanduvaraja and Pallavaraja. He also served as a minister under Kulothunga Chola's son and successor,

Vikrama Chola Vikrama Chola, known as Kō Parakēsari Varman, was a 12th-century ruler (''r. c''. 1118–1135 CE''The Cōḷas.'' 62-63.) of the Chola Empire in southern India. He succeeded his father Kulothunga I (''r. c.'' 1070–1120 CE) to the throne.''The ...

Personal life

According to the

inscription, his personal name was Thiruvarangan and he was the son of Sirilango of Vandalanjeri in Tirunaraiyur-nadu near Kumbakonam. He is described as a sadu(good)-vaishnava and is said to have built a

Vishnu Vishnu ( ; , ), also known as Narayana and Hari, is one of the principal deities of Hinduism. He is the supreme being within Vaishnavism, one of the major traditions within contemporary Hinduism. Vishnu is known as "The Preserver" withi ...

temple made of black stone in Alavely. Sir-ilan-kō is not a proper name but rather means the illustrious ''Yuvaraja''(crown-prince) and is quite often used to refer to Lakshmana in Vaishnavite works. A queen of his called Alagiyamanavalini Mangai Ālvār is known to us from an epigraph in the Varadarajaswami temple in

Kanchi Kanchipuram ('; ) also known as ''Conjeevaram,'' is a city in the Indian state of Tamil Nadu in the Tondaimandalam region, from Chennaithe capital of Tamil Nadu. Known as the ''City of Thousand Temples'', Kanchipuram is known for its templ ...

Lankan War

The Sri Lankan vassal of the Chola kingdom during the reign of Kulottunga Chola I had betrayed the Chola sovereign and had pledged allegiance to the Sinhala king in order to become the sole ruler of the Chola province in Ceylon. When this was brought to the attention of Kulottunga Chola I, the furious king had termed the traitor, "''Siva Drohi''", figuratively meaning ''traitor of the (

Shaivite Shaivism (; sa, शैवसम्प्रदायः, Śaivasampradāyaḥ) is one of the major Hindu traditions, which worships Shiva as the Supreme Being. One of the largest Hindu denominations, it incorporates many sub-traditions rangin ...

) Cholas''. Karunakara Tondaiman took this opportunity to show his loyalty and went on to plunder Lanka. The Karunakara Pillaiyar temple in the Jaffna peninsula was built after him. The village, Thondaimanaru, in Ceylon was also named after him.

Kalinga War

The Kalinga kingdom was then ruled by Eastern Ganga king Anantavarman Chodaganga Deva. When Kulottunga Chola held his court at

, it was brought to his attention that Anantavarman had failed to pay tribute on two occasions to the Chola sovereign. This was taken as a sign of slight for not recognising the Chola superiority and the King dispatched Karunakara Tondaiman to bring the Chalukya to his knees. Kulottunga Chola dispatched Karunakara Tondaiman to capture Anantavarman alive.

, then a young prince then, was a part of the force under Karunakara Tondaiman. According to tradition and the

Vaishnava Vaishnavism ( sa, वैष्णवसम्प्रदायः, Vaiṣṇavasampradāyaḥ) is one of the major Hindu denominations along with Shaivism, Shaktism, and Smartism. It is also called Vishnuism since it considers Vishnu as the ...

point of view, the Lord on (

Tirupati Tirupati () is a city in the Indian state of Andhra Pradesh. It is the administrative headquarters of the Tirupati district. The city is home to the important Hindu shrine of Tirumala Venkateswara Temple and other historic temples and is re ...

) had parted with his conch and the Sudarshana chakra to Karunākara Perumāl, the conqueror of

and the hero of

's Kalinkkattuparani.''Ancient India: collected essays on the literary and political history of Southern India, p. 215'' Karunakara Tondaiman defeated the Kalinga armies of Anantavarman and planted a pillar of victory in Kalinga (modern day

Odisha Odisha (English: , ), formerly Orissa ( the official name until 2011), is an Indian state located in Eastern India. It is the 8th largest state by area, and the 11th largest by population. The state has the third largest population of ...

). Anantavarman fled, never to be found again. From the ''Kalinkkattuparani'',

''Having thus laid waste the whole of the sea-coast kingdom of Kalinga, and planting there a pillar of victory,
Karunakara Tondaiman, the lord of Vandaiyar, returns and lies at the feet of his master all the spoils of war''

Nilakanta Sastri Kallidaikurichi Aiyah Nilakanta Sastri (12 August 1892 – 15 June 1975) was an Indian historian who wrote on South Indian history. Many of his books form the standard reference works on the subject. Sastri was acclaimed for his scholarship and ...

and M. Raghava Iyengar identify Vandainagar with Vanduvangarai near Kumbakonam while Dr. K.V Raman identifies it with Vandalur, an area in

Chennai Chennai (, ), formerly known as Madras ( the official name until 1996), is the capital city of Tamil Nadu, the southernmost Indian state. The largest city of the state in area and population, Chennai is located on the Coromandel Coast of th ...

Tamil Nadu Tamil Nadu (; , TN) is a state in southern India. It is the tenth largest Indian state by area and the sixth largest by population. Its capital and largest city is Chennai. Tamil Nadu is the home of the Tamil people, whose Tamil language ...

.''Ancient India: collected essays on the literary and political history of Southern India'', p. 146

Notes

{{Reflist

References

*''The Imperial and Asiatic quarterly review and oriental and colonial record'' By Oriental Institute (Woking, England), East India Association (London, England) *''History of the Eastern Chalukyas of Vengi, 610-1210 A.D.'', By Bhavaraju Venkatakrishna Rao, Bhāvarāju Vēṅkaṭakr̥ṣṇarāvu *''The Tamils in early Ceylon'', By C. Sivaratnam *''History of medieval Andhradesa'', By M. Krishna Kumari *''The Cōḷas'', By Kallidaikurichi Aiyah Nilakanta Sastri *''The Cholas: mathematics reconstructs the chronology'', By N. Sethuraman *''Sri Varadarajaswami Temple, Kanchi: A Study of Its History, Art and Architecture'', By K.V. Raman *''Ancient India: collected essays on the literary and political history of Southern India'', By Sakkottai Krishnaswami Aiyangar *''Studies in Tamil Literature and History'', By Ramachandra Dikshitar *''Tamil culture, Volume 4'', By Tamil Literature Society, Academy of Tamil Culture 11th-century Indian monarchs 12th-century Indian monarchs Pallava kings