Karikala (; ; Middle Tamil: Karikāḷa Cōḻaṉ (கரிகால சோழன்), often referred to as Karikala the Great and the Death to sin, was a Tamil Emperor of the Early Cholas of the Chola dynasty who ruled ancient Tamilakam (Modern day South India) from Uraiyur and then Puhar. He is credited with the construction of the flood banks of the river Kaveri and conquest of Tamilakam, Andhra and Sri Lanka. He is recognised as the greatest of the Early Cholas. The Thiruvalangadu plates of Rajendra Chola I, and the Thiruvilandur plates associated with Rajadhiraja I and his younger brother Rajendra II, include Karikala Chola in their genealogical accounts of the Chola dynasty. Several Telugu dynasties also claimed descendant from Karikala.
Sources The story of Karikala is mixed with legend and anecdotal information gleaned from Sangam literature. The period covered by the extant literature of the Sangam is not easy to determine with any measure of certainty.
Paṭṭiṉappālai, Poruṇarāṟṟuppaṭai and a number of individual poems in the Akanaṉūṟu and Purananuru have been the main source for the information that is attributed to Karikala.
There are many inscriptions and records found both in Tamil Nadu and Andhra Pradesh which mention Karikala and his conquests and the construction of flood banks along the Kaveri river. Many rulers and petty chiefs who came after him claimed him as their ancestor and decorated themselves as belonging to the Chola clan of Karikala and of the Kashyapa gotra. The following lines are taken from the Malepadu plates of Renadu Chola king Punyakumara,
"Dinakara-kula-mandar-achala-mandara-padapassya
Kavera-tanaya-velollamghanaprasamana-pramukn-adyanak-atisaya-karinah
Trairajya-sthitim-atmasat-kritavatah-karikala"
The above lines are translated as: "In the clan of Karikala, who was the Mandara tree on the Mandara mountain, viz., the solar clan; who was the worker of many wonders like controlling the daughter of Kaveri"
Early life Karikala was the son of Ilamcetcenni.Purananuru – 266 The name Karikalan has been held to mean "the man with the charred leg" and perpetuates the memory of a fire accident in the early years of his life. Some scholars also hold the view kari and kalan are Tamil words meaning "slayer of elephants". Poruṇarāṟṟuppaṭai describes the back-formed origin legend of this incident as follows:Old Sangam Age inscriptions and also sthala puranam of great ancient Saiva shrine at Parasalur, near Mayiladuthurai (erstwhile Mayavaram), says that, in order to escape the murder plot hatched by conspirators Karikal Valavan stayed there in disguise of a vedic and agama sastra lecturer for eight years.
Paṭṭiṉappālai, written in praise of Karikala also describes this incident, but without mention of the fable of the burnt limb:
Military conquests According to Silapathikaram, Indira vilavureduttakadai verses 89 to 110 Mentioned Karikala Chola Military Achivements:
According to Cilappatikaram, Nadukarkadai mentioned about Karikala Chola Successful North India Campaign and he received gifts from north Indian kingdoms by tributary it's follows:
According to verse 178 of the Kalingattuparani, Karikala Chola is said to have inscribed the tiger emblem on the Himalayas:
Battle of Venni
According to the Poruṇarāṟṟuppaṭai, Karikala Chola fought a great Battle of Venni in which both Pandyan and Cheran king Uthiyan Cheralathan suffered a defeat.See Majumdar, p 137 Although we know very little about the circumstances leading to this battle, there can be no doubt that it marked the turning point in Karikala's career, for in this battle he broke the back of the powerful confederacy formed against him.See Tripathi, p 458 Besides the two crowned kings of the Pandya and Chera countries, eleven minor chieftains took the opposing side in the campaign and shared defeat at the hands of Karikala.See Kulke and Rothermund, p 104 The Chera king, who was wounded on his back in the battle, committed suicide by starvation. Venni was the watershed in the career of Karikala which established him firmly on his throne and secured for him some sort of hegemony among the three crowned monarchs. Venni is also known as Vennipparandalai and now it is known as Kovilvenni and is situated near Needamangalam, 25 km away from Thanjavur.
According to Thiruvilandur Copper Plate verse, issued during the reigns of Rajadhiraja Chola I and his younger brother Rajendra Chola II:
Karikala’s Naval Power and the Battle of Venni — described in Purananuru - 66 by Venni Kuyathiyar:
Battle of Vahaipparandalai
According to Pattinapalai verse :
The Battle of Vahaipparandalai was a significant military engagement during the Sangam period in South India, fought by the Chola king Karikala. In this battle, Karikala Chola defeated confederacy of nine enemy chieftains, forcing them to submit. This victory, along with his earlier triumph at the Battle of Venni, solidified Karikala's dominance over the Tamil region and established him as a powerful ruler. Paranar, a contemporary of Karikala, in his poem from Agananuru mentions this incident without giving any information on the cause of the conflict.See Nilakanta Sastri, A History of South India, p112-113 The Confederacy of Nine kings and their vassals were defeated by him, Numerous Oliyars Submitted to him, the Pallavas of Kanchi and the Kurumbas were Compelled to accept his sovereignty. The Battle of Vahaiparantalai make karikala master of vast domination including Thondaimandalam. Pattinapalai mentioned the city was strong walls with Goddess of victory and karikala furnished with door tiger cryst engraved. Pattinapalai also said Karikala chola has no enemies that he left his capital puhar with sword and proceeded his rule north up to Himalayas. Bramanical sacrifice was encouraged in his rule and karikala patrone litterature. According to Seshadri sastri karikala reign was 113AD to 135 AD. Oliyar, Aruvalar, Vadavar, Kudavar, Tennavar, Poduvar, Irungovel were defeated in that battle of Vahaiparantalai. "The famous victor, the Sola, Karikal, protected the families of the Kurumbar who tend (flocks) onthe hill-tops". The poem also states karikala destroyed forests and turned into habbitable places. According to Paranar, the nine princess with large army who proposed karikala probably Kurumbas and they were defeated by Karikala in that battle.
Karikala is said to have shifted the Chola capital from Uraiyur to Kaveripattinam (Puhar), which provided access to naval power and facilitated foreign trade. The poet of the Pattinappalai describes the city and its prosperity during Karikala's reign.
Further Wars and Conquest of Ceylon
According to legends Karikala was one of the few Chola kings who won the whole of Ceylon (Lanka). The Grand anicut was built after his conquest over the Sinhalese kingdom and he used Sinhalese war prisoners for the hard task of moving stones from the mountains to the river bed of the Kaveri. The Pattinappalai also describes the destruction caused by Karikala's armies in the territories of his enemies and adds that as the result of these conflicts, the "Northerners and Westerners were depressed… and his flushed look of anger caused the Pandya’s strength to give way…". Conquest of Tondainadu and Andhra from Pallavas Based on numerous village records and Telugu Chola inscriptions found in Andhra, Karikala seems to have battled against a Pallava king named Trilochana Pallava or Mukhanti Pallava or Mukhanti Kaduvetti and captured Tondainadu, leaving the southern Telugu country to the Pallava king. The Pallava king who had Kanchi as his capital moved the capital to Kalahasti after losing Kanchi in the battle. The inscriptions also says that Karikala ordered Trilochana Pallava to come and assist him in building the flood banks along the Kaveri river. But the Pallava king who was ruling from Kalahasti declined to obey which made Karikala to declare war against him. Karikala won the battle and captured the Telugu country. During that time period, southern Andhra was covered with big forests which is not fit for cultivation. So, Karikala destroyed the forests and planted many villages. One of the villages is Pottapi, which was the most important village and hence the whole locality acquired in course of time the name Pottapi Nadu. Unlike Trilochana Pallava, Karikala Chola donated lands not only to Brahmins but also to the cultivators.
Grand Anicut
Sometime between the reign of Sinhalese monarch Vankanasika Tissa, Karikala, with a large army, invaded the island and took away 12,000 Sinhalese men to work as slaves to build the Kaveri Dam.
Later Chola kings attributed the building of dikes along the banks of the Kaveri to Karikala.History of ancient India, page 478: ..raising the banks of the Kaveri by Parakesari Karikala CholaProceedings of the Indian History Congress, Volume 39, page 156 The raising of the banks of the river Kaveri by Karikala is also mentioned by the Malepadu plates (seventh century CE) of the Telugu Chola sovereign of Renadu, Erigal-Mutturaju Punyakumara, who claims descent from Karikala: karuna – saroruha vihita – vilochana – pallava – trilochana pramukha kilapritvisvara karita kaveri tira (he who caused the banks of the Kaveri to be constructed by all the subordinate kings led by the Pallava Trilochana whose third eye was blinded by his lotus foot).
The Grand Anicut, also known as the Kallanai was built by Karikala and is considered one of the oldest water-diversion or water-regulator structures in the world which is still in use. The Kallanai is a massive dam of unhewn stone, 329 metres (1,080 ft) long and 20 metres (60 ft) wide, across the main stream of the Kaveri. The copper-plate charter of the Medieval Cholas records that Karikala “caused the Kavéri river to reach the ocean directly”. A later Chola record from Thiruvaduthurai inscription refers to this event that is raising the banks of the Kaveri by Parakesari Karikala Chola.
Perur Patteeswarar Temple
After his victory over the Northern kingdoms of Vatsa, Magadha and Avantika, Karikala returned to Tamil land and worshipped Lord Shiva at the Perur Pateeswarar Temple located at the banks of river Noyyal in present-day Coimbatore. Karikala was an ardent devotee of Lord Shiva. He is said to have done the Kumbhabhishekham (sanctification ritual) of the temple through a hundred golden vessels. A famous text named Perur Puranam was composed by Kachiyappa Munivar in Tamil on the origin of the temple.
Karikala Cholan Manimandapam
Karikala Cholan Manimandapam (memorial hall) was built in honour of the king who built the Grand Anicut. The hall designed as per Chola architecture style was built at a cost of 21 million. It features a bronze statue of the king.
Family and Legacy of Karikala There is very little information available about Karikala's personal life. The author of Pattinappalai, Uruttirangannanar, briefly mentions that Karikala enjoyed the company of women and children.The later annotator Naccinarkkiniyar, perhaps drawing from a reliable tradition, adds that Karikala married a Velir woman from Nangur, a place known in the poems of Tirumangai Alvar for the valor of its warriors.Nilakanda Sastry, The Colas 1955, pg.35
Karikala also had a daughter named Adimandi, who is the subject of several poems. After losing her husband, a Cera prince named Attan Atti, who drowned in the Kaveri river, Adimandi is said to have used her chastity to bring him back to life.
Religious Beliefs and Death of Karikala
Karikala's devotion to the Vedic religion and the deep sorrow surrounding his death are powerfully expressed in the following lines by the poet Karungulal Adanar.
Dating Karikala According to Nilakanta Sastri Karikala reigned in 190 CE.