Karikala Cholan Manimandapam, Kallanai, Trichy
Karikala Cholan Manimandapam (memorial hall) was built in honour of the Chola King Karikala who built the Grand Anicut. Karikala Chozhan Memorial Hall was located on the Eastern side of the Grand Anicut. It was built by Tamil Nadu Government in 2014.
Life History of Karikala Chola
Karikala Chola was a Chola king who ruled
in southern India during the Sangam period. He is recognized as the
greatest Kings of the Early Cholas.
Sources:
The story of Karikala is mixed with legend and anecdotal
information gleaned from Sangam literature. The only sources available are
the numerous mentions in Sangam poetry. The period covered by the extant
literature of the Sangam is unfortunately not easy to determine with any
measure of certainty. Pattinappalai, Porunararruppatai and a number of
individual poems in the Akananuru and Purananuru have been the
main source for the information that is attributed to Karikala. No authentic
records of Karikala's reign have been found so far. However, many rulers and
petty chiefs who came after him claimed him as their ancestor and decorated
themselves as belonging to the solar race of Karikala and of the Kashyapa
gotra.
Early Life:
Karikala Chola was the son of Chola King Ilam Chet
Chenni. 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".
Porunararruppatai describes
the back-formed origin legend of this incident as follows:
The king of Urayur Ilam Chet Chenni married a Velir princess
from Azhundur and she became pregnant and gave birth to Karikala. Ilam Chet Chenni
died soon after. Due to his young age, Karikala's right to the throne was
overlooked and there was political turmoil in the country. Karikala was exiled.
When normality returned, the Chola ministers sent a state elephant to look for
the prince. The elephant found the prince hiding in Karuvur. His political
opponents arrested and imprisoned him.
The prison was set on fire that night. Karikala escaped
the fire and, with the help of his uncle Irum-pitar-thalaiyan, defeated his
enemies. Karikala’s leg was scorched in the fire and from thence Karikala
became his name. Old Sangam Age inscriptions and also Sthala puranam of great
ancient Saiva shrine at Parasalur, near 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.
Pattinappalai, written in praise of Karikala also
describes this incident, but without mention of the fable of the burnt limb. Like
the Tiger cub with its sharp claws and its curved stripes growing (strong)
within the cage, his strength came to maturity (like wood in grain) while he
was in the bondage of his enemies. As the large-trunked elephant pulls down the
banks of the pit, and joins its mate, even so after deep and careful
consideration, he drew his sword, effected his escape by overpowering the
strong guard and attained his glorious heritage in due course.
Military Conquests:
Battle of Venni:
According to the Porunararruppatai, Karikala Chola
fought a great Battle of Venni in which both Pandya and Chera kings
suffered a defeat. 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. 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.
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 Kovil Venni and is situated near Thanjavur.
The battle is considered historical and dated approximately to 190 CE.
Further Wars and Conquests:
After the battle of Venni, Karikala had other
opportunities to exercise his arms. He defeated the confederacy of nine minor
chieftains in the battle of Vakaipparandalai. Paranar, a contemporary of
Karikala, in his poem from Akananuru mentions this incident without giving
any information on the cause of the conflict. According to legends Karikala was
one of the few Tamil 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".
Grand Anicut:
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. A later Chola record from Thiruvaduthurai
refers to this event that is raising the banks of the Kaveri by Parakesari
Karikala Chola. Later Chola kings attributed the building of dikes along the
banks of the Kaveri to Karikala. The raising of the banks of the
river Kaveri by Karikala is also mentioned by the Melapadu plates of
Punyakumara: 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 Trinetra
whose third eye was blinded by his lotus foot).
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 Tamil architecture style was built at a
cost of Rs. 2.10 crore. It features a bronze statue of the king seated on
elephant.
Connectivity
Karikala Cholan Manimandapam is located at about 2 Kms
from Thogur, 8.5 Kms from Lalgudi, 9 Kms from Lalgudi Railway Station, 9 Kms
from Lalgudi Bus Station, 12 Kms from Sarkarpalayam, 17 Kms from Trichy
Chatiram Bus Station, 18 Kms from Srirangam, 23 Kms from Trichy Central Bus
Stand, 24 Kms from Trichy Railway Junction and 24 Kms from Trichy Airport. From
Sarkarpalayam village, one can take the Sarkarpalayam – Kallanai road and 2 Kms
after reaching Thogur village, lies the Karikala Cholan Manimandapam. Taxis can
be hired from Trichy and Lalgudi.