Indra Aaram Part 3: Capture of the Aaram

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This is a guest post By Mr.Vijay Kumar. Contents of his essay are edited by me to suit the taste of my readers and few additions are also made by me to add details to his post.

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Earlier we had seen that the Aaram was taken to Lanka by the Pandiya king and deposited to the Sri Lankan King.

This quest was continued by successors of Paranthaka. But even the famed Raja Raja couldn’t successfully invade Rohana situated in deep South of Lanka.

But his son Rajendra did the unthinkable of conquering Rohana and capturing the Pandya Crown jewels.

The Sri lankan King during reign of Raja raja was Mahinda. There was military upraising against him in Sri Lanka(991 AD), which made move south to Rohana which was an inacessiable hill country. Raja Raja took this opportunity to conquer the North Lanka(1005 AD). But he couldn’t succeed in capturing the crown jewels from Rohana.

In 1017 AD Rajendra the son of Raja Raja Chola invaded Lanka and as a result of his expedition Rajendra claims to have captured the crown of the kings of ceyon the exceedingly beautiful crowns of their queens, the fine crown and the garland of Indra which the Pandya had previously deposited with them(the kings of Ceylon), and the whole Ila madapam on the transparent sea.

We come to know this from his meikerthi which as below

பொருகடல் ஈழத்து அரசர்தம் முடியும்

ஆங்கவர் தேவியர் ஓங்கெழில் முடியும்
முன்னவர் பக்கல் தென்னவர் வைத்த
சுந்தர முடியும் இந்திரன் ஆரமும்
தெண்திரை ஈழ மண்டலம் முழுவதும்

The Karandai  plates say that “Rajendra conquered the king of Ceylon with a fierce army and seized his territory, his crown, his queen and her crown, his daughter, all his wealth, his transports, and the spotless garland of Indra and crown of Pandya left in his charge.”

This is also confirmed by Mahavamsa

“In his six and thirtieth year of king’s (Mahinda V) reign the colas seized the mahesi, the jewels, the diadem he had inherited, the whole of (royal ) ornaments, the priceless diamond bracelet, a gift of the gods, the unbreakable sword and the relic of the torn strip cloth.”

By capturing the Pandya crown jewels and having total control over the Pandya Kingdom, Rajendra established his own son as viceroy of the Pandya kingdom and gave him the title Chola Pandya(around 1018 AD). The newly appointed viceory was Jatavarman Sundara Chola Pandya. With this Rajendra thought he had completely destroyed the Pandya Kingdom and annexed it to Chola Kingdom.

But history proved him wrong as the Cholas after 200 years were thrown out of power by the Pandyas(by Jatavarman Sundara Pandyan I – http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jatavarman_Sundara_Pandyan).

Part 1: Unfinished Conquest

Part 2: Indra Aaram legends in literature.

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Reference:

Colas by K.A.N.Shastri

History of the Later cholas by Sri Sadasiva Pandaarathar

Then Indiya koil sasanangal

Thiruvilayadal puranam commentary by Vengadasamy Natar

Cilapathikaram commentary by Vengadasamy Natar

Cilapathikaram translation by Ramchandra Dikshitar

Cilapathikaram translation by Alien Danileou

Tamil traditions on Subrahamanya Muruga – Kamil Zvelebil

Tamil Temple Myths David Shulman

http://www.whatisindia.com/inscriptions/south_indian_inscriptions/volume_2/no_20_south_wall_1st_2nd_tiers.html

http://www.projectmadurai.org/pm_etexts/utf8/pmuni0134.html

http://www.whatisindia.com/inscriptions/south_indian_inscriptions/volume_3/copper_plates_at_tirukkalar.html#_ftnref7

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