Raja Raja Chola's birth anniv to be celebrated as govt event on Nov 3: MK Stalin

Mani Ratnam’s magnum opus, Ponniyan Selvan-1, has not just set the cash registers ringing at ticket windows but the film has evoked a lot of interest in the powerful Chola dynasty. The Tamil Nadu government too seems to be under the spell of the Cholas.

On Wednesday (November 2), the Tamil Nadu Chief Minister M K Stalin announced that the birth anniversary of the Chola emperor, known as the King of Kings, Raja Raja Chola will be celebrated as a government event henceforth every year, on November 3.

In a statement, Stalin said that Raja Raja Chola’s birth anniversary is already celebrated as Sadhaya Vizha by several organisations in Thanjavur district. However, after “demands from various quarters”, the emperor’s birth anniversary will be celebrated as a government function from this year onwards, he said.

Also, the CM added that Raja Raja Chola’s memorial will be renovated and embellished soon. The reason the Raja Raja Chola’s birthday is observed as Sadhaya Vizha is because the emperor had been coronated on his birthday and his astrological star on that day was Sadhayam.

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Born as Arunmozhi Varman, this Chola emperor reigned from 985 CE to 1014 CE. He was the most powerful Tamil king in south India during his reign and is remembered for reinstating the powerful influence of the Cholas and ensuring its supremacy across the Indian Ocean.

Raja Raja Chola, being an able administrator, also built the Brihadeeswara temple at the Chola capital of Thanjavur, which attracts lakhs of devotees ever year. The temple is regarded as the foremost of all temples constructed in the medieval south Indian architectural style. In Ponniyin Selvan 1, Raja Raja Chola was portrayed by actor Jayam Ravi.

The film was a commercial success and rocked the box-office making record collections of over ₹450-crore in a matter of a few weeks. The film based on Kalki Krishnamurthy’s novel won critical acclaim as well. Though the Hindi version received a lukewarm response, the film performed exceptionally well in the Tamil, Telugu and Malayalam languages.

Row over Raja Raja Chola’s religious identity

However, a row broke out over Raja Raja Chola’s religious identity. Reputed Tamil director Vetrimaaran triggered the controversy when he criticised the filmmakers for depicting Raja Raja Chola as a Hindu king. Cinema as an art form has to be handled properly because  many of their identities were being erased, he said. “Be it cladding Thiruvalluvar in saffron, or presenting Rajaraja Cholan as a Hindu king, such things keep happening (in our society). This will also happen in cinema and many identities are (already) removed from the cinema. We should protect our identities,” he stressed, just days after the release of Ponniyan Selvan-1.

Responding to his statement, BJP leader H Raja claimed that Raja Raja Cholan was a Hindu king. He slammed Vetrimaaran stating that Raja Raja Cholan was an ardent devotee of Lord Shiva and called himself ‘Sivapadha Sekaran’. “I am not well versed with history like Vetrimaran, but let him point out two churches and mosques built by Raja Raja Cholan. He called himself Sivapadha Sekaran. Wasn’t he a Hindu then?” asked the BJP leader.

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Kamal Haasan, however, supported Vetrimaaran by stating, “There was no name called Hindu religion during Raja Raja Cholan’s period. There was Vainavam, Shivam and Samanam, and it was the Britishers who coined the term Hindu since they didn’t know how to refer to it collectively.”

Meanwhile, BL Santosh, the BJP national organisational secretary, reacted to the actor-turned-political leader’s statement and said, “Raja Raja Chola is the one who created the Brihadeeshwara temple in Tamil Nadu, and foolish people have started a debate over whether he’s Hindu.”

Further, he said, “There was no Tamil Nadu back then. There were the Chola dynasty, the Pallava dynasty and the Pandya dynasty. Then, how was Raja Raja Chola a Dravidian king? The Dravida issue is a political issue for selfish political reasons. Nothing Dravida there. Corruption and favouritism are Dravida.”