Chennai: Prime Minister Narendra Modi has announced that the government will install statues of Raja Raja Chola, who ruled the Chola empire at its peak in the 10th and early 11th centuries, and his son Rajendra Chola I in Tamil Nadu in the upcoming years.
On Sunday, participating in the Aadi Thiruvathirai Festival at Tamil Nadu’s Gangaikonda Cholapuram temple, established by Rajendra Chola I in the then-capital of the Chola Empire, Prime Minister Modi said the statues would “serve as modern pillars of India’s historical consciousness”. Honouring Rajendra Chola I, he also released a commemorative coin at the temple, which is now celebrating its 1,000th anniversary.
Addressing the people gathered, Modi harked back to the installation of the Sengol in the new Parliament building. A gold-plated, silver sceptre, the Sengol was earlier housed at the Allahabad Museum. Emissaries from the Thiruvaduthurai Adheenam Matha, a Shaivite monastery, are believed to have had brought the Sengol to North India. Since then, the Sengol had been lying in the Allahabad museum for decades before it hit the headlines in 2023, when Modi, along with Hindu priests heading the 20 Adheenams in Tamil Nadu, installed it near the Lok Sabha Speaker’s chair.
“During the inauguration of the new Parliament building, the saints from the Shaivite Adheenams led the ceremony spiritually. The sacred Sengol, deeply rooted in Tamil culture, has been ceremoniously installed in the new Parliament,” Modi said, emphasising that the Shaivite tradition in the state had played a key role in shaping the country’s cultural identity. “Chola emperors were key architects of this legacy. Even today, Tamil Nadu remains one of the most significant centres—where this living tradition continues to thrive.”
Political analysts in the state, however, say the PM’s address is an extension of the BJP’s efforts to gain a foothold in Tamil Nadu.
“They (BJP leaders) have been trying to leverage the worship of Lord Vinayagar (Tamil Nadu’s Ganesha) through the Vinayagar Chaturthi festival (also known as Ganesh Chaturthi) for a long time, and for the last couple of years, they have tried to leverage Murugan (Ganesha’s brother and god of war and victory). Now, they have taken the Shaivite tradition and Lord Shiva to appease the people of Tamil Nadu and bring everyone under one umbrella as Hindus,” said A. Ramasamy, a political analyst and former head of Tamil department at Manonmaniam Sundaranar University.
However, BJP leaders in the state said that it was not about politics and that analysts are misreading intentions.
Speaking to ThePrint, the BJP’s former Tamil Nadu president, Tamilisai Soundararajan, said that the PM’s visit demonstrated that history and legacy matter.
“Gangaikonda Cholapuram temple was a historically important temple, built 1,000 years ago, and the Prime Minister visiting it was a symbol of celebrating the past, and it has nothing to do with politics. By the visit of the Prime Minister to a small district, like Gangaikonda Cholapuram, the city has got the light of the country, and [I] hope it regains its past glory,” she told ThePrint.
‘Chola Empire advanced democratic traditions’
Stating that the history and heritage of the Chola Empire proclaim the true potential of India, the PM said, “The legacy of Raja Raja Chola and Rajendra Chola is synonymous with India’s identity and pride.”
He also said that it was the Chola Empire, which implemented democratic election practices first, centuries before Britain’s Magna Carta came into being. “While historians speak of Britain’s Magna Carta in the context of democracy, the Chola empire had implemented democratic election practices centuries earlier, through the Kudavolai Amaippu system,” he said, adding that the Chola Empire also advanced India’s democratic traditions but had often been overlooked in global narratives.
Under the Kudavolai Amaippu system, the names of contestants for membership of the village ‘Maha Sabhas’ were written on palm leaves, with the winner selected by a lucky lot drawn in front of all villagers.
The Prime Minister also highlighted a belief that Rajendra Chola I transported Ganga water from North India to South India. “While many are remembered for acquiring gold, silver, or livestock from other regions, Rajendra Chola is recognised for bringing sacred Ganga water. Rajendra Chola transported Ganga water from North India and established it in the South,” Modi said.
The Prime Minister also highlighted the Union government’s Kashi Tamil Sangamam and Saurashtra Tamil Sangamam programmes.“The Chola rulers have woven a thread of cultural unity across India. Today, our government is carrying forward the ideals from the Chola era,” the PM said.
he also emphasised that the Shaivite philosophy would pave the way for meaningful solutions for several crises. Referring to the teachings of Tirumular, who wrote ‘Anbe Sivam’, meaning ‘Love is Shiva’, he said that “had the world embraced this thought, many crises could resolve on their own”. India, he proclaimed, is currently advancing this philosophy through the motto, ‘One world, One Family, One Future’.
(Edited by Madhurita Goswami)
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