This story is from August 2, 2016

Pandya kings patronised Saivites from MP

Southern kings approaching heads of religious mutts from the north to perform puja to win a war may sound odd.
Pandya kings patronised Saivites from MP
A priest performing puja on a Shivling. (TOI file photo by Mohammed Asad for representation)
KRISHNAGIRI: Southern kings approaching heads of religious mutts from the north to perform puja to win a war may sound odd. But a recent study traces the influence of the Saiva sects, which originated in Madhya Pradesh in the early 10th century, over the kingdoms of the erstwhile Pandya and Chola kings.
G Vijayavenugopal, a senior research fellow of the Ecole Francaise d'Extreme Orient, Puduchery who conducted the study said a few inscriptions found in Piranmalai temple of Mangaipakar, near Madurai, mentions a pontiff of Golakhi Mutt known as Parvathi Matam, who received gifts from the Pandyan king.
Based on this unpublished inscription, Vijayavenugopal traced some ancient Saiva sects such as Pasupada, Kalamukha, Kapalika and Mahavratins and the patronage extended to them by the Chola and Pandya kings.
An inscription from Arpakkam in Tiruvannamalai mentions the raid of Sinhalese generals on Rameswaram and their subsequent advancement towards the Chola country. "At this critical juncture, an official called Ethirili Chola Sambhuvaraya approached a Saivite pontiff called Umapathi Devar from Gauda Desa to perform a puja to help defeat the enemy. The pontiff performed a puja for 21 days and the war was won. For this, the Chola king Rajadhiraja donated the village Arpakkam to the pontiff," said Vijayavenugopal at the 26th annual conference of the Tamil Nadu Archaeological Society held recently at Kaveripattinam near Krishnagiri.
Similar incidents in history prove that the kings believed in the powers of the Saiva sects. "It was not only to spread Saivism that these sects migrated from Madhya Pradesh to the south during the 10th and 11th centuries. The idea was to conduct pujas for the victory of kings, for which they were well rewarded," he said. A similar incident happened in Kadwaha in Madhya Pradesh around 10th century when a king named Gobhata requested the pontiff of Mattamayura mutt to help him in the war.
"Accordingly the pontiff helped him. These incidents show the developments that have taken place later and the migration of these Saiva sects for similar purposes," said Vijayavenugopal.
The incidents narrated in Arpakkam happened before the Piranmalai Inscriptions. "It is highly likely that the Pandya king too requested the help of the chief of the Golakhi mutt to help him in the war with Ceylon. We need to interpret the inscriptions to reconstruct not only the history of the region but also the development of religion," he said.
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