Chulamanipanma Vihare of Nagapattinam, Tamil Nadu

Author - Virarajendra
www.forumhub.com/tnhistory


Chulamanipanma Vihare of Nagapattinam, Tamil Nadu

With the beginning of the tenth century the Cholas with their capital in Thanjavur in Tamil Nadu, emerged as a powerful ruling dynasty after a long spell in partial obscurity in the political scene of South India.

In the year A.D.985 king Rajaraja Chola -1(A.D.985-1014) ascended the throne as the next successor of the Chola kingdom. He gradually conquered the neighbouring and far lying territories within the Indian continent forming a great Chola empire.

He laid a firm foundation to this empire by the wits of his political ingenuity and well streamlined administrative system backed by a powerful army and naval power which made it to grow steadily into an overseas empire.

During this period in South-East Asia there existed the mighty Sri Vijayan empire ruled by a royal dynasty named the Sailendras. This kingdom of Sri Vijaya was located at the lower part of Sumatra in Indonesia, with its capital in the present Palembang.

At the time of Rajaraja on the Chola throne, the Sailendra king Chulamanivarman(A.D. 998-1008) was ruling the Sri Vijaya empire, which encompassed the whole of Sumatra.

In the same period in Malaysia there existed the famed kingdom of Kadaram covering the present Kedah and Perak states adjoining the sea in the north-west coast of the peninsular Malaysia.

However during the period of Rajaraja Chola, the kingdom of Kadarem too came under the sway of the Sri Vijaya empire of Sumatra, with king Chulamanivarman being the overlord of this kingdom.

The trade of Tamilnadu with Sumatra and peninsular Malaysia increased during the reign of Rajaraja Chola. Many Traders flocked to these countries from the Chola country and found settlements and establised units if their trading guilds.

The Traders from Kadarem and Sri Vijaya too crossed the seas to the Chola country with their commodities of trade. The iron ore and the teakwood from Kadarem being two of the commodities were known as Kadaraththu Irumbu and Kidaravan in the Chola country.

The good trade relations thus established paved way for better diplomatic understanding between these two countries.

The Traders from Kadarem mainly Buddhists by religion sought the assistance of their overlord king Chulamanivarman of Sri Vijaya who too was a Buddhist, to construct a Buddhist Vihare at Nagapattinam in the Chola country.

The Nagapattinam on the east coast of Tamil Nadu was the great seaport city of the medieval Cholas and was well known to the traders of South-East Asia and China, where traders from eighteen different countries traded in their commodities.

Rajaraja Chola on the request of Chulamanivarman granted land at Shythiriya Sihamani Valanadu at Nagapattinam to build a Buddhist temple under the name of "Chulamanipanma Vihare".

In the year A.D.1006 a village called Aanaimangalam closer to this site was surveyed and donated to upkeep this vihare from its revenues which were exempted from taxes.

In the following years, in A.D.1008 Rajaraja Chola confirmed on copper plates the earlier grants made by him to the "Chulamanipanma Vihare" at Nagapattinam and exempted same from taxes.

While the vihare was still under construction king Chulamanivarman of Sri Vijaya died in A.D.1008, and his successor the son Maravijayotungavarman (A.D.1008-1020) completed the construction of this temple, which was also known as the "Rajarajaperumpalli"

In the year A.D.1014 Rararaja Chola died after twenty nine years of rule and was succeeded by his son Rajendra Chola-1 (A.D.1012-1044) on the throne of the Chola empire.

After the ascension of Rajendra Chola, king Maravijayotungavarman of Sri Vijaya requested him to reconfirm the grants made earlier by his father to the "Chulamanipanma Vihare" built at Nagapattinam.

This request was granted and Thuvavuran Annukan the agent of the ruler of Kadarem arranged the record of the history relating to the construction of the vihare, and the grant of the Anaimangalam village by Rajaraja which was written on copper plates by one Thillaiyali.

It is evident there has also been another Buddhist Temple built at Nagapattinam at the request of Maravijayotungavarman during the rule of Rajendra Chola-1. Whether that too was named after the king of Sri Vijaya the Maravijayotungavarman is not known, but it has been called as "Rajendra Chola Perumpalli".

At Sri Vijaya with the demise of Maravijayotungavarman in A.D.1020 his son Sangirama Vijayotungavarman (A.D.1020-1022) succeeded on the throne. During his rule however the good relations that existed between these two empires broke, probabely due to some sort of interference or hinderence to the flourishing Chola trade which would have sparked off the anger of the Cholas.

The strain in the Chola-Sri Vijaya relationship caused Rajendra Chola -1 to send a big naval expedition with a large fleet of ships to South-East Asia in the year A.D.1023.

The Cholas defeated Sri Vijaya, Kadarem, and many other kingdoms in the present Malaysia, and in Sumatra of Indonesia, and it appears eventually the Cholas handed back the kingdoms to the respective rulers on they accepting the authority and agreeing to pay tributes.

However over a period of time gradually the good relations between the Chola country and Kadarem was re-established. During the rule of Kulothunga Chola - 1 (A.D.1071-1120) the king of Kadarem through his envoys Rajavidyadara Sri Samandan and Abimanothunga Samanthan in the year A.D.1091 requested him to reconfirm on copper plates the earlier grants made to the Buddhist temples Rajendra Chola Perumpalli and Rajaraja Perumpalli alias Sailendra Chulamanivarma Vihare built by his predecessors at Nagapattinam in Shythiriya Shihamani Valanadu of the Chola country.

This request was granted by Kulothunga Chola, and in the year A.D.1090 the officers Rajavallaba Pallavaraiyan and Rajendrasinga Muvendavelan arranged confirmation of same on copper plates.

Towards this period the seaport city of Nagapattinam was renamed as Cholakulavalli Pattinam after one of Kulothunga's consorts, and Shythiriya Shihamani valanadu as Keyamanikka valanadu.

These temples no longer exist today. However among the Bronze Buddha Statues excavated in this area by the Archaeological Department. two of them have the following inscribed words on their pedestal confirming the location of the Chulamanipanma Vihare and that they were kept enshrined in them.

(1) "......Chola Perumpalli Alvaar......" (seated Buddha)
(2) "......Chola Perumpalli Nayakar....." (standing Buddha)

The exact version of the inscription found on the Item (2) above is as follows.

"......(This is) the Alvar for a festival procession of the temple of Akkasalai-perumpalli in Rajendra Chola-perumpalli. This Alvar was set by Nalan-gunakara-udaiyar of Chirutavur.

Let it be auspicious (This alvar called) Akkasalaikal-Nayakar is for all the Padinen-Vishayam......"

The source of the above Inscription: A Bronze Buddha Image of Nagapattinam - by N.Karashima & Y.Subbarayalu.
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Originally Posted by virarajendra

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These temples no longer exist today.

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A very good summary. There are two theories as to what happened to the Chudamani Viharam. One is that a Buddist Monastry was destroyed by the Portugese and built the now-famous Velankanni Church. The other theory is that the temples have not been identified yet-- there is an ancient Vihara still present in Nagapattinam inside the Executive Engineer's, PWD, compound on the way to the District Collector's office (to the left); some say that this is it.

Kalki also refers to a tsunami in Ponniyan Selvam that destroyed a previously existing Chudamani Viharam that was rebuilt after Arulmozhi became Rajaraja I. Apart from the reference to the destruction by sea in Manimekkalai (of Kaveripumpattinam) and Kalki's reference, there are no other literary reference to a tsunami. There is a much earlier reference to the sea threatening Madurai in the Thiruvilayadal puranam but that is really far far away in time.

Rgds, Aravind

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very good information. Thank u so much.

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Thanks Virarajendra! A fascinating piece of research!

One thing people don't realise is that Buddhism continued to flourish in Tamil Nadu long after it had disappeared from the rest of India. The Chulamani Vihara, for example, seems to have been thriving until the 16th century. As late as the 17th century, there were Tamil Buddhists in Nagappattinam. At the Government Museum in Chennai, there is a fascinating bronze of Avalokiteshvara from Nagappattinam, probably made in the Chulamani Vihara and cast in the late 17th century, possibly as late as the 1690s or even 1700. If you're not used to Tamil Buddhist iconography, you might mistake it for a bronze of Vishnu, so Tamilised is the representation of Buddha. There are holes in the base, which suggests it was made as an உற்சவர் - to be carried around in a temple procession. This means that as recently as 300 years ago, there was an active Tamil Buddhist community in Nagai, centred around the Chulamani Vihara. That we know nothing about it, or what happened to it, or why no trace - not one building - remains of it apart from statues, just goes to show how little we Tamils know of our real history.

As an aside, I believe (though I'm not entirely sure) that the current consensus amongst historians is that the Puduveli gopuram at Nagappattinam, which the Jesuits pulled down in the 1860s, was originally part of the Chulamani Vihara complex.

Are there still any vihara's left in TN ? :shock:

I thought, Buddhism , Jainism were wiped out of TN after Chola dynasty ?

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Originally Posted by PARAMASHIVAN

I thought, Buddhism , Jainism were wiped out of TN after Chola dynasty ?

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No :)

Jainism was never wiped out - there's still a small community of Tamil Jains (Samanar) in northern TN, especially in the Thanjavur area. My grandfather's neighbours in my mother's native village (near Thanjavur) are Samanar.

Buddhism was long thought to have disappeared during the Chola period, but archaeological work done in the late part of the 20th century has shown that it survived until at least the close of the seventeenth century. After that, it disappeared for reasons we don't know.

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Originally Posted by podalangai

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Originally Posted by PARAMASHIVAN

I thought, Buddhism , Jainism were wiped out of TN after Chola dynasty ?

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No :)

Jainism was never wiped out - there's still a small community of Tamil Jains (Samanar) in northern TN, especially in the Thanjavur area. My grandfather's neighbours in my mother's native village (near Thanjavur) are Samanar.

Buddhism was long thought to have disappeared during the Chola period, but archaeological work done in the late part of the 20th century has shown that it survived until at least the close of the seventeenth century. After that, it disappeared for reasons we don't know.

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podalangai sir

Are they any viharas in TN as of now ?

And Was Buddhism originated from Uttar Pradesh , bihar right ?

surely Buddhism must be practised in North Eastern india, esp around places bordering Burma right ?

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Originally Posted by PARAMASHIVAN

Are they any viharas in TN as of now ?

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No ancient ones, no. There are ruins, and there are several ancient Buddha statues in villages all over Tamil Nadu. Here's a somewhat brief article that describes some of them:

http://www.outlookindia.com/article.aspx?224559

Thanks for the link podalangai sir :)

These kind of Ruins were found in Afghanistan too, in the Ancient India say going back about 1000 years ago, was Afghnistan a country on it's own or was it Part of Bharath ?

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Originally Posted by PARAMASHIVAN

These kind of Ruins were found in Afghanistan too, in the Ancient India say going back about 1000 years ago, was Afghnistan a country on it's own or was it Part of Bharath ?

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That's a difficult question to answer. It was an independent kingdom and - as Gandhara had always been - was very cosmopolitan, with strong Greek and Persian influences in addition to its core Hindu and Buddhist culture.

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Originally Posted by podalangai

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Originally Posted by PARAMASHIVAN

These kind of Ruins were found in Afghanistan too, in the Ancient India say going back about 1000 years ago, was Afghnistan a country on it's own or was it Part of Bharath ?

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That's a difficult question to answer. It was an independent kingdom and - as Gandhara had always been - was very cosmopolitan, with strong Greek and Persian influences in addition to its core Hindu and Buddhist culture.

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Hmm I think the Afghanistan as a State on it's own was declared around the 17th century :roll:

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Originally Posted by PARAMASHIVAN

Hmm I think the Afghanistan as a State on it's own was declared around the 17th century :roll:

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18th century. It was ruled by various Turkish, Mongol, Central Asian and Iranian kings from around the 10th century to the mid 18th century. Before then... well, we'd need to start with Gandhara.

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Originally Posted by podalangai

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Originally Posted by PARAMASHIVAN

Hmm I think the Afghanistan as a State on it's own was declared around the 17th century :roll:

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18th century. It was ruled by various Turkish, Mongol, Central Asian and Iranian kings from around the 10th century to the mid 18th century. Before then... well, we'd need to start with Gandhara.

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That is ghoing back to 6th century BC right ?

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Originally Posted by PARAMASHIVAN

That is ghoing back to 6th century BC right ?

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That's about the time we find the first inscriptions (in Iran) about Gandhara. The kingdom itself was probably older. It seems to have been ruled by Iranian kings in Darius's time, but by Alexander's time, it seems to have been semi-independent.

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Originally Posted by podalangai

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Originally Posted by PARAMASHIVAN

That is ghoing back to 6th century BC right ?

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That's about the time we find the first inscriptions (in Iran) about Gandhara. The kingdom itself was probably older. It seems to have been ruled by Iranian kings in Darius's time, but by Alexander's time, it seems to have been semi-independent.

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This is going back to 5BCE and appearantly he ruled Northen part of India along the Himalayan regions, how far dis Alexander the great get into India ?

and Alexander invaded Northen India prior to Dariius right ?

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