Cholas not new to contemporary TN politics

Parties and movements in TN have lavishly praised and sharply criticised the Cholas. The DMK and its parent organisation DK themselves differed

- K EZHILARASAN @Chennai

The images of Prime Minister Narendra Modi, clad in typical Tamil attire, walking with a small pot filled with water from the Ganges inside the Brihadeeswarar temple in Gangaikonda Cholapuram in Ariyalur district on July 27, went viral on social media.

The BJP and its supporters hailed it as yet another instance of the PM honouring "hitherto unacknowledged" glories of ancient Tamils. Former Telangana Governor and senior BJP leader Tamilisai Soundarajan, writing for this paper, even drew a parallel between the PM and Rajendra Chola himself, who founded Gangaikonda Cholapuram, with both bringing water from the Ganges.

Actor Vijay's Tamilaga Vettri Kazhagam accused the ruling DMK of not doing enough to honour the glory of the Chola dynasty and thereby ceding space to the BJP to claim credit.

It would be a disservice to a nuanced understanding of contemporary Tamil politics if one were to believe that Cholas became popular only after the release of Ponniyin Selvan I (2022), the movie based on the eponymous historical fiction written by Kalki, or to believe in the allegations of the BJP and the TVK that Cholas have not been honoured enough.

The Chola dynasty has not only been part of the Tamil psyche, as evidenced by 'Rajendran' being a common Tamil name even today, but the Cholas have been an integral part of the shaping of a distinct Tamil identity for the past many decades by political forces, albeit in a complex manner.

Parties and movements in TN have both lavishly praised and sharply criticised the Cholas. To begin with, the DMK and its parent organisation the Dravidar Kazhagam themselves differed.