Arulmozhi, the third child of Sundara Cholar was born in the Tamil month of Aippasi, under the star Sadayam. Ippasi is the period between the 16th of October to the 15th of November.

Arulmozhi as he was named at birth was born with the divine marks of conch and chakra on his shoulders. Although he was not in line for the throne astrologers predicted that he will take the Vijayalayachola dynasty to its glorious peak.

Adityakarikalan was the elder brother of Arulmozhi. Adityakarikalan was famous for his good looks as much as for his valour. He was compared to arjuna in appearance. This great warrior prince par excellence whose valour and skill in various battlefields from the tender age of 16 was the subject of many ancient Tamil ballads.

Adityakarikalan was murdered in the most gruesome manner. The plot was jointly hatched by Pandia royal family sympathizers and the members of Chera Kaandalur Kadigai family headed by Ravidasan and his brothers. The Udayarkudi inscriptions reveal the details of this most horrendous act in the annals of ancient south Indian history. The same Udayarkudi inscriptions also tells us about the punishment meted out to the killers of Aditya Karikalan by Arulmozhi who had become King Rajaraja Chola by then.

The Kandalur Kadigai was destroyed totally. The descendants bore the brunt of king Rajarajachola’s anger. Kadigai means school for martial arts and they were spread across the Chera kingdom which is the present-day Kerala state including the present districts of Kanyakumari and Nagercoil of Tamilnadu.

These Kadigais are the origins of today’s kungfu, karate, Kalaripattu, and Varma-Kalai.
King Rajarajachola before ascending to the throne toured the length and breadth of the kingdom incognito for nearly ten years. He gathered vital information and evidence about the murder of his brother Aditya Karikalan. With clinching evidence he confronted his cousin( who had supported the killers of Aditya Karikalan) king Maduranthaga Cholar who had succeeded king Parantaga Sundara Cholar the father of Aditya Karikalan and Arulmozhi.

After avenging his brother’s death Rajaraja Chola turned his attention to the expansion of his empire in the north, west, and east. He crossed the rivers Kaveri Krishna, Godavari, Bhima, Tungabhadra, and Pennar.

The present-day Karnataka, Mysore, Coorg, Telangana, Andhra, Orissa, and goa and of course Kerala were under his tiger emblem. The Chalukyas, Kadambas, Vengi, Rashtrakutas, Nolambars, and the Kodavas were all brought under the Chola reign.
King Rajaraja Chola’s ” Aippasi Sadaya Vizha ” falls on Vijayadasami day this year- today{25-10-2020}.

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