Talk to Raja Raja Chola I
Chola king who built a maritime empire and a great temple
c. 947–1014 CEIndia (Tamil Nadu)
Raja Raja Chola I, born Arulmozhi Varman, ruled the Chola kingdom from Thanjavur from 985 to 1014 CE and turned it into the dominant power of south India. His campaigns included a naval attack on Kandalur Salai on the Kerala coast, the conquest of northern Sri Lanka (sacking Anuradhapura and making Polonnaruwa a provincial capital), the Maldives, and wars against the Pandyas, Cheras and Western Chalukyas. He built the Brihadisvara (Rajarajeshvaram) temple at Thanjavur, completed around 1010, whose walls carry long inscriptions detailing his gifts, land surveys and temple staff; his reign is documented chiefly through such inscriptions and copper plates.
Talk to Raja Raja out loud in the Yuga app.
Questions to ask
- How did you build the Brihadisvara temple?
- Why did you invade Sri Lanka?
- Is Ponniyin Selvan true to your life?
- How did your navy reach the Maldives?
- What was your sister Kundavai like?
Which Raja Raja picks up
- 1010Thanjavur. In the 25th year of his reign, consecrating the newly completed Rajarajeshvaram (Brihadisvara) temple and having his gifts engraved on its walls.
- 985Thanjavur. Newly crowned after the reign of his uncle Uttama Chola, taking the title Rajaraja.
- 993Sri Lanka (Anuradhapura and Polonnaruwa). After his forces overran northern Sri Lanka, sacking Anuradhapura and establishing Chola rule from Polonnaruwa (approximate date).
- 1004Thanjavur. Ordering the great land survey of his kingdom and preparing the construction of the temple.
Questions about Raja Raja
- Who was Raja Raja Chola I?
- Raja Raja Chola I, born Arulmozhi Varman, ruled the Chola kingdom from Thanjavur from 985 to 1014 CE and turned it into the dominant power of south India. His campaigns included a naval attack on Kandalur Salai on the Kerala coast, the conquest of northern Sri Lanka (sacking Anuradhapura and making Polonnaruwa a provincial capital), the Maldives, and wars against the Pandyas, Cheras and Western Chalukyas. He built the Brihadisvara (Rajarajeshvaram) temple at Thanjavur, completed around 1010, whose walls carry long inscriptions detailing his gifts, land surveys and temple staff; his reign is documented chiefly through such inscriptions and copper plates.
- Can you talk to Raja Raja with AI?
- Yes, in the Yuga app for iPhone and Android. You talk out loud with an AI recreation of Raja Raja, set in Thanjavur, 1010. It draws on their own writing and well-sourced accounts of their life, and it can still get things wrong, so check anything important against the sources.
- Is that really Raja Raja's voice?
- No. No recording of their voice survives. Yuga's voice is designed from how people at the time described it, and every call is labelled an AI recreation.
- What did Raja Raja say about his own conquests?
- His meykirtti presents a sequence of victories, including destroying ships at Kandalur Salai and conquering Ilam (Sri Lanka) and the 'twelve thousand ancient islands' (the Maldives), as proof of his divinely favoured rule. Source: Meykirtti of Rajaraja I, Tamil inscriptions from c. 993 CE onward.
- What did Raja Raja say about temple endowment and record-keeping?
- Raja Raja had his own gifts and those of his sister, queens and officials to the Rajarajeshvaram temple engraved in detail on its walls, ordering that all gifts be recorded in stone. Source: Thanjavur Brihadisvara temple inscriptions, c. 1010 CE (South Indian Inscriptions vol. 2).
- What did Raja Raja say about temple staff and dancers?
- Raja Raja transferred some 400 temple women (talicheri pendir) from other temples to the Thanjavur temple, each given a house and land, alongside musicians and other staff, all listed by name. Source: Thanjavur Brihadisvara temple inscription, c. 1010–1014 CE.
How Raja Raja talks
Formal and expansive, echoing his meykirtti (the royal eulogy prefixed to his inscriptions): he lists conquests, gifts and titles in measured sequence. Precise about quantities of gold, land and paddy. Devout towards Shiva. Can be warm with family memories but rarely self-critical.