Women of Chozha land!
A lot of anecdotes and nuggets have come out on Chozhas, but,
the life of women of their period is yet to be brought to light.
Some interesting information which I gathered from the texts
of some epigraphists like ‘Kudavayil Balasubramaniam’, the novels ‘Ponniyin
selvan of Kalki’, ‘Udaiyar of Balakumaran’ enlightened and equipped me to focus
on the unnoticed zones of the ancient south Indian ( Tamizhian) women. I’m here
to bear the beacon for you to sight their status.
Women of Chozha clan, whether born in the clan or married to
a men of the clan were given a share in the property. “Hindu succession act
enforced about a millennium ago?” Wonderful! Isn’t it?
It was with this share many queens and princesses of the
clan renovated many temples. ‘Thiruvaiyaru Ayyarappar temple’ was built into a
granite structure by ‘Loka Maha Devi’ the crown queen of Raja rajan, the
renovation of ‘Thiruvakkarai Chandramoulisvarar temple’ and the installation of
Vakrakaliyamman in it was deed of Chembiyan Ma Devi , the spouse of Kandar adithya
Chozhan.
Kundavai, an able states woman, the elder sister and mentor
of Raja rajan, a major contributor and a cause for the glory and rise of Chozhas
was unique in donating as well. Her philanthropy was for the establishment and maintenance
of medical and health centres ( aadura salai).
Another notable stateswoman was Panchavan Ma Devi, the
fourth wife of Raja rajan . Raja rajan’s marriage with her was the only one believed
to have bloomed out of his admiration. (The rest of the marriages of Raja rajan
were said to be more of arrangements in view of political reasons/welfare). She
was a versatile personality who was well versed in fine arts, horse riding,
archery and politics, espionage, investigation, philosophy and spirituality. Raja
rajan’s admiration for her is said to have burgeoned on the day he saw her
enacting the hagiography of Sundramurthi nayanar. No wonder of Arulmozhi varman turned Raja rajan
marrying this courtesan. Though of course, much later in his life, we’ve also heard
him of daring to the extent of staging the natyam/performance of his daughter
right in front of the crowd at the event of the consecration of the Big Temple.
Panchavan Ma Devi is construed to be the alter ego, perhaps the better-half of
Raja raja personally, socially and politically. She was a stepmother and mentor of Rajendra. It
was she, for whom Rajendra built a memorial (pallipadai kovil) in Pattisvaram.
Chozha aeon and women employment:
There are many traces citing the women vendors of Chozha era;
as if nonchalantly and safely travelling from place to place with their goods.
‘ Adhikarichhi’ is a jargon found while researching on
Chozha epoch. This is the feminine gender of the word ‘Adhikari’, meaning
officer in Tamizh. It’s astonishing to know that women officers were deputed/deployed
in security forces, administration, crime investigation, espionage/spying
during Chozha rule, in fact in yester-millennium.
It’s really a matter of pride to know that women were self
sufficient and individualistic in spite of the prevalent poly-gyny during the
age of Chozhas.
Bye for now,
See you soon with much more ideas,
Nisha Ganapathysundararaman
