The Colas c25.14

c25.14

That the Cōḷa monarchs were staunch Śaivas in their religious persuasion is a well established fact. Śaivism, like many other sectarian manifestations of latter-day Hinduism, required its followers to obtain initiation from a *guru*; the Cōḷa kings no doubt followed this rule and there must have been in existence a succesion of *rāja-gurus* during the whole period of Cōḷa rule. The names of Īśāna Śiva and Śarva Śiva stand out from the inscriptions of the reigns of Rājarāja I and Rājēndra, and bear testimony to the North Indian connections of the Śaivism of the Cōḷa Court. A *guru-dēvar* revered by the king as his spiritual preceptor is mentioned in an inscription of Rājādhirāja I.¹⁸ Another *rāja-guru* is mentioned by a Mysore inscription of the reign of Kulōttunga I which records that the king followed the advice of the *guru* in granting a Brahmadēya to 108 *caturvēdibhaṭṭas*.¹⁹ And the position held by Uḍaiyār Svāmidēvar in the reign of Kulōttunga III shows that the *guru* generally acted as the king's adviser in the administration of religious institutions; Svāmidēvar, for instance, disapproved of certain dispositions made by the king regarding the conduct of worship in the temples at Tirukkaḍaiyūr on the death of one of the priests; when the king came to know of it, he revised his orders and appointed the men recommended by Svāmidēvar as having a just claim to the place.