Studies in Cola History and Administration c7.82

c7.82

XV. The *Navacōlacarita*.* This work is part of the hagiology of Vīra-Śaivism. Composed originally in Haḷa-kannaḍa, the work was rendered into Telugu verse by Pōseṭṭi Lingaṇṇa-kavi in the fourteenth century. The story of Karikāla which figures first in these ‘Tales of the Nine Cōḷas’ is thus summarised by the editor of the Telugu original in his preface: † “While Karikāla, an ardent devotee of Śiva, was ruling the country with unrivalled power, one day he went out for a hunt in the forest on the banks of the Kāvēri and was resting a while in a lovely spot. Then there occurred a wonderful event which brought home to the king's mind the great merit of the Kāvēri; having witnessed it the king thought that he should raise the banks on either side of the river and dig a tank and earn for himself the religious merit thereof. So he sent for his *Sāmantas* (subordinate chiefs) from the various parts of the realm for carrying out the work and all of them came up, with the exception of Bhāskara-Cōḷa and Mukkaṇṭi Cōḷa and others who held themselves back on account of their noble birth and other like reasons. The king undertook a *daṇḍayātrā* (expedition) against them, conquered them and took them captives and compelled them to work on the construction of the banks of the Kāvēri until the task was completed.” Though sufficient for our purpose, this bald summary does but scant justice to the elaborate and eloquent narration of the original which includes some stories well-known in other connections such as that of Śiva working as a day-labourer for an old woman.*