Excerpt: Rajaraja Chola: King of Kings by Kamini Dandapani

This grande-dame of the Chola family, the wife of Gandaraditya, mother of Uttama Chola, the Ruby of the Chola dynasty, Our Lady, Great Queen Sembiyan Madevi was one of the most remarkable women of all time. She was the embodiment of grace and strength and could well be a model for women anywhere, anytime, for how to live a life of dedication and purpose through upheaval and tragedy.

Sembiyan’s father was the chief of Malanadu, a region north of the Kaveri. Her birth family were courtiers called Malavaraiyars — they married into the Chola family for obvious political reasons; they were in a subordinate position of giving their daughters away as brides. She married Parantaka’s son Gandaraditya when he was the crown prince and had the unusual status of being the only (known) wife of an emperor. She was certainly the sole queenly authority. What a contrast to her father-in-law Parantaka, husband to at least eleven queens that we know of through inscriptions! We have seen that marriage alliances were very often made with an eye to creating or strengthening political affiliations and in these exceedingly volatile and precarious times, could be a key factor in matters of state. Thus, she got her only son, Uttama, married to no fewer than 13 wives, casting the net of loyalty and protection far and wide.

She was widowed young, when she was only 28 years old. She had a son, Uttama Chola, who was too young to become king at the time of the king’s death. She no longer held the exalted position of queen, as the throne passed on to her husband’s brother Arinjaya (r. 957–61), then to Arinjaya’s son Sundara Chola (r. 958–69). At the best of times, in any place and time in history, this would have been the death knell for any hope of a meaningful life for her. She could have well faded into the shadows and be forgotten about. But she was a remarkable woman and truly came into her own with her son’s accession to the throne. She regained a good measure of status then; she was in her early forties, not young, but certainly still in the prime of life and determined to make a difference. By he time his reign ended, 16 years later, she was a woman of great stature who commanded respect, devotion, love, and admiration.

The first temple inscription of her donation to a temple at Uyyakondan Tirumalai was from the year 941; she was the crown princess then, a girl barely matured into womanhood. She continued building, renovating, and endowing temples throughout her life. One of the last temples she built was one at Tiruvakkarai, during the height of Rajaraja’s reign, in 1001. Metal-casting was another passion of hers and some of the loveliest bronze images from Chola times were made under her patronage. She made lavish grants of land, gold, jewels, and endowments for temple festivals. She was generous with charity and organized meals to feed large groups of the pious and learned.

She was a strong woman who was held in high esteem by her son, daughters-in-law, and her grand-nephew the great Rajaraja — so much so that her orders carried the same weight and authority as his. She commissioned the building of many temples. Among the best known is the Umamaheshwara Temple in Konerirajapuram, one of the ancient Saivite places of worship mentioned in the Tevaram hymns of the Nayanmars. It was built in the very early years of the reign of her son, Uttama Chola, in the early 970s. On the south wall of the central shrine of this temple is an inscription:

…the glorious Sembiyan Madevi, queen of Gandaraditya, constructed in the sacred name of her husband, the glorious Gandaradityadeva, a stone temple to the lord of Tirunallam (which was what Konerirajapuram was called then) when her glorious son the illustrious Madhurantakadeva alias the glorious Uttama Chola was graciously ruling. This is (the image of ) the glorious Gandaradityadeva which was made in this sacred stone temple in the posture of worshipping the sacred feet of the lord of Tirunallam.

Above this inscription is a group of sculptures, of Sembiyan Madevi kneeling in a worshipping posture, along with her husband, Gandaraditya, shown with a simple and elegant headdress and strings of pearls. Behind her are her attendants. On another panel nearby is another sculpture of a person that an inscription informs us is Sattan Gunabattan, the builder of the temple. In recognition for his work, he was awarded the title rajakesari muvendavelan.

Not content with merely building the temple, Queen Sembiyan paid meticulous attention to ensure that every aspect of running it was documented…

She built many other temples, including in Anangur, Tirukodikaval, Aduturai, Kuttalam, and Vriddhachalam. She was a woman with a mind of her own, a true trailblazer with a vision and sense of purpose that propelled the most important institution of her time, the temple, into new territory. There was no clear style of Chola temples at that point; iconography and many details of ornamentation and layout were very much in a fluid state. Sembiyan Madevi introduced some features that would be replicated across all the temples associated with her in an early efflorescence of a Chola form. Her temples had a style and features that were distinct. In temples built in what has come to be called the Sembiyan style, the number of niche sculptures nestled in the walls of the temples, increased from just a handful to as many as nine, and even sixteen. Here, she incorporated sculptures, including those of the many forms of Siva — as Nataraja, Ardhanareeshwara, as Bhikshasanan (the beggar lord), and as consort of Uma. She must have had a particular fondness for the dancing Lord Nataraja, and every one of the new stone temples she built, as well as those she had rebuilt, had his image carved in stone in a niche on the south wall of the temple’s hall of worship. Others who sponsored and patronized temple building in this period followed suit. This ensured that devotees could view and worship their beloved dancing lord close to home in the towns and villages along the Kaveri, without having to make the journey to Chidambaram…

Queen Sembiyan was not merely a pious lady who was active in temple building and administration. Inscriptions reveal a woman with a very practical intelligence too, involved in matters of irrigation and agriculture. An inscription in a Siva temple from the year 998 details the directive she issued to the village assembly and the temple priests with precise instructions about how certain temple lands should be irrigated. In a village, Gandaradita Chaturvedimangalam, named for her husband, she built a large lake spanning over 400 acres. The lake, called Sembiyan Madevi Pereri, filled up with the overflow from a nearby river and provided the water to irrigate nearly two dozen surrounding villages. Sadly, the lake now is weed-choked, and only a fraction of it is of use to the farmers.

Is it any wonder that the greatest of the Chola emperors, Rajaraja, had the highest esteem and affection for her? The two were kindred spirits, after all, and their relationship was one of mutual regard and genuine admiration. Two trailblazers with a vision that went beyond the norms of their time, brilliant administrators who paid meticulous attention to detail, and who were all about breaking and expanding boundaries.

Sembiyan Madevi died in 1001, but her memory lives on…

This grande-dame of the Chola family, the wife of Gandaraditya, mother of Uttama Chola, the Ruby of the Chola dynasty, Our Lady, Great Queen Sembiyan Madevi was one of the most remarkable women of all time. She was the embodiment of grace and strength and could well be a model for women anywhere, anytime, for how to live a life of dedication and purpose through upheaval and tragedy.

Sembiyan’s father was the chief of Malanadu, a region north of the Kaveri. Her birth family were courtiers called Malavaraiyars — they married into the Chola family for obvious political reasons; they were in a subordinate position of giving their daughters away as brides. She married Parantaka’s son Gandaraditya when he was the crown prince and had the unusual status of being the only (known) wife of an emperor. She was certainly the sole queenly authority. What a contrast to her father-in-law Parantaka, husband to at least eleven queens that we know of through inscriptions! We have seen that marriage alliances were very often made with an eye to creating or strengthening political affiliations and in these exceedingly volatile and precarious times, could be a key factor in matters of state. Thus, she got her only son, Uttama, married to no fewer than 13 wives, casting the net of loyalty and protection far and wide.

She was widowed young, when she was only 28 years old. She had a son, Uttama Chola, who was too young to become king at the time of the king’s death. She no longer held the exalted position of queen, as the throne passed on to her husband’s brother Arinjaya (r. 957–61), then to Arinjaya’s son Sundara Chola (r. 958–69). At the best of times, in any place and time in history, this would have been the death knell for any hope of a meaningful life for her. She could have well faded into the shadows and be forgotten about. But she was a remarkable woman and truly came into her own with her son’s accession to the throne. She regained a good measure of status then; she was in her early forties, not young, but certainly still in the prime of life and determined to make a difference. By he time his reign ended, 16 years later, she was a woman of great stature who commanded respect, devotion, love, and admiration.

The first temple inscription of her donation to a temple at Uyyakondan Tirumalai was from the year 941; she was the crown princess then, a girl barely matured into womanhood. She continued building, renovating, and endowing temples throughout her life. One of the last temples she built was one at Tiruvakkarai, during the height of Rajaraja’s reign, in 1001. Metal-casting was another passion of hers and some of the loveliest bronze images from Chola times were made under her patronage. She made lavish grants of land, gold, jewels, and endowments for temple festivals. She was generous with charity and organized meals to feed large groups of the pious and learned.

She was a strong woman who was held in high esteem by her son, daughters-in-law, and her grand-nephew the great Rajaraja — so much so that her orders carried the same weight and authority as his. She commissioned the building of many temples. Among the best known is the Umamaheshwara Temple in Konerirajapuram, one of the ancient Saivite places of worship mentioned in the Tevaram hymns of the Nayanmars. It was built in the very early years of the reign of her son, Uttama Chola, in the early 970s. On the south wall of the central shrine of this temple is an inscription:

…the glorious Sembiyan Madevi, queen of Gandaraditya, constructed in the sacred name of her husband, the glorious Gandaradityadeva, a stone temple to the lord of Tirunallam (which was what Konerirajapuram was called then) when her glorious son the illustrious Madhurantakadeva alias the glorious Uttama Chola was graciously ruling. This is (the image of ) the glorious Gandaradityadeva which was made in this sacred stone temple in the posture of worshipping the sacred feet of the lord of Tirunallam.

Above this inscription is a group of sculptures, of Sembiyan Madevi kneeling in a worshipping posture, along with her husband, Gandaraditya, shown with a simple and elegant headdress and strings of pearls. Behind her are her attendants. On another panel nearby is another sculpture of a person that an inscription informs us is Sattan Gunabattan, the builder of the temple. In recognition for his work, he was awarded the title rajakesari muvendavelan.

Not content with merely building the temple, Queen Sembiyan paid meticulous attention to ensure that every aspect of running it was documented…

She built many other temples, including in Anangur, Tirukodikaval, Aduturai, Kuttalam, and Vriddhachalam. She was a woman with a mind of her own, a true trailblazer with a vision and sense of purpose that propelled the most important institution of her time, the temple, into new territory. There was no clear style of Chola temples at that point; iconography and many details of ornamentation and layout were very much in a fluid state. Sembiyan Madevi introduced some features that would be replicated across all the temples associated with her in an early efflorescence of a Chola form. Her temples had a style and features that were distinct. In temples built in what has come to be called the Sembiyan style, the number of niche sculptures nestled in the walls of the temples, increased from just a handful to as many as nine, and even sixteen. Here, she incorporated sculptures, including those of the many forms of Siva — as Nataraja, Ardhanareeshwara, as Bhikshasanan (the beggar lord), and as consort of Uma. She must have had a particular fondness for the dancing Lord Nataraja, and every one of the new stone temples she built, as well as those she had rebuilt, had his image carved in stone in a niche on the south wall of the temple’s hall of worship. Others who sponsored and patronized temple building in this period followed suit. This ensured that devotees could view and worship their beloved dancing lord close to home in the towns and villages along the Kaveri, without having to make the journey to Chidambaram…

Queen Sembiyan was not merely a pious lady who was active in temple building and administration. Inscriptions reveal a woman with a very practical intelligence too, involved in matters of irrigation and agriculture. An inscription in a Siva temple from the year 998 details the directive she issued to the village assembly and the temple priests with precise instructions about how certain temple lands should be irrigated. In a village, Gandaradita Chaturvedimangalam, named for her husband, she built a large lake spanning over 400 acres. The lake, called Sembiyan Madevi Pereri, filled up with the overflow from a nearby river and provided the water to irrigate nearly two dozen surrounding villages. Sadly, the lake now is weed-choked, and only a fraction of it is of use to the farmers.

Is it any wonder that the greatest of the Chola emperors, Rajaraja, had the highest esteem and affection for her? The two were kindred spirits, after all, and their relationship was one of mutual regard and genuine admiration. Two trailblazers with a vision that went beyond the norms of their time, brilliant administrators who paid meticulous attention to detail, and who were all about breaking and expanding boundaries.

Sembiyan Madevi died in 1001, but her memory lives on…