Chola kings alternatively bore the titles rajakesari and parakesari. Mathuranthaka Uttama chola was parakesari, Rajaraja was raajakesari, Rajendra was parakesari and so on. The first thing to note is that these titles were not borne by the cholas of sangam age atleast there are no literary evidences to prove this. Pattinappalai which was sung by Kadiyalur Uruthiran kannanar mainly in praise of Karikal chola does not attribute this title to Karikala. Thus, it is evident that these titles were not available in sangam age. While I was reading Karanthai cheppedugal of Rajendra, it started tracing the ancestral roots of cholas from surya ! In that list, after Manu and sibi comes 2 kings by name Rajakesari and Parakesari. We may treat them as mythological kings or some real kings who did something worthwhile in their career. The former idea does not take us anywhere. But if we take the later assumption, then there are some interesting observations.
This history of cholas is lost between Karikala and sangam cholas and Viyayalaya. Inbetween, we are unable to trace the family of cholas. I could list out a few unknown kings whom we come to know only through literary sources: Dharmavarma alias kili chozhan who unearthed Srirangam temple on the banks of kaveri and who built uraiyur temple Kochenganan who built many shiva temples on banks of kaveri and who was a naayanmar The chola who was married to the daughter of Narasimha varma pallava (Name of this chola as vikrama is Kalki's imagination in Parthiban kanavu) The chola who lived during Saint sundara's reign
We see huge gaps in between the above names and it is not possible to trace the chronology. My question is whether we can put kings Raajakesari and parakesari in this list. The other question is what these 2 kings did that they deserved so much respect among the successors ? Or were the mere titles and info on Karanthai cheppedugal that they were ancient kings is a myth? Unlike sangam cholas, the later cholas patronized sanskrits and vedic cult to considerable extent and there are people who believe that tracing their roots to Ishvaku vamsam (Soorya vamsam) is nothing but the work of Brahmin priests who wanted to give mythological status to historic kings. Infact, Lord Rama belonged to Ishvaku vamsam. Why cholas traced their roots to north Indian kings ? Or was Ishvaku vamsam established in south or so? One interesting tail piece : The lord of Srirangam is known as Ishwaku Kula dhanam (the family wealth of Ishwakus). And it was donated by rama to vibeeshana. And we find that it was a chola who "unearthed" srirangam temple . Konjam nerungi varalai ?