Vikramaditya II was the son of King Vijayaditya and ascended the Badami Chalukya throne following the death of his father. This information comes from the Lakshmeshwar inscriptions in Kannada dated 13 January 735 A.D. From inscriptions it has come to be known that even before his coronation, Vikramaditya II, as a crown prince (Yuvaraja), had conducted successful military campaigns against their arch enemy, the Pallavas of Kanchipuram. His most important achievements were the capture of Kanchipuram on three occasions, the first time as a crown prince, the second time as an emperor and the third time under the leadership of his son and crown prince Kirtivarman II. This is attested to by another Kannada inscription, known as the Virupaksha Temple inscription which alludes to the emperor as the conqueror of Kanchi on three occasions and reads Sri Vikramaditya-bhatarar-mume-Kanchiyan-mume parajisidor. The other notable achievement was the consecration of the famous Virupaksha Temple and Mallikarjuna Temple by his queens Lokadevi and Trilokadevi at Pattadakal. These two monuments are the centre piece of the UNESCO World Heritage Monuments at Pattadakal. Vikramaditya II was a powerful ruler and was in power for 40 years. In order to maintain peace he entered into marriage alliance with Rashtrakutas.
Narasimhavarman I was a Pallava emperor who reigned from 630 CE to 668 CE. He shared his father Mahendravarman I's love of art and completed the works started by Mahendravarman in Mamallapuram. During his reign, the famous Pancha Rathas, a monolithic rock-cut temple complex and a UNESCO World Heritage Site was constructed.
Sivagamiyin Sapatham is a Tamil historical novel written by Kalki Krishnamurthy, first serialized in Kalki magazine during January 1944 – June 1946, and published as a book in 1948. Along with Ponniyin Selvan, this is widely regarded as one of the greatest novels ever written in Tamil. Set in the 7th-century south India against the backdrop of various historical events and figures, the novel created widespread interest in Tamil history. Honour, love and friendship are important themes that run through the course of the novel. It is also the prequel story of Parthiban Kanavu written by the same author.
Pulakeshi II popularly known as Immaḍi Pulakeśi, was the greatest Chalukyan Emperor who reigned from Vatapi. During his reign, the Chalukya Empire expanded to cover most of the Deccan region in peninsular India.
Mahendravarman I was a Pallava emperor who ruled the Southern portion of present-day Andhra region and Northern regions of what forms present-day Tamil Nadu in India in the early 7th century. He was a scholar, painter, architect, musician. He was the son of Simhavishnu, who defeated the Kalabhras and re-established the Pallava kingdom.
Kirttivarman I was a ruler of the Chalukya dynasty of Vatapi in India. He ruled parts of present-day Karnataka, Goa, Maharashtra and Andhra Pradesh.
Pulakeshin was the first sovereign ruler of the Chalukya dynasty of Vatapi. He ruled parts of the present-day Maharashtra and Karnataka states in the western Deccan region of India. Pulakeshin established the city of Vatapi, and performed the Ashvamedha sacrifice to assert his sovereign status. The dynasty established by him went on to rule a major part of peninsular India in the subsequent years.
Mangalesha was a king of the Chalukya dynasty of Vatapi in Karnataka, India. He succeeded his brother Kirttivarman I on the throne, and ruled a kingdom that stretched from southern Gujarat in north to Bellary-Kurnool region in the south, in the western part of the Deccan region. It included parts of present-day Gujarat, Maharashtra, Goa, Karnataka, and Andhra Pradesh.
Vikramaditya I was the third son and followed his father, Pulakeshi II on to the Chalukya throne. He restored order in the fractured empire and made the Pallavas retreat from the capital Vatapi.
Kubja Vishnuvardhana I "Vishama-Siddhi" whose Telugu name was Bittarasa was the brother of Chalukya Pulakeshin II. Vishnuvardhana I ruled the Vengi territories in eastern Andhra Pradesh as the viceroy under Pulakeshin II from around 615 AD. Eventually, Vishnuvardhana declared his independence and started the Eastern Chalukya dynasty in AD.
The Chalukya dynasty was a Classical Indian dynasty that ruled large parts of southern and central India between the 6th and the 12th centuries. During this period, they ruled as three related yet individual dynasties. The earliest dynasty, known as the "Badami Chalukyas", ruled from Vatapi from the middle of the 6th century. The Badami Chalukyas began to assert their independence at the decline of the Kadamba kingdom of Banavasi and rapidly rose to prominence during the reign of Pulakeshin II. After the death of Pulakeshin II, the Eastern Chalukyas became an independent kingdom in the eastern Deccan. They ruled from Vengi until about the 11th century. In the western Deccan, the rise of the Rashtrakutas in the middle of the 8th century eclipsed the Chalukyas of Badami before being revived by their descendants, the Western Chalukyas, in the late 10th century. These Western Chalukyas ruled from Kalyani until the end of the 12th century.
Uthrapathiswaraswamy Temple is a Hindu temple in Tiruchenkattankudi in Nagapattinam district in the Tamil Nadu state of India. Though it is dedicated to the Hindu god Shiva, it is more famous for its Ganesha (Ganapati) icons. The main Ganesha shrine depicts him with a human head, instead of the elephant head he is usually depicted with. Vatapi Ganapati, the other Ganesha icon, was installed in a smaller shrine at a later date.
The Battle of Pullalur was fought between the Chalukya king Pulakesin II and the Pallava king Mahendravarman I in the town of Pullalur in about 618–19.
The Battle of Manimangala took place between the Pallavas and Chalukyas in the town of Manimangala in 642 AD. Manimangala is the first ever victory for the Pallavas against the Chalukyas and also the first of four successive defeats suffered by Pulakesin II.
Paranjothi, popularly known as Sirruthondar was an army general of the great Pallava king Narasimavarman I who ruled South India from 630–668 CE. He also led the Pallava army during the invasion of Vatapi in 642 CE. In the later years of his life, Paranjothi gave up violence and became a wandering Saivite monk, Sirruthonda nayanar. He is venerated as one of the 63 Nayanmars.
"Vatapi Ganapatim", also known as "Vatapi ganapatim bhajeham" or "Vatapi ganapatim bhaje", is a Sanskrit kriti song by the South Indian poet-composer Muthuswami Dikshitar (1775–1835), one of the "Trinity of Carnatic music". The panegyrical hymn praises Vatapi Ganapati, Ganesha (Ganapati) worshipped in a shrine in Tiruchenkattankudi Utrapatishwaraswamy Temple dedicated to lord Shiva in Thiruvarur district in the Tamil Nadu state of India. The hymn is composed in Hamsadhvani raga ; however, in tradition of kritis, individual performers add their own variations in the tune as a part of improvisation. Vatapi Ganapatim is considered the best-known piece of Muthuswami Dikshitar and is one of the most popular compositions of Carnatic music. The hymn is traditionally sung at the beginning of many Carnatic music concerts.
Adityavarman was a king of the Chalukya dynasty of Vatapi in southern India. He was a son of Pulakeshin II, who was defeated and probably killed when the Pallavas invaded and captured the Chalukya capital Vatapi. The immediate history of the dynasty after Pulakeshin's death is not clear, but inscriptions of Adityavarman and his son suggest that Adityavarman ruled a weakened Chalukya kingdom for a short period, before his younger brother Vikramaditya I defeated the Pallavas and restored the Chalukya power.
Chandraditya was a king of the Chalukya dynasty of Vatapi that ruled in the Deccan region of south India. His father Pulakeshin II was a powerful emperor, who was defeated and most probably killed during a Pallava invasion.
Vijaya-Bhattarika was a member of the Chalukya royal family of Deccan region in southern India. She is known from her Nerur and Kochre grant inscriptions, which call her Vijaya-Bhattarika and Vijaya-Mahadevi respectively.
Abhinavaditya was a king of the Chalukya dynasty of Vatapi in southern India. He appears to have succeeded his father Adityavarman on the weakened Chalukya throne, in the period following the death of his grandfather Pulakeshin II. He appears to have died heirless, and was probably succeeded by his uncle Chandraditya.
