# Kulasekhara Alvar

Kulasekhara (Tamil: குலசேகரர்; IAST: Kulaśekhara) (fl. 9th century CE), one of the twelve Vaishnavite alvars, was a bhakti theologian and devotional poet from medieval south India. He was the author of "Perumal Tirumoli" in Tamil and "Mukundamala" in Sanskrit. The Perumal Tirumoli, whose second decade is known as "Tetrarum Tiral", is compiled as a part of Nalayira Divya Prabandham. The Trikkulasekharapuram Temple in Kodungallur is associated with Kulasekhara Alvar.
Vaishnavite traditions portray Kulasekhara as a ruler from the Chera royal family of the western coast (present-day Kerala). Based on these accounts, contemporary scholars link him to the Chera playwright-king Kulasekhara Varma or Sthanu Ravi Kulasekhara, who reigned from 844/45 to around 870/71 AD and is considered the earliest known Chera Perumal king of Kerala.

## Sources

Scholars generally identify Kulasekhara with Sthanu Ravi Kulasekhara, the earliest known Chera Perumal king of Kerala.
* The "Perumal Tirumoli" was recited at the Srirangam Temple in the 11th century AD, as evidenced by an inscription from the 18th regnal year of Chola king Kulottunga I (1088 AD), which mentions the daily recital of Tetrarum Tiral at the temple.
* A record from Kulasekhara Alvar Koyil in Mannarkoyil states that the temple was consecrated in memory of Kulasekhara Perumal (by certain Vasudevan Kesevan of Mullappalli, Malai Mandalam). The earliest known inscription from this temple dates back to around 1015 AD.
* An inscription at the Trikkulasekharapuram Temple in Kodungallur, dated to temple era 195, has been palaeographically assigned to the 11th or 12th century AD.
* A 13th century Tamil inscription from Bagan in Mandalay is prefaced by a sloka from Mukundamala. The inscription describes the construction of a mandapa for god Vishnu and an endowment for a lamp by Rayiran Chiriyan Kulasekhara Nampi from Makotayar Pattanam in Malai Mandalam.

## Biography

The following is the traditional biography of king Kulasekhara from sources generally dated to 12th-14th century AD.
Kulasekhara was born at Vanchi, in the western country, in Kali Era 28 to the Chera ruler Dridhavrata. When Kulasekhara came of age, his father abdicated the throne and retired from public life, allowing him to ascend as the new king.
Kulasekhara was a devoted follower of god Vishnu. His devotion was so profound that, upon hearing the story of how the demon king Ravana abducted princess Sita, he immediately ordered his army to prepare for an invasion of Lanka. On another occasion, a jealous minister, envious of the king’s favor toward Vaishnavites, falsely accused the devotees of wrongdoing. To prove their innocence, Kulasekhara placed his hand into a pot containing snakes and withdrew it unharmed.
Later, Kulasekhara renounced his throne and embarked on a pilgrimage to the holy site of Srirangam. He spent several years there worshiping Vishnu and arranged the marriage of his daughter, Cherakula Valli Nachiyar, to the deity of the Srirangam Temple. As part of the dowry, he donated all his wealth, constructed the Chenaivenran Mandapa, and repaired the temple's prakara, which was thereafter known as "Kulasekhara Tiruvidi." He continued his pilgrimage, visiting the sacred temples of Tiruvenkatam, Tiruvayodhya, Tillai-Chitrakutam, Tirukannapuram, Tirumalirunjolai, and Tiruvitruvakkode, before finally settling in Brahmadesam near Tirukkurukur, the birthplace of Namma Alvar. He passed away there at the age of sixty-seven.
The shrine of Cherakula Valli Nachiyar within the Srirangam Temple complex commemorates the daughter of king Kulasekhara.

## Literary contributions

Kulasekhara was the author of "Perumal Tirumoli" in Tamil and "Mukundamala" in Sanskrit.
Kulasekhara Alvar's poems are deeply devotional, dedicated to the most prominent avataras of Vishnu— Rama and Krishna. He immerses himself in their lives, identifying with various roles in their divine stories. As a devotee of Rama, he internalized the suffering of both Rama and his aging father, Dasaratha, as his own. His devotion was so profound that he revered Vishnu's devotees as manifestations of the god himself. In one song, he takes on the perspective of Devaki, Krishna's birth mother, from whom Krishna was taken to Gokula to be raised by his foster parents, Nanda and Yasoda. Kulasekhara movingly expresses Devaki’s sorrow over being separated from her child and her longing for reunion. In other poems, he envisions himself as a gopi deeply in love with Krishna, embodying the intense devotion and yearning of the bhakti tradition.

### Kulasekhara Varma

Kulasekhara Alvar is generally identified with Kulasekhara Varma, the dramatist-king of medieval Kerala. Kulasekhara Varma is credited as the author of two Sanskrit plays, Tapatisamvarana and Subhadradhananjaya, as well as the Sanskrit champu kavya Ascharya Manjari. He is also possibly the author of the Sanskrit play Vicchinnabhiseka. In his works, Kulasekhara Varma refers to himself as Keralakula-chudamani ("the Crown Jewel of the Chera dynasty"), Keraladhinatha ("the King of the Chera Country"), and Mahodayapura-paramesvara ("the Lord of the City of Makotai"). An inscription from Chembra (954/55 AD) records the performance of Tapatisamvarana.
The art-form Kudiyattam is traditionally associated with Kulasekhara Varma and his courtier, Tolan. Additionally, "Dhananjaya Samvarana Dhvani", or the "Vyangyavyakhya", references a king Kulasekhara of Mahodayapuram. Kulasekhara Varma is sometimes identified with king Rama Kulashekhara (and as the patron of poet Vasubhatta). This identification is generally considered unreliable.

## In popular culture

* The name of the British rock band Kula Shaker was inspired by Kulasekhara.