On a day in ancient Karnataka, a Jain ascetic encountered a tiger and cried at his student “Hoi, Sala!” which means ‘Sala, strike it ‘. Legend has it that the young, brave man Sala killed the big cat and later named his family after his teacher’s cry ‘Hoy, Sala’, which got corrupted to ‘Hoysala’ - the name of a dynasty, which also ruled a part of the Kongu region.
On a day in ancient Karnataka, a Jain ascetic encountered a tiger and cried at his student “Hoi, Sala!” which means ‘Sala, strike it ‘. Legend has it that the young, brave man Sala killed the big cat and later named his family after his teacher’s cry ‘Hoy, Sala’, which got corrupted to ‘Hoysala’ - the name of a dynasty, which also ruled a part of the Kongu region.
“But, no stone inscription has recorded this etymology. At the same time, this interesting tale is found in Hoysala Raja Vijayam, a Kannada manuscript of antiquity” says Fr. Philip Mully, a former clergyman and noted researcher in the history of Kongunadu.
An author of many research articles in anthropology and cultural environment, Mully, points out.
“The flag of Hoysalas depicting a tiger would not be after the ‘tiger tale ‘, but could be due to Vishnuvardhanan, the Hoysala king who defeated his Chola counterpart at Thalaimalai, the northern border of ancient Kongunadu. You know the emblem of the Cholas was also the tiger” added Mully.
Deciphering a Kannada stone inscription, the historian says:
“The epigraph found at Nagamangala in Karnataka has recorded Vishnuvardhanan’s conquest of Kongunadu. It says that the king’s large fleet of the army marched from Thalaimalai, crossed past the areca nut farms and coconut groves, demolished several mountain passes, and finally reached ‘Sengiri’, The epigraph also drops a hint at the king’s wrath on Kongunadu by describing his invasion as ‘pulling out the mustaches of Kongars’ the natives of Kongunadu''
R.Jegadisan, an epigraphist and author of the book Kongunattu Kalvettukkal - Koyambuthur Vattaram, says:
“The description of Vishnuvardhanan’s conquest of Kongunadu being like ‘pulling out‘ the mustaches of the Kongars, reminds me of the war between the Madurai Nayaks and Mysore Wodeyars, in which the latter chopped off the noses of the soldiers in the Nayak army !. Chopping off the noses and pulling out the mustaches throws light on the nature of the Mysore kings in insulting their enemies ``
Fr. Philip Mully says that he was yet to ensure the place ‘Sengiri ‘(Red hill), mentioned in the Kannada inscription, could be today’s Sangagiri or Thiruchengode in the Kongu region.
“Another Kannada inscription says that Vishnuvardhanan, by his bow and arrow, destroyed the serpent, which is Lord Vishnu’s bed at ‘Sengiri’, and the valorous king seemed to be a fire to the warriors of ‘Sengiri’ points out Mully.
“We heard the name ‘Sangagiri’ for the first time only after British rule. Hence, there is also a doubt to ensure ‘Sengiri’ could be ‘Thiruchengode’, which means a hill in red colour. On the other hand, legend has it that the mountain became red after the blood of Aadhisesha, in a battle with Vayu, the Hindu deity of winds ``he explains.
With inscriptions of Vishnuvardhanan praising only the king’s conquest of Kongunadu, Mully says that he hasn’t come across any historical evidence on how the people here encountered the Hoysala invasion.
However, R. Poongundran, former assistant director, Tamil Nadu State Archeology Department, answers his question thus:
“The inscription found at Kozhumam reads that many temples were destroyed in the mutiny led by a man called ‘Periya Vadugan’. Though some historians are of the view that he was none other than Vishnuvardhanan, it does not match the dates between the inscription and the king’s rule “
Objecting to Mully’s view on stone inscriptions being documents providing little information on the social history of a region, eminent archaeologist Y.Subbbarayalu points out:
“Stone inscriptions play a vital role in history. Though they contain information mainly on people making gifts to shrines, they open a gateway to social history, through which we can meet the people from various social strata and know they made gifts to temples”