Arinjaya Chola - Younger Son Of Parantaka Chola I

Arinjaya Chola was the younger of the three sons of Parantaka Chola I. He ruled the great Chola empire which was ruled by powerful kings such as Karikala Chola, Aditya Chola I, Parantaka Chola I etc,. He ruled for a very short period i.e,.956-957 A.D. He succeeded his brother Gandaraditya. Arinjaya also had other names such as Arikulakesari, Arikesari, Arindama and some inscriptions mention his name as Alvar Arikulakesarideva.


His brother Gandaraditya had no children until very late in his life.  He thought that he could end up with no successor. So he made his younger brother Arinjaya Chola as his successor and the king of Chola empire. But at a very late age, Gandaraditya had a child named Uttama Chola. This was the mostly agreed story of succesion of Gandaraditya. But there were no clear proofs regarding this and no inscriptions mentioned about the succession of Gandaraditya.


Arinjaya Chola had three known wives Viman Kundaviyar, Kodai Pirattiyar and Kalyani. Kalyani was a princess from the clan of Vaidumbas and she gave birth to successor of Arinjaya, named Parantaka Chola II (Sundara Chola). Arinjaya died around 957 in a place called Arrur.