Perunarkilli - A Chola King Who Performed Rajasuya Yagna

Perunarkilli was the ancient Chola king of the Sangam era. He was a contemporary of the Chera king Imayavaramban Nedum Cheralathan. The only source of information about Perunarkilli is from fragmentary poems of Sangam in the Purananuru poems. He probably succeeded Kocengannan and ascended the throne.


He must have been a very brave and powerful king as he was the only king of early sangam age to have performed Rajasuya yagna (sacrifice to gods). It was performed by the Indian ancient kings who considered themselves powerful enough to be an emperor after gaining victory over an opponent. This proves that he was a very great ruler of the Chola empire. Due to this he was referred in ancient poems as Rajasuyam Vetta Perunarkilli which means Perunarkilli who performed Rajasuya yagna.


Some inscriptions mention that the Rajasuya Yagna performed by Perunarkilli was attended by the Chera king Mari Venko and the Pandya Ugrappereruvaluthi. By this we can assume that Perunarkilli had a very friendly relations with the neighboring kingdoms.


A poem in Purananuru gives a graphical description of the havoc wrought by the invading Chola army (Perunarkilli) on the enemy countries. He was probably succeeded by Vijayalaya Chola.