BeauBasaldua8 at 04:55, 3 October 2024

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{{Short description|Legendary ancestor of the Kodavas}}
'''Chandra Varma''' is the name of the legendary ancestor of the [[Kodava people|Kodavas]] (Kodagas, Coorgs or Coorgis).<ref>{{Cite book |last=Sathyan |first=B N |title=Mysore State Gazetteer: Coorg District |publisher=Director of Print., Stationery and Publications at the Government Press |year=1965 |location=Mysore}}</ref><ref name="Dakshin">{{cite book |last1=M P |first1=Nitin Kushalappa |title=Dakshin: South Indian Myths and Fables Retold |date=13 February 2023 |publisher=Penguin Random House India Private Limited |isbn=978-93-5492-932-8 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=zn-sEAAAQBAJ |access-date=15 June 2023 |language=en}}</ref>

== Sources ==
The legend of Chandra Varma is found in four chapters (11 to 14) of the Kaveri Purana which is part of the [[Skanda Purana]].<ref name=":0">{{Cite book |last=Richter |first=G |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=aadCAAAAIAAJ&dq=kannana+coorg&pg=PA189 |title=Manual of Coorg |publisher=Stolz |year=1870 |location=Mangalore |pages=216–224}}</ref><ref name=":1" />

== Kadamba Origin ==
According to [[Mark Wilks|Col Wilks]], [[B. Lewis Rice|B L Rice]] and [[B. D. Ganapathy|B D Ganapathy]], the Coorgs or Kodagus (Kodavas) were [[Kadamba dynasty|Kadambas]] who were led by a king named Chandra Varma.<ref>{{Cite journal |date=1883 |title=Gazetteer of the Bombay Presidency |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=ug8IAQAAIAAJ&dq=chandra+varma+coorg&pg=PA79 |journal=Gazetteer of the Bombay Presidency |volume=XV Part II |pages=79 |via=Government Central Press}}</ref><ref>{{Cite book |last=Moraes |first=George M. |title=The Kadamba Kula: A history of ancient and medieval Karnataka |publisher= |year=1931 |location=Bombay}}</ref><ref>{{Cite book |last=Ganapathy |first=B D |title=Kodavas (Coorgs), Their Customs and Culture |year=1967 |pages=4}}</ref>

== Legend ==
Chandra Varma was the fourth son of [[Lunar dynasty|Chandravamshi]] [[Kshatriya]] Emperor Siddartha of [[Dravida kingdom|Dravida]] [[Matsya kingdom|Matsya desha]].<ref name="Dakshin"/> There were a number of Matsya deshas across India, while the main one was in North India. Dravida was a name for South India. Chandra Varma had an army and settled in Kodagu ([[Kodagu district|Coorg]]), which was called Kroda desha at that time.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Subbayya |first=K K |title=Archaeology of Coorg |publisher=Geetha Book House |year=1978 |pages=170}}</ref> A devotee of [[Parvati|Parvathi]], Chandra Varma went on a pilgrimage across peninsular India with his army to [[Jagannath Temple, Puri|Jagannath]], [[Tirupati]], [[Kanchipuram|Kanchi]], [[Chidambaram]], [[Srirangam]], [[Dhanushkodi|Dhanushkoti]], [[Rameswaram|Rameshwaram]] and [[Padmanabhaswamy Temple|Ananthasayana]] and became the first king of Kodagu.<ref name=":0" /> He married a [[Shudra]] [[goddess]], an apsara who was made by Parvathi and who worked as a peasant, and had ten sons.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Belfour |first=Edward |title=The Cyclopaedia of India and of Eastern and Southern Asia. Volume 2. |publisher=Akademische Druck-u. Verlagsanstalt |year=1883 |pages=263}}</ref>

His sons married the daughters of the king of [[Vidarbha]] and his Shudra queen.<ref name=":1">{{Cite book |last=Mögling |first=Herrmann |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=k5ABAAAAQAAJ&dq=chandravarma+coorg&pg=PA20 |title=Coorg Memoirs |publisher=Wesleyan Mission Press |year=1855 |pages=13–26}}</ref> Chandra Varma was succeeded as king by his eldest son Devakanta.<ref name=":1" /><ref name="Dakshin"/> Legend has it that it was during the lifetime of Devakanta that the river [[Kaveri]] originated in Kodagu and flowed through [[South India]].<ref name=":0" /><ref name=":1" /> The Kaveri Purana states that Chandra Varma's progeny levelled the land, brought it under cultivation and invited [[Brahmin]]s and other [[Castes in India|castes]] to settle the region.<ref>{{Cite book |title=Karnataka State Gazetteer, Vol 1 |publisher=Director of Print, Stationery and Publications at the Government Press |year=1965 |pages=40}}</ref><ref>{{Cite book |last=Sathyan |first=B N |title=Mysore State Gazetteer: Coorg District |publisher=Director of Print., Stationery and Publications at the Government Press |year=1965 |location=Mysore |pages=39–40}}</ref><ref>{{Cite book |last=Rao |first=B. Surendra |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=EzpuAAAAMAAJ&q=chandravarma+coorg |title=Coorg Invented |publisher=Forum for Kodagu Studies |year=1998 |pages=46}}</ref><ref>{{Cite book |last=Kamath |title=Karnataka State Gazetteer: Volume 20 |year=1993 |pages=2}}</ref><ref>{{Cite book |title=Imperial Gazetteer of India: Mysore and Coorg |publisher=Usha |year=1985 |pages=278}}</ref><ref>{{Cite journal |year=1980 |title=Bulletin of the Anthropological Survey of India |journal=Anthropological Survey of India |publisher=Director, Anthropological Survey of India, Indian Museum |volume=25 |pages=22}}</ref><ref>{{Cite book |last1=Sreenivasa Murthy |first1=H. V. |title=A History of Karnataka, from the Earliest Times to the Present Day |last2=Ramakrishnan |first2=R. |publisher=S. Chand |year=1977 |pages=304}}</ref>

== References ==
{{Reflist}}

[[Category:Kodava literature]]
[[Category:Legendary Indian people]]

Chandra Varma - Revision history

BeauBasaldua8 at 04:55, 3 October 2024