->ChandlerMinh at 14:01, 31 July 2021

2021-07-31T14:01:24Z

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{{Short description|Ancient Tamil monarch}}
{{use dmy dates|date=November 2016}}
{{use Indian English|date=November 2016}}
{{Infobox royalty
| title = Nindra Seer Nedumaran,<ref name="TheHindu_2009_Staunch"/> Ninraseernedumaran, Kun Pandya
| reign = 7th century CE
| spouse = [[Mangayarkkarasiyar]]
| dynasty = [[Pandyan dynasty|Pandya]]
}}
{{Pandyan}}
'''Koon Pandiyan''' ("The [[Kyphosis|hunch-backed]] Pandyan") was the nickname of a king who ruled [[Madurai]] around 7th century. Some historians identify him with the [[Pandyan dynasty|Pandyan]] king [[Arikesari Maravarman|Arikesari Parankusa Maravarman]].<ref>{{cite web | url = http://karaikal.gov.in/SDS-2011/Thirunallar.htm | title = The Temple At Thirunallar | publisher = District Administration, Karaikal | access-date = 2013-02-25 }}</ref>

He converted from [[Shaivism]] to [[Jainism]], but then re-converted under the influence of [[Sambandar]]. According to a Shaivite legend, after his re-conversion, he ordered a [[Impalement of the Jains in Madurai|massacre]] of 8000 [[Jain]]s in [[Samanatham]].<ref name="Dundas2002">{{cite book | author=Paul Dundas | title=The Jains | url=https://books.google.com/books?id=5ialKAbIyV4C&pg=PA127 | access-date=2013-02-25 | year=2002 | publisher=Routledge | isbn=978-0-415-26606-2 | page=127 }}</ref> Sambandar is said to have cured his hunched back, after which he was known as '''Sundara Pandya''' ("Beautiful Pandyan").<ref name="MarcoHenry1875">{{cite book | author1=Marco Polo | author2=Sir Henry Yule | title=The Book of Sir Marco Polo, the Venetian, Concerning the Kingdoms and Marvels of the East: Newly Tr. and Ed., with Notes, Maps, and Other Illustrations | url=https://books.google.com/books?id=rRsRAQAAIAAJ&pg=PA317 | access-date=16 August 2013 | year=1875 | publisher=J. Murray | pages=317–| isbn=9780404115425 }}</ref>

==Conversion to Shaivism==
In the 7th century, [[Jainism]] was one of the major religions in [[South India]]. Koon Pandian had embraced Jainism,<ref>{{citation |title=Jainism - Its relevance to psychiatric practice; with special reference to the practice of Sallekhana |pmc=5270277 | pmid=28197009 | doi=10.4103/0019-5545.196702 |volume=58 |year=2016 |journal=Indian J Psychiatry |pages=471–474 |author=Somasundaram O, Tejus Murthy AG, Raghavan DV|issue=4 }}</ref> but his wife, [[Mangayarkkarasiyar]], and his minister, [[Kulachirai Nayanar]], were both Shaivites. When the king suffered from [[boil]]s and incurable fever, the two invited the Shaivite saint, [[Sambandar]], to Madurai. Sambandar is said to have cured his fever and his hunched back. After this, the king became a Shaivite, and several of his subjects converted to Shaivism during his rule. The Tamil poet [[Sekkizhar]] honoured Koon Pandiyan, Kulachirai and Mangaiarkkarasi by naming them among the 63 [[Nayanars]] in ''[[Periya Puranam]]''.<ref name="TheHindu_2009_Staunch">{{cite news | url = http://www.hindu.com/2009/05/15/stories/2009051551401300.htm | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20140227201813/http://www.hindu.com/2009/05/15/stories/2009051551401300.htm | url-status = dead | archive-date = 2014-02-27 | title = Staunch devotion | date = 2009-05-15 | access-date = 2013-02-25 | newspaper = [[The Hindu]] | location = Chennai }}</ref>

According to a Shaivite legend, when the Jains in [[Samanatham]] refused to convert to Shaivism, the king ordered their killings with the consent of Sambandar.<ref name="James2003">{{cite book | author=James Hastings | title=Encyclopedia of Religion and Ethics Part 9 | url=https://books.google.com/books?id=jIPS0d7UTT8C&pg=PA23 | access-date=2013-02-25 | year=2003 | publisher=Kessinger Publishing | isbn=978-0-7661-3680-9 | page=23}}</ref> Around 3,000 Jains were said to have committed suicide [[impalement]] and put themselves over sharp, tall, conical structures in sitting posture.<ref>{{cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=QIeqvcai5XQC&q=8000+tamil+jains&pg=PA171 |title=Tamil Literature - M. S. Pillai - Google Books |isbn=9788120609556 |access-date=2013-02-14|last1=Purnalingam Pillai |first1=M. S. |year=1994 }}</ref> However, this legend is not found in any Jain text and is believed to be a fabrication made up by the Shaivites to prove their dominance.<ref name="Ashim1984">{{cite book | author=Ashim Kumar Roy | title=A history of the Jainas | url=http://www.jainworld.com/book/historyofjainism/ch9a.asp | access-date=22 May 2013 | year=1984 | publisher=Gitanjali | chapter=9. History of the Digambaras | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180223170524/http://www.jainworld.com/book/historyofjainism/ch9a.asp | archive-date=23 February 2018 | url-status=dead }}</ref><ref name="Nilakantha1976">{{cite book | author=K. A. Nilakanta Sastri | author-link=K. A. Nilakanta Sastri | title=A history of South India from prehistoric times to the fall of Vijayanagar | url=https://books.google.com/books?id=FjxuAAAAMAAJ | access-date=23 May 2013 | year=1976 | publisher=Oxford University Press | page = 424 }}</ref>

== Legacy ==
Koon Pandiyan's son Kochadaiyaan ranadheeran ascended the pandiyan throne after his father.<ref name="James1989">{{cite book | author=James Henry Nelson | title=The Madura Country: A Manual | url=https://books.google.com/books?id=-QpN1BDaS4cC&pg=RA2-PA71 | access-date=25 February 2013 | year=1989 | publisher=Asian Educational Services | isbn=978-81-206-0424-7 | page=2 }}</ref>

==References==
{{Reflist}}

{{Nayanars}}
{{Authority control}}

[[Category:Pandyan kings]]
[[Category:Nayanars]]

Koon Pandiyan - Revision history

->ChandlerMinh at 14:01, 31 July 2021