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Kopperuncholan () was a Tamil People king of the Early Cholas mentioned in Sangam Literature. The information we have about Kopperuncholan is from the fragmentary poems of Sangam in the Purananuru.
It is from these colophons and rarely from the texts of the poems themselves, that we gather the names of many kings and chieftains and the poets patronised by them. The task of reducing these names to an ordered scheme in which the different generations of contemporaries can be marked off one another has not been easy. To add to the confusions, some historians have even denounced these colophons as later additions and untrustworthy as historical documents.
Any attempt at extracting a systematic chronology and data from these poems should be aware of the casual nature of these poems and the wide difference between the purposes of the anthologist who collected these poems and the historian’s attempts are arriving at a continuous history.
Andayar’s poems reflect the happy and joyful nature of the poet. Asked once why though old, his hair had not turned gray, he gave this answer:
"If you ask us ‘who is your king?’ Our king is he who To the labourers gives strong palm-wine strained and mellow, And with the fat of turtle satiates their desire, And fills their mouths with lampreys’ rich roast flesh. They leave short toil for feast; the feast prolong! In that good fertile land the minstrels with their kin Find our king the foe of want and hunger’s pangs. He is the lord of Koli, the mighty Cola king. He loves converse with Potti, whose friendship knows no flaw. All the day long he laughs with heart right glad!" Nilakanda Sastry,The Colas 1955, pg.45-46
Kopperuncholan and his two sons had a serious quarrel. His two sons vie the throne and raise an army against their father. As Kopperuncholan prepares for war, Pullārrūr Eyiŗŗiyaņār, a poet and a friend reasons with him that if he slays his own sons and wins the war then the country would be left without an heir, and on the other hand if he loses then they would become victors. So he advises the king to take his own life thereby leaving an heir to his kingdom and at the same time denying them all glory. The king would commit suicide by the rite of vadakiruttal, a Tamil people act of committing suicide, where the victim sits facing north and starves himself to death. (Excerpt from Purananuru, song 213):
Kopperuncholan takes the advice of the poet and takes his own life by vadakirruttal along with those closest to him. But before he sits facing north with the sword by his side he informs his men of his desire to see his friend Picirāntaiyār, a poet in the neighboring Pandya kingdom. His men send word but then tell him that Picirāntaiyār may not come. To this the king replies, (excerpt from Purananuru, song 215):
Picirāntaiyār arrives and joins his friend in his desire to quit this world (Purananuru, the song (218) of Kannakanār as he saw Picirāntaiyār taking his seat and facing north). Another poet, Karuvūrp Peruñcatukkattup Pūtanātanār is distressed that the king forgot to invite him and sings thus: (Purananuru 219):
After the king's death, Pottiyār another poet, unable to bear the loss of his patron, sits facing north amidst the heroes' stones and commits suicide by vadakirruttal. He reasons that the spirit of the dead king has given him permission to do so: (Purananuru - song 223);
Two additional poems commemorate the joint suicide of the king and Andai.One recounts that Andai fasted to death beneath a tree in the riverbed.When Pottiyar attempted to follow his companions in death, the king forbade him, urging him to delay until after his child was born.Obeying his friend’s final wish, Pottiyar returned to Uraiyur — and in the verses that followed,he poured out his grief and reverence for the departed monarch and poet. Nilakanda Sastry,The Colas 1955, pg.46-47
"The keeper who has lost the huge elephant which he daily supplied With its ample meal, and tended for many a year, Is sad as he surveys the vacant pillar where it stood. And weeps. Even so, did I not grieve when I beheld The courtyard in the ancient town where Killi lived and died Killi, with wealth of chariots, o’er which waves the conqueror's wreath? When, a little later, he visited the spot of the king’s death, marked by a stone ( nadukal ), he was greatly moved by the recollection of his noble traits, He had the praises manifold of minstrels whose wants he relieved.He was most loving to the dancers who resorted to his court; He swayed his sceptre in accordance with the teaching of the sages: His friendship had the firmness honoured of the wise; He was gentle to women, brave in the face of the strong; He was the refuge of the spotless learned ones. Such an one death did not spare, but carried off his sweet souk Therefore, my afflicted kinsfolk, let us Embracing one another join in reviling death. Come, all ye bards, whose words are true! He hath become a pillar planted in the wild. Crowned with imperishable praise! While the wide world in sorrow mourns. Such is the lot of him who was our protector! Nilakanda Sastry,The Colas 1955, pg.46-47
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