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Rama Rajasekhara ( fl. c. 870/71 – c. 883/84 AD?) was a medieval Chera ruler of Kerala, south India. Historians generally identify Rajasekhara with Cheraman Perumal Nayanar, the venerated Shaivism (Nayanars) poet-musician of the Bhakti tradition.
Rajasekhara is believed to have succeeded Sthanu Ravi Kulasekhara around 870/71 AD. "Tripuradahana" and "Saurikathodaya", Yamaka poems by Vasubhatta, were composed under the patronage of Rajasekhara. Two temple records, from Kurumattur, Areekode and Thiruvatruvay, Vazhappally, mention king Rajasekhara. The former contains the only available royal panegyric of a Chera Perumal ruler of medieval Kerala and notably links the dynasty to the mythical Solar dynasty
Rajasehara probably abdicated the throne toward the end of his reign and became a Shaivism Nayanars known as Cheraman Perumal Nayanar. He was likely succeeded by Vijayaraga ( fl. c. 883/84-c.895 AD).
The poem "Tripuradahana" also refers to Rama as "Rajasekhara":
Another poem by Vasubhatta, the "Yudhisthiravijaya", states that "Kulasekhara" was the regnal title of his patron king. In the Keralolpathi on the origin of Kerala, the first Chera ruler (the Cheraman Perumal) is described as a contemporary of Vasubhatta, who is elsewhere in the same work portrayed as a courtier of king Kulasekhara and a disciple of a certain Mahabharata Bhatta.
Two later commentaries on Yudhisthiravijaya — "Vijayadarsika" by Acyuta and "Ratnapradipika" by Sivadasa — argue that "Rama" was the personal name of the king whose regnal title was "Kulasekhara". Modern scholars generally consider this interpretation to be the result of confusion on the part of these commentators, who lived long after the Chera rulers and may have conflated Sthanu Ravi Kulasekhara with Rama Rajasekhara. Some scholars also identify king Rama Kulasekhara, a later Chera ruler of Kerala, as the patron of poet Vasubhatta, thereby placing Vasubhatta in 11th-12 centuries AD. However, this view is generally regarded as unacceptable for several reasons.
Rajasekhara is also tentatively identified with king referred to as "Co-qua-rangon" in the extant text of the Thomas of Cana copper plates.
| 871 AD | N/A | Grantha script (Sanskrit) |
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| 750 - 850 AD | 12 | Vattezhuthu with Grantha script characters (early Malayalam) |
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