Pandya in the context of "Ashoka"

Kerala is a state on the Malabar Coast of India. It was formed on 1 November 1956 under the States Reorganisation Act, which unified the country's Malayalam-speaking regions into a single state. Covering 38,863 km (15,005 sq mi), it is bordered by Karnataka to the north and northeast, Tamil Nadu to the east and south, and the Laccadive Sea to the west. With 33 million inhabitants according to the 2011 census, Kerala is the 13th-most populous state in India. It is divided into 14 districts, with Thiruvananthapuram as the capital. Malayalam is the most widely spoken language and, along with English, serves as an official language of the state.

Kerala has been a prominent exporter of spices since 3000 BCE. The Chera dynasty, the first major kingdom in the region, rose to prominence through maritime commerce but often faced invasions from the neighbouring Chola and Pandya dynasties. In the 15th century, the spice trade attracted Portuguese traders to Kerala, initiating European colonisation in India.

Tamil literature includes a collection of literary works that have come from a tradition spanning more than two thousand years. The oldest extant works show signs of maturity indicating an even longer period of evolution. Contributors to the Tamil literature are mainly from Tamil people from south India, including the land now comprising Tamil Nadu, Kerala, Eelam Tamils from Sri Lanka, as well as the Tamil diaspora.

The history of Tamil literature follows the history of Tamil Nadu, closely following the social, economical, political and cultural trends of various periods. The early Sangam literature, dated before 300 BCE, contain anthologies of various poets dealing with many aspects of life, including love, war, social values and religion. This was followed by the early epics and moral literature, authored by Vaishnavite, Shaivite, Ājīvika, Jain and Buddhist authors and poets lasting up to the 5th century CE. From the 6th to 12th century CE, the Tamil devotional poems written by Alvars (sages of Vaishnavism) and Nayanmars (sages of Shaivism) and, heralded the great Bhakti movement which later engulfed the entire Indian subcontinent. During the medieval era some of the grandest of Tamil literary classics like Kambaramayanam and Periya Puranam were authored and many poets were patronized by the imperial Chola and Pandya empires. The later medieval period saw many assorted minor literary works and also contributions by a few Muslim and European authors.

The Purananuru (Tamil: புறநானூறு, Puṟanāṉūṟu, literally "four hundred [poems] in the genre puram"), sometimes called Puram or Purappattu, is a classical Tamil poetic work and traditionally the last of the Eight Anthologies (Ettuthokai) in the Sangam literature. It is a collection of 400 heroic poems about kings, wars and public life, of which two are lost and a few have survived into the modern age in fragments. The collected poems were composed by 157 poets, of which 14 were anonymous and at least 10 were women. This anthology has been variously dated between 1st century BCE and 5th century CE, with Kamil Zvelebil, a Tamil literature scholar, dating predominantly all of the poems of Purananuru sometime between 2nd and 5th century CE. Nevertheless, few poems are dated to the period of 1st century BCE.

The Purananuru anthology is diverse. Of its 400 poems, 138 praise 43 kings – 18 from the Chera dynasty, 13 Chola dynasty kings, and 12 Early Pandya dynasty kings. Another 141 poems praise 48 chieftains. These panegyric poems recite their heroic deeds, as well as another 109 poems that recount deeds of anonymous heroes, likely of older Tamil oral tradition. Some of the poems are gnomic in nature, which have attracted unrealistic attempts to read an ethical message, states Zvelebil. The poetry largely focuses on war, means of war such as horses, heroic deeds, widowhood, hardships, impermanence, and other effects of wars between kingdoms based along the rivers Kaveri, Periyar and Vaigai.

The Three Crowned Kings, were the triumvirate of Chera, Chola and Pandya who dominated the politics of the ancient Tamil country, Tamilakam, from their three Nadu (countries) of Chola Nadu, Pandya Nadu (present day Madurai and Tirunelveli) and Chera Nadu (present day Kerala and some parts of Tamil Nadu) in southern India. They signalled a time of integration and political identity for the Tamil people. They frequently waged war against one another under a period of instability and between each other, held control over Greater Tamilakam from 6th century BCE to the 13th century. After being defeated by the Pandyas, the Cholas fled to Devicottah and are later mentioned in various texts that participated in wars in the 16th century.

Kanchipuram (IAST: kāñcipuram; [kaːɲdʑipuɾam]), also known as Kanjeevaram or Kancheepuram, is a city in the Indian state of Tamil Nadu in Chennai Metropolitan Area. region, 72 km (45 mi) from Chennai, the capital of Tamil Nadu. Known as the City of Thousand Temples, Kanchipuram is known for its temple architectures, 1000-pillared halls, huge temple towers, and silk saris. Kanchipuram serves as one of the most important domestic tourist destinations in India. Kanchipuram has become a centre of attraction for foreign tourists as well. The city covers an area of 36.14 km (13.95 sq mi) and an estimated population of 232,816 in 2011. It is the administrative capital of Kanchipuram District. Kanchipuram is well-connected by road and rail.

Kanchipuram is a Tamil name formed by combining two words, "kanchi" and "puram," together meaning "the city of kaanchi flowers" (due to the abundance of kaanchi flowers in those regions). The city is located on the banks of the Vegavathy and Palar Rivers. Kanchipuram has been ruled by the Pallavas, the Medieval Cholas, the Later Cholas, the Later Pandyas, the Vijayanagara Empire, the Carnatic kingdom, and the British, who called the city "Conjeeveram". The city's historical monuments include the Kailasanathar Temple and the Vaikunta Perumal Temple. Historically, Kanchipuram was a centre of education and was known as the ghatikasthanam, or "place of learning". The city was also a religious centre of advanced education for Jainism and Buddhism between the 1st and 5th centuries.

Rajaraja Chola III (died 1260) was the Chola emperor from 1216 to 1246. He succeeded Kulothunga Chola III on the Chola throne in July 1216. Rajaraja came to the throne of a kingdom much reduced in size as well as influence. With the rise of the Pandya power in the south, the Cholas had lost most of their control of the territories south of the river Kaveri and their hold on the Vengi territories in the north was slipping with the emergence of the Hoysala power.

Kumbakonam (formerly spelt as Coombaconum or Combaconum), or Kudanthai, is a city municipal corporation in the Thanjavur district in the Indian state of Tamil Nadu. It is located 40 km (25 mi) from Thanjavur and 282 km (175 mi) from Chennai and is the headquarters of the Kumbakonam taluk of Thanjavur district. It is the second largest city in the district after Thanjavur. The city is bounded by two rivers, the Kaveri River to the north and Arasalar River to the south. Kumbakonam is known as a "Temple City" due to the prevalence of a number of temples here and is noted for its Mahamaham festival, which happens once in 12 years, attracting people from all over the country.

Kumbakonam dates back to the Sangam period and was ruled by the Early Cholas, Pallavas, Mutharaiyar dynasty, Medieval Cholas, Later Cholas, Pandyas, the Vijayanagara Empire, Madurai Nayaks, Thanjavur Nayaks and the Thanjavur Marathas. It rose to be a prominent town between the seventh and ninth centuries AD, when it served as a capital of the Medieval Cholas. The city reached the zenith of its prosperity during the British Raj when it was a prominent centre of European education and Hindu culture; and it acquired the cultural name, the "Cambridge of South India". In 1866, Kumbakonam was officially constituted as a municipality, which today comprises 48 wards, making it the second largest local civil body in Thanjavur district. It became a municipal corporation on 24 August 2021.