One thousand years ago (1023-1024 CE), Chola king Rajendra I’s army marched to the Gangetic plains, defeating many kings on the way, collected water from the Ganga, and poured it into Chola Gangam, the lake Rajendra built in his capital, Gangaikondacholapuram. What if someone tried to follow the Chola trail now? Ramesh Vangipuram, an IT professional, researcher and decided to do precisely that. Because the Cholas did not leave behind any artefacts in the regions they passed through, Ramesh had to rely on information found in the Thirumalai inscription, which gives the sequential order of the places on the Chola route. He had to fix the geographical boundaries of the kingdoms the army crossed. He drew up maps, which were validated by Odiyan scholar Kornel Das. “Rajendra did not lead his army to the Ganga, but stayed back in Andhra,” clarifies Ramesh.

Ramesh travelled by bus, train and cab to take the Chola route. But occasionally, he had to deviate because of practical difficulties such as inhospitable terrains. Of the two possible routes from Rajahmundry to Sakkarakottam (present day Chitrakoot in Chattisgarh), Ramesh believed the Cholas would have taken the route through Vengi, because they had marital ties with the Eastern Chalukyas who ruled Vengi. Additionally, feudatories of Sakkarakottam that were on this route could be defeated.

Masunidesam and Maduramandalam were provinces under Sakkarakottam. Masunidesam is described in the Thirumalai inscription as an area lush with fields, and this area (the Indravati-Kolab river basin) is even today referred to as the granary of Odisha. Kornel identified Maduramandalam as present-day Mudulipada on the Bondo hills in Odisha. “Mudulipada could be a corruption of Mudirpada mentioned in the inscription,” says Ramesh, who first went to Masunidesam and from there to Maduramandalam, whereas the Cholas would have gone to Maduramandalam first. He then reached Chitrakoot near Jagdalpur. However, there is nothing to show where the Sakkarakottam battle took place.

Namanikkonam (Niyamagiri and Kona in Odisha), with its dense groves, matched the description in the inscription to a ‘t.’ Kosala Nadu is described in the inscription as a ‘good country’. What warranted this praise? During his visit to Sonepur (once the capital of Kosala Nadu), Ramesh found that the town had 108 temples, for a population of just 17,000. It is called the Varanasi of the South and is at the confluence of three rivers. “Maybe its sacredness prompted the Cholas to refer to Kosala as righteous,” says Ramesh.

Because the Cholas saw Kosala in a positive light, they probably did not attack it. Both Kosala Nadu and Odda Vishaya were ruled by the Somavanshis, during Rajendra’s time. Odda Vishaya is the present day Dhenkanal district in Odisha (vishaya- district).

The inscription says Dandabhuthi, the next place where the Cholas laid their footprints, had gardens where bees abounded. “Panskura in East Midnapore district is the flower hub of Bengal, supplying 70 per cent of the state’s requirement of flowers during Durga puja. As one travels by train, one can see nurseries with many flowering plants here. So, this region must have been Dandabhuthi. “The political divisions of Bengal and Bangladesh were Varendra, Radha, Vangala Desa and Samatata. Radha was further divided into Uttara Ladam and Thakkana Ladam. The Thirumalai inscription gives the sequence of the march as Dandabhuthi, Thakkana Ladam, Vangala Desam and Uttara Ladam,” explains Ramesh. Having defeated Ranasura, king of Thakkana Ladam, the Cholas could have collected water from the Ganges there, or they could have gone to Uttara Ladam and done so. Why did they go to Vangala Desam? “They would have wanted to gather information about ships visiting the region, to prepare for Rajendra’s maritime expedition against the Srivijaya kingdom.”

The capital of Vangala Desam was near Dhaka, in Bangladesh. From Vangala Desam, the Cholas moved to Uttara Ladam, which consists of the modern districts of Murshidabad, Birbhum, some parts of Santal Parkanas and Jharkand. Uttara Ladam was ruled by the Pala dynasty, which once had control over a large part of Bihar, Bengal and Bangladesh. But by the 10th century, the kingdom had shrunk, and it was Mahipala I (988 CE- 1036 CE), who restored a large part of the kingdom, and he was ruling over Uttara Ladam, when the Chola army defeated him. But the legend of Mahipala lives on in North Bengal. When Ramesh visited the area, he was shown a tank built by Mahipala, which is still called Mahipal Dighi. “The Chola army must have collected water from the Ganga in Uttara Ladam, or further up in Varendra, on the Northern side of the Ganga”, says Ramesh, who has recorded details of the path the Cholas took in a book titled Warpath.

Because Rajendra is praised as one who conquered Purvadesam (comprising some regions of Odisha), Ramesh visited the area, although it was not on the Gangetic route of the Cholas. “Kornel Das says that a Chola influence can be seen here. The Sodia Porajas, who live here, are the only tribe to celebrate Bhogi. There is a place here called Tamili. The ancient name of Anchalagumma was Ko Chola gumma.”

Ramesh is now preparing to travel the route the Cholas took during their Srivijaya expedition. He made a preliminary visit to Malaysia (old name Kadaram), and met historian Selvakumar. The latter said that Pengkalan Bhujang was probably the point of disembarkation of the Cholas and that from there they would have gone to Bhujang Valley. The museum at the foot of the hills in Bhujang valley, has artefacts from Raja Raja’s and Rajendra’s time. There are three Shiva temples on the hill, at different levels. Above the top most temple are two waterfalls, and beyond this, Selvakumar pointed to some remnants of an old settlement. “We could not cross the waterfalls, because it had rained just then. But it was Selvakumar’s guess that the Srivijaya fort mentioned by Rajendra must have been on top of the hill, beyond the waterfalls”, says Ramesh.