The South of India has always been rich in culture, artistry, economy and has had a diverse society. We were ruled by the Pallavas, Pandyas, Chozhas, Cheras and the Vijayanagara Empire from 5th century to 14th century A.D., 10 centuries. Each of these empires made India glorious in their ways.

Pallavas were pioneers to start architectural work on stones. Until this period, only perishable items like brick, metal, timber etc, were used to build temples. The rock-cut cave temples, monolithic rathas in Mahabalipuram and the shore temple owe their glory to this kingdom. Using stones to build temples was considered bad omen then. He broke this false belief and created history. In our society today we don’t know the practices we do and neither do we have the reason for the same. This does not mean that the whole system is wrong. It’s just that there is a glitch. But, one needs to understand the system to understand its problems.  

 Pandyas - சங்கம் வைத்து தமிழ் வளர்த்த நாடு. The Pandiyas glorified the Tamil language. There were many poets during this period who were patronized by the Kings. Most of the kings were poets themselves and the literary works during this time flourished. They had sangams which we today call ‘Conference’, to share literary works and discuss them.

Though there were Tamil works, importance for other languages spoken there, like sanskrit was not reduced. There are inscriptions in temples and copper plate inscriptions in both languages to prove that other languages were not killed to glorify the Tamil language.

Pandiyans were the best in pearl fisheries and their contacts in trade reached up to the Roman Empire. Yes, you read it right, the Roman empire.

The Chozha Empire made a revelation in Indian Architecture. We cannot talk about the south Indian Architecture without mentioning the Thanjavur Brihadeeswara temple. Till today it's a marvel how a single rock was placed on the top of the temple at that height.

The Vijayanagara Empire played a major role in protecting the work of the former dynasties. By this time the Mughals started conquering from the north of India and were marching fast towards the south.

The glory of this empire is dedicated to Harihara and Bukka, who were inspired by the saint Sri Vidyaranya swamigal of Sringeri Mutt and started to create an entire empire of Vijayanagara, meaning the city of victory. These 2 individuals saw the growing threat of the Muslim invasion and acted to stop them. Another legend following Harihara and Bhukka was Kumarakampanna (Son of Bukka). He marched to Madurai to fight the Sultans of Madurai.

He was a great administrator too. We can see the details from various inscriptions that were left behind. Maduravijayam is a sanskrit poem composed by the wife of Kumara Kampanna. This is a biography about Kumara Kampanna and his victorious deeds.

There were a lot of temples that were shut down during the Sultan’s reign. Proper arrangements were made during his rule to conduct the daily temple rituals and festivals in a proper manner. One of the officials in charge of the Temple administrations, Gopanna was responsible for defeating the Muslim ruler of Srirangam and retrieving the idol of Lord Ranganatha from Tirumala where it was kept during the rule of Sultans.

Today the money donated by the people in the Hundis of temples goes to the government which is used to fund many things other than the reason for which the money has been donated by the people which is to maintain the temples well. Is this why our kings fought battles, lost lives and protected the temples?