The Hindu Lit for Life 2025: Sembiyan Mahadevi was the real founder of the Chola Empire, says Anirudh Kanisetti

Kanisetti discusses with Ashwitha the role of Sembiyan Mahadevi in building Chola Empire, whether it really had a Navy

In his contentions on the components of the Chola Empire and the elements that made it great, public historian Anirudh Kanisetti argued that Chola queen Sembiyan Mahadevi, in many ways, was the “real founder” of the Chola Empire.

Also see: The Hindu Lit for Life 2025 Day 2 LIVE

In a conversation with author Ashwitha Jayakumar during the session ‘The Mighty Cholas’ in the The Hindu’s Lit for Life 2025, Mr. Kanisetti said if not for the queen Sembiyan Mahadevi “there would not have been the Chola Empire”.

Elaborating on how she patronised temples and built the popular support for the Chola empire, Mr. Kanisetti said she clearly saw temple construction as a very important part of the public persona.

Mr. Kanisetti contended that she saw temple building a way “to appeal to the devotional sentiments of these communities but more importantly it is a way of incorporating people into the edifice of the Chola State.”

Pointing out from historical records on how one could notice that there was not any royals before her, especially in the Chola family, Mr. Kanisetti said she had this very clear well thought out idea of how to build this popular support for the Chola throne.

Also read: The Hindu Lit for Life 2025 Day 1 highlights