India Culture, Business, Sports and Food. Get all the buzz in India now

Pallavas: A Chandravanshi Dravidian Tamil dynasty that ruled over Tamil Nadu and Andhra Pradesh. There ruling period starts in 275 CE. But there good time begins in 7^th and 8^th century. During Mahendravarman dynasty and Narasimhavarman dynasty they lifted up. They dominated the Tamil regions. During there dynasty they were always in conflict with Chola and Pandyas in south region and with Chalukyas and Badami in north region. They were defeated by Chola kings in 8^th century CE. Pallavas are most talented and were known for their Dravidian architecture. Their creativity is still seen in Mahabalipuram. They created many sculptures and temples in their dynasty period. During their rule a Chinese traveler Hiuen Tsang visited their and praised about their sympathetic rule. The history of Pallavas has still not been very clear. The documentation of Pallavas is the three copper-plate grants and was written in Prakrit.

Pallavas and Pahlavas: In some Purana, Pahlavas are some time considered synonym to Pallavas and in some other Purana both are different. Vayu Purana distinguishes the two, the Vamana Purana refers to both as Pallava, the Brahmanda Purana and Markendya Purana refers to both as Pahlava, Bhishma Purana does not distinguish both Pallava and Pahlava. The Pahlavas are people mention in ancient Indian Puranas like The Ramayana, The Mahabharata, The Brhatsamhita and Manu Samiti. Pahlavas are those people who spoke Pehlvi which is a Parthian language. The Pallavas are compared as same to Parasikas.

Religion: Pallavas followed Hindu religions. They made many gifts for God and Brahmins. But they never forced anybody to follow the Hinduism. This is proved by umber of monasteries and temples of Buddhism in Kanchipuram. This was reported by a Chinese monk Xuanzang who visited there during the period of Narasimhavaraman I. He said there were 100 Buddhist monasteries and 80 temples. They showed their sensitivity towards other religions and show their full faith in other religions too. The monasteries and temples of Buddhism is the example of their humanity. Mahendravarman I in the beginning was the great supporter of the Jainism religion. Later he transformed his religion to Hinduism. He had changed his religion as he was influenced by saint Appar during Bhakti movement in South India.

Pallava Architecture: Pallavas are well known for their architecture styles. They made many creative gifts and dedicated to Hindu religion. They made many temples and monasteries during their dominion. Even today, there are many temples that showed their talent and are evidence of their creative art. They are best in their work. The Pallavas were creating stone temples from rock-cut architecture. They made many rock-cut temples and structural temples during their reign. They made rock-cut temples in 610-690 CE and structural temples in between 690-900 CE. The great achievement of Pallavas is rock-cut temples in Mahabalipuram. They mostly devote their creation to Lord Shiva. Kailasanatha temple which is situated in Kanchipuram and Shore temple which was built by Narasimhavarman II are some of the best examples of the Pallavas architect. These are the good examples of Pallavas style temples.

Skandavarman Pallavas: There are many contradictions about the history of Pallavas. According to history Skandavarman had been the first ruler of the Pallavas dynasty. He was carried with the title supreme king of kings devoted to dhrama. He was very capable emperor. He extended his area of rule in north, south and west side. He expanded his dominion in north till Krishna, in south till Pennar and in west till Bellary district. Skandavarman was broken at that time when he got the message of Samudragupta that he defeated Vishnugopa. Vishnugopa was the another emperor of Pallavas. Samudragupta defeated Vishnugopa in 480-500 CE. Skandavarman was so disturbed by listening this news. With Skandavarman journey, Pallavas prestige fallen down.

Simhavarman IV Pallavas: The fallen prestige of the Pallavas was restored by the Simhavarman IV in 436 CE. He recovered many territories lost during there predecessor dominion. He retained his image by defeating Krishna in north side. Also with his own image he lauded the image of Pallavas and again Palalvas gained fame during his dynasty period.

Nandivarman I: With the attainment of emperor Nandivarman I, Pallavas family was come to their decline. The Kadambas was very aggressive with Pallavas. They attacked to the headquarters of Pallavas and defeated them. Nandivarman I was the defeated by Kadambas and they ruled over many territories.

Narasimhavarman I: One of the most caliber emperor of Pallavas who was stand out with many glorious conquest. He was the emperor who was so efficient in both the military and architectural spheres. Nandivarman II built the Shore Temple during his session period.

Paramesvaraman I: He was the dynamite emperor who succeeded many victories and also made many temples during his period. He sticks out with many achievements and was one of the most popular emperor. Paramesvarman I was one of the emperor of Pallavas who made the reputation of Pallavas dynasty constant and performed many architectuiral opr creative work during his period.

Kadava Kingdom: Kadava dynasty came into existence during 13^th and 14^th centuries CE. The popular ruler of Kadava Kingdom was Kopperunchinga. He ruled from c1216-1242 CE. After that his son and successor Kopperunchinga II ruled over. His reigned period was c.1243-1279 CE. They ruled very efficiently and actively. The ultimately demise the Chola dynasty. They both influenced the people by their Kingdom.

Some sources described that Bodhidharma was the prince of Pallavas dynasty. Bodhidharma was the founder of Zen school of Buddhism. He was founder of school in China. With him, Skandvarman IV and Nandivarman I was also the prince of Pallavas dynasty. But these all are debatable that is different sources have different predictions.