Chennai (Tamil Nadu) [India]: National award-triumphing Tamil director Vetrimaaran has sparked controversy by using claiming that Raja Raja Cholan wasn’t a Hindu king. Kamal Haasan has backed the director’s declaration, which has opened floodgates for arguable debates regarding the king’s identity.
It all began at an event Vetrimaaran attended wherein he raised some eyebrows, stating, “Raja Raja Chozlan wasn’t Hindu but they (BJP) are seeking to steal our identity. They have already tried to saffronize Thiruvalluvar.
We ought never to allow that. ” Then, Kamal Hassan echoed similar sentiments and said, “There changed into no call known as ‘Hindu religion’ throughout Raja Raja Cholan’s period. There were Vainavam, Shivam, and Samanam, and it turned into the British coined the time period Hindu considering they didn’t realize the way to discuss it together. It is similar to how they modified Thuthukudi into Tuticorin.”
Well, curiously, Vetimaaran’s feedback got here only a day after the release of the movie ‘Ponniyin Selvan: 1’ which is based totally on a fictional novel stimulated by way of Raja Raja Cholan.
Although Vetimaaran did locate support from Haasan, BJP got here all weapons blazing at the director. BJP chief H Raja stated that Raja Raja Chola turned into a Hindu king. He questioned Vetimaran – “I am now not properly versed with records like Vetrimaran, but let him factor out churches and mosques built by means of Raja Raja Cholan. He called himself Sivapadha Sekaran. Wasn’t he a Hindu then?”
Well, this isn’t always the primary time that an announcement on Raja Raja Cholan has made headlines in Tamil Nadu.
In 2019, movie director P A Ranjith sparked controversy after he criticized the king. He stated at that point that the rule of thumb of the erstwhile king became a dark age for Dalits.
He claimed, “Land was forcibly taken away from them, and plenty of styles of caste oppression had all started in the course of Raja Raja Cholan’s reign”.
