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{{Use dmy dates|date=August 2019}}
{{Infobox writer
| name = Ottakoothar
| image =
| imagesize =
| alt =
| caption =
| pseudonym =
| birth_name = Ponnambalakoothar, Koothan
| birth_date =
| birth_place = [[Thiruverumbur]], [[Tiruchirapalli]]
| death_date =
| death_place =
| occupation = Court poet, Minister
| nationality = [[Chola Dynasty|Cholan]]
| citizenship =
| period =12th century
| genre =
| subject =
| movement = [[Shaivism]]
| notableworks = {{ubl
|''Vikrama Cholan Ula''
|''Kulottunga Cholan Ula''
|''Rajarajan Ula''
|''Kulothunga Cholan pillai tamil''
|''Takkayaakaparani''
|''Eeti-elupattu''
}}
| spouse =
| partner =
| children =
| relatives =[[Sengunthar]]
| influences =
| influenced =
}}
'''Ottakoothar''' (c. 12th century CE) was a [[Tamil people|Tamil]] [[court poet]] to three [[Later Cholas|Later Chola]] kings, namely [[Vikrama Chola]], [[Kulothunga Chola II|Kulotunga II]] and [[Rajaraja Chola II|Rajaraja II]].<ref>{{cite news|title=Packed with information|url=http://www.hindu.com/fr/2004/08/27/stories/2004082702590600.htm|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20041124141404/http://www.hindu.com/fr/2004/08/27/stories/2004082702590600.htm|url-status=dead|archive-date=24 November 2004|date=27 August 2004|newspaper=[[The Hindu]]|location=India}}</ref> He wrote poems in praise of these three kings.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.tamilvu.org/courses/degree/c012/c0124/html/c01244ea.htm|title=Ula Ilakkiyam|publisher=Tamil Virtual University|access-date=24 January 2012}}</ref>

The poet's memorial is believed to be still in a place known as [[Darasuram]] in [[Kumbakonam]], just opposite the famous [[Airavatesvara Temple]]. According to legend, the [[Saraswati|goddess Saraswati]] blessed him in [[Koothanur]], then he became a famous poet.<ref>{{cite news|title=Consecration of 1000-yr old Saraswathi Temple on July 6|url=http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city/Consecration-of-1000-yr-old-Saraswathi-Temple-on-July-6/articleshow/33872.cms|newspaper=Times of India|date=20 June 2003|location=Chennai, India}}</ref>

== Family ==
According to a legend, there was once a [[Chola]] king called [[Muchukunda]]n who had his capital at [[Karur]]. He is said to have won the favor of God [[Murugan]] after deep penances and the latter is said to have bestowed upon him his personal bodyguards to aid him in his wars. Muchukundan Chola then married Chitravalli, daughter of the warrior chief and [[Murugan]]'s bodyguard called Virabahu and spawned a new line. The poet Ottakoothar is presented as the scion of the family of this [[Sengunthar]] chief in his work ''Eeti-elupattu''.<ref>{{cite book|title=The Tyāgarāja Cult in Tamilnāḍu: A Study in Conflict and Accommodation|author=Rajeshwari Ghose|publisher=Motilal Banarsidass, 1996 - Tamil Nadu (India) - 414 pages|pages=78–79}}</ref> It is worth mentioning that this Muchukunda Chola figures in the ancestry of [[Rajendra Chola I]] as detailed in his Tiruvalangadu copper plates.<ref>{{cite book|title=Early Chola Temples: Parantaka I to Rajaraja I, A.D. 907-985|author=S. R. Balasubrahmanyam|publisher=Orient Longman, 1971 - Architecture, Chola - 351 pages|page=194}}</ref>

== Literary works ==
The poet is renowned for his ''Ula'' poems on the three successive kings, [[Vikrama Chola]], [[Kulothunga Chola II]] and [[Rajaraja Chola II]].<ref>{{cite book|title=The History and Culture of the Indian People: The struggle for empire.-2d ed|year=2007|url=https://archive.org/details/britishparamount10bhar|author1=Ramesh Chandra Majumdar|author2=Achut Dattatrya Pusalker|author3=A. K. Majumdar|author4=Dilip Kumar Ghose|author5=Vishvanath Govind Dighe|author6=Bharatiya Vidya Bhavan|publisher=Bharatiya Vidya Bhavan, 1966|page=[https://archive.org/details/britishparamount10bhar/page/364 364]}}</ref> The ''Ula'' poems are generally written in honor of the king and describe the triumphant procession of the king amidst the people and his subjects.<ref>{{cite book|title=Literary genres in Tamil: a supplement to a descriptive catalogue of palm-leaf manuscripts in Tamil|author1=A. Ve Cuppiramaṇiyan̲|author2=Shu Hikosaka|author3=G. John Samuel|publisher=Institute of Asian Studies, 1993 - Manuscripts, Tamil - 493 pages|pages=311–313}}</ref> He also authored a work dealing with the Kulottunga II's childhood called ''Kulottunga Cholan Pillai Tamil''.<ref>{{cite book|title=South India heritage: an introduction|author1=Prema Kasturi|author2=Chithra Madhavan|publisher=East West Books (Madras), 2007 - History - 616 pages|page=294}}</ref>

During this period when he was very popular, the [[Sengunthar]] community, the one to which he belonged, requested him to compose a work in their honor. He initially refused but then later agreed provided they brought him 1008 heads of their first born sons. Accordingly, 1008 members of the community sacrificed their lives so that he could write about their history. The poet then wrote, ''Eetiyelupattu'', a poem consisting of seventy verses in honor of the spear and extolled the glorious past of the [[Sengunthar]] chiefs and soldiers. He later wrote another poem called ''Eluppelupattu'' in order to bring back the 1008 dead members to life. When he sang it the heads are said to have miraculously attached to their bodies and the dead became alive once again. The poet Koothan thus came to be known as OttaKoothan for he attached the heads to the bodies.<ref>{{cite book|title=The Cōḷas, Volume 2, Issue 1|author=Kallidaikurichi Aiyah Nilakanta Sastri|publisher=University of Madras, 1937 - Chola (Indic people)|pages=522–523}}</ref>

==Popular culture==
In the 1957 Tamil film ''[[Ambikapathy (1957 film)|Ambikapathy]]'', the character of Ottakoothar was portrayed and was performed by [[M. N. Nambiar]]. The character was also played by [[Rajesh (actor)|Rajesh]] in [[Mahasakthi Mariamman]], a 1986 Tamil film.

== See also ==
*[[Koothanur Maha Saraswathi Temple]]

==References==
{{reflist}}

{{authority control}}

[[Category:12th-century Indian poets]]
[[Category:Indian male poets]]
[[Category:Poets from Tamil Nadu]]
[[Category:Tamil poets]]
[[Category:Hindu poets]]
[[Category:Translators of the Ramayana]]

{{India-poet-stub}}

Ottakoothar - Revision history

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