With Tamil Nadu assembly elections around the corner, Prime Minister Narendra Modi is slated to undertake a two-day visit to the state, during which he will take part in the 1000th birth anniversary celebration of the mighty Chola emperor Rajendra Chola I, at Gangaikonda Cholapuram in Ariyalur district, 250 km south of Chennai.
Arriving on Saturday, he is first scheduled to inaugurate the expanded airport at the coastal Thoothukudi and lay the foundation for developmental projects to the tune of Rs 4500 crore. He would stay for the night at Trichy.
On Sunday, Modi will attend the grand celebration of the 1000th birth anniversary of Emperor Rajendra Chola I, whose reign (1014-1044) extended right from the Gangetic plains in the north to Indonesia in the far east, as well as the contiguous Sri Lanka. It was the zenith of the Chola dynasty. With a massive navy, the most powerful of that era, he held the Bay of Bengal as his captive zone. Now a nondescript town, Gangaikonda Cholapuram was once a bustling capital of the imperial Cholas for over 250 years. Only the temple tower that dots the small town is visible across the expanse of green farmlands.
The birth anniversary of the monarch, which falls on the star Thiruvathirai in the Tamil month Aadi, is a celebration at the temple that the emperor had built as a replica of the Thanjavur Big Temple, which his father, Raja Raja Chola, had erected in marble. It has been a state function since 2021, when the DMK government of MK Stalin assumed office.
Following the PM’s visit, security has been beefed up in Ariyalur and Trichy districts, where the flying of drones has been banned in view of security considerations. The state police and the NSG have been coordinating the security arrangements. The PM is expected to address a rally in which AIADMK general secretary Edappadi K Palaniswami and other NDA constituents are slated to share the dais.