The Life
Pugazh Chola reigned from Uraiyur, a just king and ardent devotee of Shiva who honoured every Shaiva. Campaigning at Karuvur, his soldiers subdued a rebellious chieftain and returned with spoils and, as tokens of victory, the severed heads of the slain. Surveying them, the king saw one head bearing matted locks and sacred ash, the head of a Shiva devotee slain in error. Stricken with unbearable grief at this unwitting sin, he resolved to give up his life in atonement. He crowned his son, built a great funeral pyre, and reverently bore the devotee's head in a jewelled golden vessel upon his own head. Entering the flames in penance, the king was received by Shiva, who granted him a place among His servants for his boundless reverence toward the Lord's devotees.