Karikala Chola or Karikala Chozhan was one of the great Tamil

Tamil people

Tamil people , also called Tamils or Tamilians, are an ethnic group native to Tamil Nadu, India and the north-eastern region of Sri Lanka. Historic and post 15th century emigrant communities are also found across the world, notably Malaysia, Singapore, Mauritius, South Africa, Australia, Canada,...

 kings of Early Chola

Early Cholas

The Early Cholas of the pre and post Sangam period were one of the three main kingdoms of the ancient Tamil country. Their early capitals were Urayur and Kaveripattinam...

 during the Sangam period. He was the son of Ilamcetcenni

Ilamcetcenni

Ilamcetcenni was an early Tamil king of the Chola dynasty during the Sangam period.He was a great warrior and ruled the Chola kingdom with Puhar as the capital. He married a Velir Princess and the child born to the Royal couple was called Karikala Cholan. Cholas overpowered Cheras and Pandiyas...

 and ruled around 270 BC.

He was also known by the epithet

Epithet

An epithet or byname is a descriptive term accompanying or occurring in place of a name and having entered common usage. It has various shades of meaning when applied to seemingly real or fictitious people, divinities, objects, and binomial nomenclature. It is also a descriptive title...

s Karikala Peruvalathaan (கரிகால பெருவளத்தான்) and Thirumavalavan (திருமாவளவன்).
The story of Karikala is mixed with legend and anecdotal information gleaned from Sangam literature

Sangam literature

Sangam literature refers to a body of classical Tamil literature created between the years c. 600 BCE to 300 CE. This collection contains 2381 poems composed by 473 poets, some 102 of whom remain anonymous The period during which these poems were composed is commonly referred to as the Sangam...

. Karikala has left us no authentic records of his reign.