Sembiyan Mahadevi

Sembiyan Mahadevi

Queen Sembiyan Mahãdevi (also Cempiyan Mãtevi, 10th century CE) was a title borne by various queens of the Chola empire. She could be the queen mother (king's mother), grandmother, aunt, etc. The most famous of them all is the mother of King Madurantaka Uttama Chola Deva. She was one of most powerful queens of the Chola empire who over a period of sixty years constructed numerous temples and gave generous gifts to many temples in South India. Her endowments are simply staggering and she figures as early as, if not before, Saka 901 during the reign of her son. According to an inscription dated 941, Sembiyan Mahadevi is said to have made an endowment so that a lamp may be kept permanently lit in front of the Shiva deity (perhaps not long after the crystallization of the Chidambaram Nataraja (Natarāja) cult).