Was the kudavolai system of Cholas a root for todays democracy?
Democratic systems are nothing new to the state we all live in. The ‘Kudavolai’ system (yes, that is the origin of this blog’s name) was practised as far back as 900 AD as per the inscriptions of Parantaka Cholan on the walls of the Vaikunta Perumal temple in Uttiramerur in the Kanchipuram district. This system consisted of people writing the names of people they thought were appropriate posts in the village administration on palm leaves or ‘olai) and dropping them in a big pot or ‘kudam’. The elders counted the leaves to install the one with the most leaves and installed him to that post. This was the first recorded instance of ‘free and fair elections’.
