Koon pandiyan was a king who ruled Madurai

Madurai

Madurai is the third largest city in the Indian state of Tamil Nadu and one of the oldest continuously inhabited cities in the world. It served as the capital city of the Pandyan Kingdom. It is the administrative headquarters of Madurai District and is famous for its temples built by Pandyan and...

 around 7th century. He is infamous for his massacre of 8000 Jain priests during his reign. He is one among the 63 Nayanars

Nayanars

The Nayanars or Nayanmars were Shaivite devotional poets of Tamil Nadu, active between the fifth and the tenth centuries CE...

.

Conversion

During 5th, 6th and 7th century Buddhism

Buddhism

Buddhism is a religion and philosophy encompassing a variety of traditions, beliefs and practices, largely based on teachings attributed to Siddhartha Gautama, commonly known as the Buddha . The Buddha lived and taught in the northeastern Indian subcontinent some time between the 6th and 4th...

 and Jainism

Jainism

Jainism is an Indian religion that prescribes a path of non-violence towards all living beings. Its philosophy and practice emphasize the necessity of self-effort to move the soul towards divine consciousness and liberation. Any soul that has conquered its own inner enemies and achieved the state...

 were the popular religions in South India

South India

South India is the area encompassing India's states of Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka, Kerala and Tamil Nadu as well as the union territories of Lakshadweep and Pondicherry, occupying 19.31% of India's area...

. The king Koon Pandian also was maravar. But his wife Mangayarkarasi is a Saivaite. In the time the king got Boils (வெப்பு நோய்). The queen asked Sambandhar a saiva poet to come to Madurai to treat her husband. Accordingly Sambandhar came and treated the king with some hymns and some magic remedies like Camphor. The king got cured and Sambandhar asked him to kill the Jain priests.

Massacre

The King Koon Pandiyan and Queen Mangayarkarasi were ordered to kill the Jain priests. The Jain priests were forcefully put over sharp, tall, conical structures (கழுமரம்) in sitting posture. Their bodies were pierced by those conical structures. In this way 8000 priests were killed. These things were happened in a village near Madurai called Samanatham (சாமநத்தம்). Even now during the Chaitra

Chaitra

Chaitra is a month of the Hindu calendar....

month festival (April - May) this massacre is celebrated in Madurai by a group of Hindus.