Kunala

Kunala (IAST: Kuṇāla ) (263 BC - ?) was a son of Emperor Ashoka and Queen Padmavati and the presumptive heir to Ashoka, thus the heir to the Mauryan Empire which once ruled almost all of the Indian subcontinent. After the departure of Mahendra (who was Ashoka's eldest son), he was supposed to be the future heir to the empire, but was blinded by his step-mother, Tishyaraksha, at a young age in jealousy. While he was not able to take the throne, his son, Samprati, became his heir.

Kunala also served as the Viceroy of Taxila during the reign of his father, having been appointed to the position in 235 BC.

Significance of name

The name Kunal in many Indian languages means "Eagle". Kuṇāla is also the name of a Himalayan bird, the 'Painted Snipes'. The most famous meaning of Kunal is in Sanskrit which is "Lotus". Kunal also means "bird with beautiful eyes", "someone who sees beauty in everything" or "one with beautiful eyes".

Early life

Due to the premature death of his birth mother, Rani Padmavati within a few months of his birth, he was raised by Ashoka's chief queen consort Asandhimitra who loved him like her own son. Due to this, Asandhimitra is often mistaken to be his birth mother. At the age of eight, Ashoka sent his son to Ujjain, there to be brought up and carry out his princely education, to become the heir to the throne of the Mauryan Empire. Which he should not have succeeded because he was the youngest and had no right to rule just like his father.

Kunal (disambiguation)

List of famous people with name Kunal

Kunal (actor)

Kunal Singh (Hindi: कुणाल; 29 September 1977 – 7 February 2008) was an Indian actor who appeared in Tamil films. He is best known for his role in Kadhalar Dhinam (1999). His death in 2008 from apparent suicide garnered significant media attention.

Career

Kunal's first major role was in the 1999 box office success Kadhalar Dhinam alongside Bollywood actress Sonali Bendre, where he played a young student who falls in love over the Internet.

After the release of Kadhalar Dhinam, Kunal appeared in a series of box office failures like Pesadha Kannum Pesume (2002) and Nanbanin Kadhali (2007). His other three box office successes were Paarvai Ondre Podhume (2001), Punnagai Desam (2002) and Devathayai Kanden (2005), with the latter featuring Kunal in a supporting role alongside Dhanush and Sridevi Vijayakumar. When he was unable to find roles as an actor, he served as assistant editor for several films and turned to producing.

Death

On 7 February 2008, he was found hanging from a ceiling in his Mumbai apartment by actress Lavina Bhatia. The apparent suicide was challenged by his father Rajendra Singh who claimed the body showed signs of suspicious bruising. Bhatia was detained by police in connection with his death, but was later released after the police could not prove a motive. The police were unable to prove any other persons were present in Kunal's apartment at the time of his death and therefore ruled out Bhatia as a suspect as Kunal had a black belt in karate; furthermore, he had attempted suicide by slashing his wrists several months earlier. At the time of his death, Kunal was working on a film, Yogi, which was being produced by his newly formed production company Balagiri. The case was referred to CBI, Prof T D Dogra of All India Institute of Medical Sciences, examined the scene of crime along with CBI, he opined in favor of suicide.