For the Vaishnava Saint and King, see Kulashekhara.
The Kulasekhara dynasty is one of the three surviving royal lineages that ruled the current Indian state of Kerala.
Even though the term Kulasekhara dates back to the earlier reign of the Chera dynasty that ruled with Muziris as the capital, the Travancore Royal Family traces its lineage from Kolathunadu. The other surviving lineages are the Cochin royal family and the Zamorins of Kozhikode and the ones of Mavelikkara, Pandalam and so on.
The major distinguishing aspect of succession for the Travencore Kulasekharas is the matrilineal succession.
The progressive psychedelic band Kula Shaker take their name from this Dynasty, borrowing the name in a modified version from Kulasekhara das, the first initiated European disciple of His Divine Grace A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada. Kulasekhara das released his own music CD in 2008 on iTunes under the name 'Kula'.
Kula Sekhara Alwar is a King /Kshatriya who belonged to Vannia Kula Kshatriya(Vanniyar)Agnivanshi of Tamilnadu,Kerala,Andhra Pradesh and Karnataka. Vannia Kula Kshatriya descended from Fire Homam conducted by Shri Jambhuva Maharishi to protect the Earth from Vatapi and Mahi who were garrisoning the Earth (Archeological evidence inscribed on the walls of Sri Vaitheeswaran tample -Vannia Purana -story of Vanniyars)
Pallava,Chera,Chola,Pandya kings were Vanniya kula Kshatriya.
Refer to the tradition of honoring this Kula Sekhara Alwar by Vanniyars/Vanniya Kula Kshatriya community even today at the Shri Parthasarthy Temple- a famous Vaishanava temple in Chennai/Madras.
In Wikipedia -Search under heading Vanniars-Vannia Kula Kshatriya for the authentic article based on archeology.
Ref: Vanniyar Puranam inscriptions at Sri Vaitheeswaran temple,Tamil Nadu Tamil Samudaya Varalaru- Chozhar Kaalam Thoguthi 4-World Tamil Institute-Chennai.(History of Tamil Society-Chola Period Part 4-World Tamil Institute,Madras,Chennai)
A.R.No 137 of 1900 and A.R.232 of 1916- Archeology Reports Ariyalur varalaaru-Anrum Inrum -By Pulavar Kumaraswamy(History of Ariyalur-Yesterday and Today by Poet Kumaraswamy)