Ellalan (Tamil: எல்லாளன், romanized: Ellāḷaṉ; Sinhala: එළාර, romanized: Eḷāra), also referred to as Elara the Pious, and by the honorific epithet Manu Needhi Cholan, was a member of the Tamil Chola dynasty in Southern India, who upon capturing the throne became king of the Anuradhapura Kingdom, in present-day Sri Lanka, from 205 BCE to 161 BCE.

[4] The Mahavamsa states that he ruled 'with even justice toward friend and foe, on occasions of disputes at law,[5] and elaborates how he even ordered the execution of his son for killing a calf under his chariot wheels.

Ellalan is a peculiar figure in the history of Sri Lanka and one with particular resonance given the past ethnic strife in the country.

Although he was an invader, he is often regarded as one of Sri Lanka's wisest and most just monarchs, as highlighted in the ancient Sinhalese Pali chronicle, the Mahavamsa.

Despite Ellalan's famously even-handed rule, resistance to him coalesced around the figure of Dutugamunu, a young Sinhalese prince from the kingdom of Mahagama.

Towards the end of Ellalan's reign, Dutugamunu had strengthened his position in the south by defeating his own brother, Saddha Tissa, who challenged him.

The Dakkhina Stupa was until the 19th century believed to have been the tomb of Ellalan and was called Elara Sohona, but was renamed later on by the Sri Lankan Department of Archaeology.

[12] The Mahavamsa contains numerous references to the loyal troops of the Chola empire and portrays them as a powerful force.

According to historian Burton Stein, when these troops were directed against the Chola empire, they rebelled and were suppressed and decommissioned.

[19] The Sri Lanka Navy Northern Naval Command base in Karainagar, Jaffna is named the SLNS Elara[20] Ellalan received the title "Manu Needhi Cholan" (the Chola who follows justice) because he executed his own son to provide justice to a cow.

[1] Impressed by the justice of the king, Lord Shiva blessed him and brought back the calf and his son alive.

[21] Chronicles such as the Yalpana Vaipava Malai and stone inscriptions like Konesar Kalvettu recount that Kulakkottan, an early Chola king and descendant of Manu Needhi Cholan, was the restorer of the ruined Koneswaram temple and tank at Trincomalee in 438, the Munneswaram temple of the west coast, and as the royal who settled ancient Vanniyars in the east of the island Eelam.