My interest in Ponniyin Selvan started during the summer holidays from school. I guess I must have been 8 or 9 years old then. During those long summer holidays we used to sit in the verandah discussing everything under the sun. And whenever my father came home early from work we (my sister and I) used to make him to tell us a story.
First he told us stories like the Mahabharata and the Ramayana and later he proceeded to interesting epic histories like Ponniyin Selvan. The characters of Ponniyin Selvan captured my imagination. I wanted desperately to read the book. At that time I didn't even know to read Tamil. My father told me that my aunt had the entire 5-part novel in her possession. The next time I met my aunt I sweet-talked her into giving me all the parts of Ponniyin Selvan promising her that I would return them the very next week. (I never kept my promise though. They are still with me. Thankfully she seems to have forgotten about it!)
I had the novel with me but I did not know to read. I somehow managed to learn the alphabets from an elementary Tamil book and proceeded to read through the novel. My first reaction was that there was so much my father had omitted in his narrative. And the second was I wanted to read it all over again. So I proceeded to read it all over again and again and again. I still am not sure how many times I have read it! You can say it is a bit addictive. One does not want to come out of that era.
For the past few years since I began to write for a hobby I had wanted to translate this epic history into English. Well, I guess I found the right time and the right medium only now. Hope you enjoy reading this epic history as much as I enjoyed retelling it.
A Historical Note
The Chola Kingdom of the later period rose to great heights when King Vijayalaya Chola (AD 846 - 871) conquered the country from a vassal chief of the Pallavas, and established Thanjavur as the capital of the dynasty. His son and successor Aditya I (AD 871 - 907) conquered the Pallavas and the Kongu country; and under the leadership of his son Parantakan I (AD 907-953), the Cholas acquired a dominion which foreshadowed the greater empire of Rajarajan and Kulothungan. Parantakan I won victories over the Banas, the Gangas, the Pandyas and the King of Ceylon. The fact and the extent of his conquest are known from his inscriptions. Towards the end of his reign, or before his death, the Rashtrakutas under Krishnaraja III invaded the Tamil country, killed the Chola Prince Rajadithan at Thakkolam (near Arakonam) in AD 947-948, and seized Tondainadu which they seemed to have ruled for about a quarter of a century, confining the sway of the Cholas to their ancestral dominion comprising the Thanjavur and Trichy districts.
King Paranthakan I had three sons, the eldest is Rajadhitan who was killed in the Thakkolam battle and the other two were Kandaradithan and Arizhayan. After King Paranthakan, Kandaradithan ascended the throne. King Kandaradithan had no children of his own. So after he became the king he proclaimed his nephew Paranthakan as his heir apparent. Before King Kandaradithan died, he married and begot a son called Madhuranthakan. But after his death, his nephew Paranthakan, the crown prince, ascended the throne as King Paranthakan II. He later came to be known as King Sundara Chola by his people. King Sundara Chola had two sons and one daughter. The heir apparent is Aditya Karikalan.
This is where our story begins.
Part 1 - New Floods
Aadi Perruku
Time is a ship that can never be anchored. I invite you to travel along with me hundreds of years back in time. We are right now in South India ruled by the Chola kings.
To be precise we are near a dam in Tamil Nadu called Veeranarayana. This dam is nowadays called Veeranam.
What a breathtaking sight this is! So much water gushing out everywhere. Truly it makes us wonder how great our ancestors were to undertake such grandiose projects.
Today is the eighteenth day of the month of Aadi. On this day every year, people celebrate the harvest by having a great feast. Many people have gathered along the banks of the dam to enjoy the beautiful moonlit night.
On the banks of the dam, there appeared a young soldier on horseback. The horse was trotting slowly, obviously tired and its owner also didn't seem to be in a hurry. He was much engrossed by the spectacular sight of the dam.
"So much water everywhere!!! Such a huge dam!" thought Vallavareyan Vandiya Devan. "Seems like this is by far bigger than any other dam I have seen." He tried to remember who built the dam. Oh yes! Elavarasar Rajadhitha, the eldest son of the Great Chola King Paranthaka had built it. What a great personality he must have been to build something so monumental that would last for centuries to come.
He came to the southern end, where he saw people picnicking with their families. There were many pretty girls around there frolicking happily in the company of children and other young men. Some were laughing while some were singing praises about great kings and warriors. While he was looking around, an old lady saw him and invited him to dine with her family. Immediately he became the centre of attention of some of the young women gathered there. They started commenting about his looks and giggled among themselves. Vandiya Devan was very much tempted to accept the invitation. After all, where else would he find an opportunity to be among pretty damsels like these!
But at the same time he noticed a few large boats approaching the bank. In the first boat there were soldiers who hurried near the banks and started shooing away the people who were picnicking there.
Curious to know who was arriving, Vandiya Devan moved around the crowd and asked an elderly spectator, "Sir, who are these soldiers? Whose ships are those? Who is coming here? Why are these soldiers dispersing the crowd here?"
"My dear fellow, don't you know? Look at the flag in one of those ships. What do you see?" he asked.
"Looks like a picture of a palm tree."
"It is a picture of a palm tree. Don't you know that the palm tree is the emblem of Pazhuvetarayar?" he asked.
"What? Is the Great Warrior Pazhuvetarayar coming here?" asked Vandiya Devan surprised.
"It must be him. Who else will come bearing his emblem?"
Vallavareyan Vandiya Devan had heard a lot about the Pazhuvetarayar brothers. Both the brothers had the reputation of being great warriors and were acclaimed by the people. They belonged to a small township called Pazhuvur near Urayur, the old capital of the Chola kingdom.
Since the time of the Great Chola King Vijayalaya, the clan of Pazhuvetarayars were associated with the Cholas. One could say that they were almost as royal as royalty went. Warriors from this clan were highly respected in the Chola royal court and were given special privileges. One such privilege was to have an exclusive emblem - the palm tree - for themselves.
The present Pazhuvetarayar brothers held very high positions in the Chola royal court. Both were great warriors. Of these, Periya Pazhuvetarayar, aged more than 50 years, was the most powerful man in the Chola royal court. He was in charge of the royal treasury. All the financial operations of the Chola kingdom were under his control. He had the right to levy taxes on other petty kings and royal powers under the Chola reign in that period. And Chinna Pazhuvetarayar was the dalapati of the Thanjavur fort. No one could approach the King without his permission.
Having heard so much about both the brothers, Vandiya Devan, like any other warrior of that period, wished to make their acquaintance. But at the same time, he remembered what Elavarasar Aditya Karikalan had told him in the Golden Palace of Kanchi.
"Vandiya Deva, I know that you are a true warrior. And I also know that you are very intelligent which is why I am entrusting you with this important mission. Here are two messages - One for the King Sundara Chola and the other for my sister Elavarasi Kundavai. I want you to keep this confidential. Let nobody in Thanjavur know that you are my messenger, no matter how important they are. Don't get into any unnecessary duels. Beware of the Pazhuvetarayar brothers and my Uncle Madhuranthakan. I don't want them to suspect the true nature of your mission because I sense treason in the air."
Elavarasar Aditya Karikala was not only the heir apparent but was also the madandanayakar of the Northern territory. The Elavarasar had warned and cautioned Vandiya Devan about the dangers that he would encounter in the course of his mission.
After recollecting all this, Vandiya Devan's desire to make acquaintance with the Pazhuvur brothers diminished.
Glossary
Aadi
- The month of July in the Tamil calendar. [back]
Elavarasar - Prince [back]
Elavarasi - Princess [back]
Dalapati - Commander-in-chief [back]
Madandanayakar - General [back]
© 2002 Sumeetha V.
