About 980 years ago, King Sundara Chola was ruling Tamil Nadu without any other royal power to challenge him. The past century saw a steady increase in the power of Chola kings. They not only expanded territories but also improved the economy and the trade in Tamil Nadu. Prior to Sundara Chola, his uncle Kandarathidathevar (Prince Madhuranthakan's father) ruled the Chola kingdom. He was a great devotee of Lord Shiva and was not interested in waging wars, which caused a temporary lull in the defense department of the kingdom. This ultimately led to a revolution in the Pandya kingdom in which the Pandya king tried to oust the Cholas with the help of the Sri Lankan king. It was Sundara Chola who rallied the Chola troops and crushed the Pandya army.

After restoring order in the Pandya kingdom, the generals and commanders wanted to teach a lesson to the Sri Lankan king, Mahindan, who was a great supporter of the Pandya kingdom and had helped the Pandya king with finance and troops. Sundara Chola decided to send Kodumbalur Illaya Vellar (Vanathi's father) as a commander of the troops to Sri Lanka.

Unfortunately for Kodumbalur Illaya Vellar, the Chola army arrived in batches while he lead one batch towards the Sri Lankan capital. Due to the lesser number of soldiers and limited resources, the Sri Lankan soldiers defeated the Chola army and Kodumbalur Illaya Vellar died a martyr's death in the battlefield.

Learning about the defeat of the Chola army in Sri Lanka, the Pandya King who was in hiding came out into the open and started rallying an army. But this time he paid a terrible price for rising against the Cholas. It was Sundara Chola's eldest son Aditya Karikalan who led the army this time and he won the war after he beheaded the Pandya king, which also earned him the title - The slayer of Veera Pandiyan.

Despite these victories the Sri Lankan king still supported the Pandya dynasty and continued to be hostile towards the Chola kingdom. So Sundara Chola once again decided to teach him a lesson. There arose a big argument among the prominent commanders and generals in the Chola kingdom as to who should lead the army against Sri Lanka. Prince Aditya Karikalan was at war with the Rashtrakutas in the border and was establishing Kancheepuram as his stronghold. So Sundara Chola's youngest son Prince Arulmozhivarmar came forward and expressed his wish to lead the army against Sri Lanka.

"Father, it is time for me to take the lead and go to the war front. I am tired of sitting idle in the palace."

Prince Arulmozhivarmar was just a 19-year-old at that time. He was the youngest and the most handsome boy of the family and hence the most loved one. Sundara Chola was a handsome man too. His father Aringzhan Chola married Princess Kalyani of the Vaithumbarayar clan, being enamoured by her beauty. After their marriage, the Vaithumbarayar clan who were so far hostile to the Cholas became their friends. Princess Kalyani who was famous for her beauty gave birth to a son who was named Paranthakan. But the child was so handsome and lovely to look at that people started calling him Sundara Chola.

Born to such a handsome king, the children of Sundara Chola were also equally fine-looking but the youngest Prince Arulmozhivarmar was the most handsome of them all. He was the apple of all eyes. But his sister Princess Kundavai loved him the most. Even though she was only two years older than Arulmozhi, she took it upon herself to take care of her younger brother. And Arulmozhi equally respected and loved his elder sister and allowed her to guide him. He never denied any of his sister's wishes or suggestions.

Right from the time Arulmozhi was born, many astrologers had predicted that he would attain kingship and rule as a Chakravarthi. More than anybody else Kundavai Devi believed in these predictions. She often looked at her brother's palm while he was asleep to look at the Sangu Chakram mark imprinted on it. And she sought to teach him all the skills and knowledge that a king should learn about ruling a kingdom.

"He is destined to rule a kingdom. But may be not this kingdom. There are already two contenders for the throne. It is not possible for him to rule this kingdom. Who knows… the world is vast… maybe he will earn a kingdom with the power of his sword," thought Kundavai.

That's why when Prince Arulmozhivarmar asked her permission to go the war front in Sri Lanka, she did not object.

"Thambi! You know that I cannot live without you even for a second. But I cannot let you sit idle in this palace for a long time. It is time for you to go out and gain victory. Go to Sri Lanka. Lead the army there and come back to Chola kingdom victorious."

Immediately Prince Arulmozhivarmar prepared to go to the war front. Leading a huge army he went to Sri Lanka. He stayed there for some time conquering different parts of the country. But food and finance did not arrive steadily from home, which made him come to Thanjavur again. After making sufficient arrangements for his army in Sri Lanka the prince prepared to leave again.

Kundavai Devi had arranged for a special pooja and yagna to be conducted in Pazhaiarai on the day he left. The womenfolk in the palace and the other elders came out to the courtyard to bid farewell to their prince. Princess Vanathi was also there along with the other companions of Kundavai Devi. They each had an aarathi plate in hand which had a lamp in the center. When the Prince approached them they got ready to bid an auspicious farewell to him. But suddenly Vanathi's body trembled. The aarathi plate slipped from her hands and fell down. Immediately the elderly women frowned and declared that it is an ill omen but when they saw that the lamp had not been extinguished even when the plate had fallen down they felt that it was a very good omen.

Prince Arulmozhivarmar was very amused. He smiled charmingly at everybody and went towards the waiting army to leave. As soon as he left, Vanathi fainted.

Princess Kundavai asked her friends to carry Vanathi to the anthapuram and without waiting to bid farewell to her brother she went to Vanathi's room and tried to revive her. Prince Arulmozhivarmar who saw Vanathi faint sent in a messenger enquiring about her. Kundavai sent back a message asking the Prince to come inside. Respecting her wishes the Prince came back to the anthapuram and there he saw Vanathi lying in Kundavai's lap. Feeling sorry for her the Prince asked his sister, "Akka who is this girl?"

"This is Kodumbalur Illaya Vellar's daughter. Her name is Vanathi. She gets scared very easily."

"Now I understand why she fainted. Her father went to Sri Lanka and died a martyr's death in the war field. She probably thought about that and fainted with fear."

"Maybe. But don't worry… I will take care of her. You take care of yourself and send me messages from there as frequently as possible."

"Yes, Akka."

Perhaps the sweet voice of the Prince woke Vanathi up. She opened her eyes and saw the Prince's face looming in front of her. She immediately sat up blushing and the memory of what she had done rushed in.

She turned towards Kundavai and sobbed, "Akka, I am sorry I dropped the aarathi plate."

Before Kundavai could reply to her, the Prince said, "Vanathi, You don't have to feel sorry for that. Everybody makes mistakes. You don't have to feel guilty or blame yourself for it. And moreover you have a very valid reason to get scared."

Vanathi couldn't believe her ears. The Prince normally never spoke to women, except to his sister of course.

"Akka, keep me informed about what is happening here. And the next time you write to me let me know about the health of this girl and take good care of her. My army is waiting outside… I will have to leave now."

Saying thus, the Prince left for Sri Lanka. Since that day, Kundavai showed special love towards Vanathi. She taught her all the skills that she had learnt and spoke to her about the ambitions she had for her brother. And Vanathi listened to all this in rapt attention. As mentioned before she fainted a few more times and each time Princess Kundavai revived her and gave her good medical treatment. Whenever she regained consciousness she clung to Kundavai and cried. Kundavai would console her with kind words.

That's why the other companions of Kundavai were jealous of Vanathi.
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