Volume 1 - The New Flood
We invite viewers to travel with us for a while on the imaginary boat in the flood of time. Let us easily pass at the rate of a century per second and go back to nine hundred and eighty-two years ago.
In the southern part of Tirumunaipadi, between Thondainadu and the Cola country, two leagues to the west of Thillaichittambalam, there is a lake like a sea of waves. It is called Veeranarayana Lake. It is one and a half fathoms long on the south and north and half a fathom wide on the east and west. With the passage of time, its name has been distorted and is now known as 'Veeranathu Eri'. Anyone who sees Veeranarayana Lake during the months of Aadi and Avani when the lake is filled with water due to the new floods cannot help but feel proud and amazed at the great things that our ancient Tamil Nadu ancestors have accomplished during their time. Did our ancestors only do things that were in their own interest and in the interests of the people of their time? Didn't they accomplish great deeds in their motherland that would benefit the generations of thousands of generations to come after them?
On the evening of the eighteenth day of Aadi, a young soldier was riding on a horse on the banks of the Veeranarayana lake, which stretched out like a sea of waves. He belonged to the Varnar tribe famous in the heroic history of Tamilnadu. His name was Vallavaraiyan Vandhiyathevan. His horse, tired of a long journey, was trotting slowly. The young soldier did not care. The sight of his vast Veeranarayana lake had captivated his heart so much.
On the 18th day of Aadi, the floods in all the rivers of Chola Nadu used to flow touching both the banks. The lakes that receive water from these rivers are also filled to the brim and are flowing towards the top of the bank. The river known as Vada Kaveri by the devotees and Kollidam by the common people flowed through the Vadavaru and flowed into the Veera Narayana lake and made it a raging sea. Water gushed through the seventy-four passes of the lake, supplying water for long distances in the vicinity. The water of the lake was ploughed, swept and planted as far as the eye could see. The peasants ploughing and the peasant women planting were singing merrily here and there to sweet tunes. Hearing all this, Vandhiyathevan did not chase the tired horse but kept going slowly. Ever since he had climbed the lake shore he had counted seventy passes in order to ascertain whether it was true that the lake had seventyfour passes.
Aha! How magnificent is this lake? How long? How wide? Wouldn't it seem that all the tanks built during the Pallava emperors in Thonnadu were small ponds in front of this lake? Didn't Prince Rajaditya, the son of Paranthakar of Madurai think of constructing this sea-like lake to utilise the water that goes wastefully into the North Kaveri and falls into the sea? Did he think and accomplish it in action? How wise he must have been! Who else is equal to him in Veera Paurushad? Didn't he himself fight in the battle at Thakkolam on an elephant in the forefront? Didn't he fight and die bearing the work of his enemies in his chest? So, didn't he get the name 'Thevar on an elephant' and attained the heaven of heroes?
The kings of this Chola tribe are wonderful! They are as virtuous as they are in valour. They are as good in godliness as they are in virtue. Vandhiyathevan's shoulders swelled as he thought of having the good fortune to be friends with such Chola kings. His heart swelled with pride like the water of the Veeranarayana lake hitting the shore with a gust of wind from the west.
Thinking of all this, Vandhiyathevan reached the southern end of the Veeranarayana lake. There he saw the Vadavaru which had separated from the Vada Kaveri and joined the lake. The interior of the lake was a bed for some distance from the lake shore. They had planted oak trees and vila trees in the basin so that the shore would not be damaged by the floods. There was a thick growth of reeds along the shore. From a distance, the view of the flood of the North River flowing into the lake with a row of trees on both sides from the southwest direction was like a beautiful colorful pattern.
There Vandhiyathevan saw a few more scenes that added to the sweetness and joy of this enchanting appearance.
Wasn't it the eighteenth Perukku festival? Crowds of people were coming from the neighbouring villages, dragging them with sticks of ivorycoloured coconut leaves. Men, women, children, and even some old people had come dressed in new clothes and made all sorts of decorations. The hair of the women was adorned with bunches of lavender flowers, saffron flowers, jasmine, jasmine, Iruvatchi and Shenbagam. Many people had come from family to family with joint rice and chittannam. Some people stood by the water on the banks of the lake and ate chithiranam etc. in areca nut shells. A few more brave men walked a short distance in the water and reached the banks of the North River where they stood and ate. Some of the children threw their eaten kamuku bats along the side of the passes, and they clapped their hands and laughed when they saw the bats running out of the passes. Some of the gossipy men unwittingly picked up the flowers from the hair of their lovers and left them at the edge of the pass, delighted to see them running on the other side of the lake. Vallavaraiyan stood there for some time watching all this. He also heard some of the women with sweet voices singing. They sang running songs, flood songs, kummi and spills.
Flood songs like 'Vandhiyathevan' flooded his ears with joy.
Others sang songs in praise of the heroism of the Cola kings. Some women sang of the valour of Vijayalaya Chola who had fought thirtytwo battles and wore ninetysix wounds as ornaments. A woman sang a beautiful song in praise of the valour of his son Athitha Cholan and how he built sixty-four Siva temples from the source of the river Kaveri to the sea.
Another woman sang with enthusiasm the true glory of Parantaka Chola Maharaja who defeated the Pandyas, Pallavas and Cheras and sent an army to Eelam and hoisted the flag of victory. As each one sang, many people stood around her and listened. From time to time I would say, "Ah! Ah!" they shouted and expressed their joy.
An old woman noticed Vandhiyathevan who was listening to their songs from the horse. "Brother! You seem to have come a long way. You're tired! Get off your horse and eat some rice!"
Suddenly several young ladies looked at our young passenger. They whispered among themselves about his appearance and burst out laughing. Vandhiyathevan was consumed by shame on one side and joy on the other. He thought for a moment whether he should go down and eat the food the old woman gave him. If he did, he was sure to be surrounded by many of the young ladies who were standing there, laughing at him. So what? Is it easy to find so many beautiful women in one place? Even if they laughed at him, the sound would still be angelic. To Vandhiyathevan's youthful eyes, all the women standing by the lake appeared as Arambai and Menakai!
But at the same time a sight that appeared in the southwest direction in the current of the North River made him hesitate a little. Seven or eight large boats with white sails spread out, driven by the west wind, were rushing with white wings spread out like swans floating on water.
All the people who were engaged in various revelries on the shore of the lake began to look eagerly in the direction of the boats.
One of the boats sped ahead of them and reached the corner where the lakeshore turned north. In that boat were many mighty warriors armed with sharp and bright spears.
Some of them jumped down on the bank of the lake and shouted to the people, "Go! Go!" Without leaving much room for their chase, the people took their utensils, etc., and hurried ashore.
Vandhiyathevan did not understand any of this, who are these soldiers? Who comes in the sailboats behind them? Where do they come from? Perhaps members of the royal family?
Vallavaraiyan approached an elderly man standing by the lake with a stick in his hand. "Sir! Who do these players belong to? Whose boats are the swans that come later? Why are these soldiers chasing people? Why are people rushing for?"
"Brother! Dont you see? There's a flag flying in the middle of those boats! Look what is written on it!" said the old man.
"Looks like a palm tree."
"The palm trees! Don't you know that the flag of the palm tree is the flag of Pazhuvertaraiyar?"
"Is Mahaveerar coming to Pazhuvertaraiyar?" asked Vandhiyathevan in a startled voice.
"That's the way it should be, who else can come with a palm tree flag raised?" said the elderly man.
Vallavarayan's eyes widened in astonishment and looked in the direction of the boats. Vallavaraiyan had heard a lot about Pazhuvertaraiyar. Who hasn't heard of it? From Eelanadu in the south to Kalinga Nadu in the north, the names of the elder Pazhuvertaraiyar and the younger Pazhuvertaraiyar were famous. Pazhuvur on the northern bank of Vada Kaveri near Uraiyur was their town. From the time of Vijayalaya Cholan, the Pazhuvertaraiyar tribe had a heroic reputation. The family was engaged in buying and giving with the family of the Chola kings. Because of this and because of their ancestry and heroism, the Pazhuvertaraiyar tribe had all the merits of the royal family. The clan also has the right to raise its own flag.
The eldest of the two Pazhuvertaraiyars had fought twenty-four battles. In his time, he was reputed to have no equal warrior in Chola Nadu. Now that he is over fifty years old, he does not go to the battlefields in person. But he held many high positions in the Chola Nadu government. He was the treasurer of the Chola empire; Dhanyaadhikari; Dhana Bandara and Dhanya Pandaram were under his control. He had the power to levy and collect taxes according to the needs of politics. He had the right to collect any vassal king, divisional headman or big tenant by ordering them to give so much money this year. Therefore, after Sundara Chola Maharaja, Pazhuvertaraiyar is now the most powerful person in the Chola empire.
Vandhiyathevan's heart was filled with a desire to see the great Pazhuvertaraiyar who was such a great warrior and possessed immeasurable strength and power. But at the same time, he remembered the news that Prince Athitha Karikalar had told him privately in the new Golden Palace in Kanchi city.
"Vandhiyatheva! I know very well that you are a pure warrior. And I entrust you with this great responsibility, believing that you are very intelligent. Of the two letters I gave you, one should be handed over to my father Maharaja and the other to my sister junior stateswoman. In Thanjai I hear something about the big officials of the kingdom. Therefore, the message I am sending should not be known to anyone. No matter how important you are, you should not know that you are taking a letter from me. Do not fight with anyone on the way. It is not enough that you do not go to war by force. You must not be caught even if others pull you into a fight. I know your valour well. You've proved it so many times, that even if you withdraw from the fight, you won't lose your dignity. You should be especially careful with the Pazhuvertaraiyars and my uncle Mathuranthakar. They don't even know who you are! I don't want them to know what you're going for!"
Athitha Karikalar, the crown prince of the Chola empire and the Mahadanda Nayaka of the northern army, had said so. He had also read and read about the ways Vandhiyathevan should behave. Remembering all this, Vallavaraiyan suppressed his desire to see Pazhuvertaraiyar. He spurred his horse and tried to go faster. No matter what he knocked, the horse was tired and went slowly. He decided in his mind that he would stay at Kadampoor Sambuvaraiyar's palace tonight and when he left tomorrow morning, he would earn another good horse.