Article 9 - Review on Historical Novel Vengayin Mainthan

                Vengaiyin Mainthan which has the word meaning as Tiger's Son, but the real meaning what author meant is Raja Raja Chola's (Comparison to Tiger as Chola dynasty's flag symbol had Tiger depicted in it) Son - Rajendra Chola. This is yet another famous historical Tamil novel written by Akilan - one of the reputed historical writer,novelist and freedom fighter for India.The novel was published in the year 1963.

                              Author Akilan got the Sahithya Academy Award from Government of India for this charismatic and entertaining historical fiction.The plot revolves around the historical places Tanjai (presently Tanjore in Tamil Nadu),Madurai, Vengi(At present areas around Andhra Pradesh),Kodumbalur (presently around Pudukottai in Tamil Nadu), Eezham or Rohanam(Currently Srilanka), Nagapattinam(sea port of Chola),Kadaram (Presently Indonesia) and so many surrounding places of Tamil Nadu.The hero of the novel is Elango who as per orders of king Rajendra invades Srilanka to restore the glory of Chola by recovering the crown and jewels thus withstanding the respect of entire Chola dynasty. The novel discusses the Srilankan invasion, Ganges expedition, Chalukya Pandiyas Srilankan wars against Cholas. But under Rajendra's reign, Chola got victory against all their enemies. For Raja Raja Chola - if the title suits is Ponniyin Selvan - then for his son Rajendra Chola it is obviously Vengaiyin Mainthan.

Insight On Historical Characters

                    From the beginning till the end, as usual Hero Elangovel shines through his bravery, will power, stunts, talents, spying, friendship,love,affection. But every hero has his own weakness , so for Elango it is romance and anger which brings some danger to his life though all is well at the end.So this danger starts for Elango when he meets Rohini - the Srilankan princess and falls in love with her. Elango's heroism is captivated by the love shown by Rohini . At the same time, it also puts him into danger as the same love deviates Elango from performing his duty for Chola king Rajendra. 

Speaking about the title role - Rajendra Chola 1 definitely puts his presence every now and then through out the story. His daughter Arulmozhi - the character which has patience and ready to sacrifice any thing (even her love for Elango-Rohini's love) really touches the heart of audience. Vallavarayan Vanthiyathevar at his young age was the hero in famous historical novel Ponniyin Selvan, but this novel visualizes him at his older age giving moral support to the king as well as the brave warrior Elango. Other minor good characters are the friends and relations of heroes and heroines of the novel like Mangudi Maran(guard and friend of Elango), Mithirai(friend of Rohini), Ammangai Devi(sister of Arulmozhi or second daughter of Rajendra), Narendran (Vengi prince), Araiyan Raja Rajan, Rajendra's sons Rajadhiraja Chola, Rajendra Chola II, Kodumbalur Periya Velir(Elango's father) etc.

That said about the good characters of the novel, we will have to discuss about the baddies as well. Rohanam forests (presently areas around Srilanka) are the locations where Srilankan King Magindhar and his minister Keerthy resides and plans against Cholas in the initial phase of the novel.Rohini is none other than the daughter of King Magindhar also known as Princess of Rohanam in the story.She has a brother Kasibhan who also joins with Minister Keerthy for the villain side.Elango's friend Veeramallan who initially supports Chola joins hands with Pandiyan king Sundara Pandiyan and his army chief Perumbidugu Mutharayan and plots against Chola king and turns out to be a traitor to his own friend Elango.Other bad characters are Kanthulan (deputy or guard of King Maginthar), army men of Pandiyas and Srilankan etc.

Historical Time Machine

If we had a time machine , then I would have used it to visit Raja Raja Chola and Rajendra Chola and their long lasting Chola dynasty or empire or kingdoms though we have the temples built by them as historical proof till date. Raja Raja Chola's Tanjore Big Temple or Brahadeeswarar temple and Rajendra Chola's Gangai Konda Cholapuram temples and sculptures clearly explains the hard work and effort put by the king,his country men, sculptors, his army men, guards and all the people involved during their reign. Gangai Konda Cholapuram which means Ganges river brought by Cholas by defeating the enemy rulers against Cholas - is considered as the second capital of Chola dynasty after Tanjore.

This historical novel definitely takes you to that historical time period of Rajendra Chola around 1010 AD, triggers the excitement and eager to visit the marvelous temples, places and locations.Since we do not have a working physical time machine, we wont have to worry about it as there is no limit to the imaginary visual time machine built by your mind :)

--Siva...

Article 8 - Review on Historical Novel Parthibhan Kanavu

Parthibhan Kanavu - Sequel to Sivagamiyin Sabatham
                     Parthibhan Kanavu (1941-43) - Dream of Chola king Parthibhan - Though this novel can be considered as a sequel to Sivagamiyin Sabatham, this novel was published even before Sivagamiyin Sabatham(1944-46). This novel was later made into a Tamil movie with the same name in 1960 starring Gemini Ganesan, S.V.Ranga Rao and  Vyjayanthimala.

This sequel novel explains the later stages of Pallava king Mamalla or Narasimhavarman and his effort to make Chola King Parthibha's dream true based on the promise given during Parthiban's last moments of life. 

Also it outlines the ruling period of Pallava dynasty, sculptures, art and culture followed during the reign of Pallavas. While reading  the novel, we can visualize the then Mamallapuram, Uraiyur (Capital of Cholas), Thanjavur and Kanchi - streets decorated by people for festivals, soldiers marching in horses and elephants for war, Princess carried in a palanquin through the main streets around the temples, king's path, canoes, boats and ferries floating in river Ponni or Cauvery, islands, sea ports, beaches, art gallery halls, kingdoms, palaces, courtyards, groves, flowers, garden, secret tunnels, store houses, nature and so on...

Twist and Turns

The novel starts with Chola King Parthibhan explaining about how the Chola kingdom should prosper in the near future to his son - Prince Vikraman. He shows his dreams in the form of paintings drawn by himself which is an art gallery located in Uraiyur art hall. In a particular painting, he had depicted a huge army marching to war with hundreds and thousands of soldiers, horses and elephants. In front of the army, an elephant is moving forward with only a mahout riding with an empty seat allocated for a king.  We would understand that his dream already came true after 300 years by King Raja Raja Chola.

The suspense thriller continues in this novel making the reader suspicious about Monk character and Spy Veerasenan for some time emerging out as Pallava king Narasimhavarman himself in disguise to know the truth of many other secrets.It also revolves around the romantic moments between Vikraman - son of King Parthibhan and Kunthavi - daughter of King Narasimhavarman.

The real twist I felt - when I came to know Kabala Bairavar who roams with a single hand frightening others in novel Parthibhan Kanavu- is none other than Nagananthi or Nilekesi who is better known as the cunning Buddhist monk in the novel Sivagamiyin Sabatham. That is revealed towards the end of the story by Siruthondar (devotee of Lord Shiva) or better known as Paranjothi - Ex-Army chief of Pallavas.This is definitely one more adventure trip novel from Kalki which keeps the reader busy through out the novel.

Rest of the Characters

This novel has been split into 3 parts by author Kalki Krishnamurthy. Other than the main characters like King Narasimhavarman, King Parthibhan, Prince Vikrama, Princess Kunthavi, Siruthondar and Villain Kabala Bairavar, there are so many other characters which plays an important role in moving the plot of the story. Ponnan, Valli, Maarappa Bupathi, Queen ArulMozhi Devi (King Parthibhan's wife and mother of Prince Vikraman). 

The narrator and author Kalki handles all these characters with such ease that the readers are fully occupied with their conversations, acts and thoughts. Also the author highlights about the superstitious beliefs followed in history like human sacrifice for favorite deities in temples hidden in forests, gathering the skeletons and worshiping them etc and how the Pallava king tries to eradicate those blind fold beliefs.

Though some fiction characters are embedded in this historical novel, we would not miss the deeds of real historical figures, their ruling time period, people, art, culture, the temples and historical buildings constructed and the language. 

Lets meet on another historical novel review in my next article.

--Siva

POEM 13 - COMPUTER

Everyone started Mathematics Calculations 

using Computer

and started giving rest to human brain...!

Everyone started writing poems, thoughts and articles

using Computer

and started forgetting to use pen, pencil and slate...!

Everyone started drawing, sketching and painting

using Computer

and started forgetting painting brush and paper...!

Everyone started watching movies, hearing songs etc

in Computer 

and started getting bored of going to movie theaters and drama stages...!

Everyone started playing games 

in Computer 

while the play ground and swimming ponds are deserted...!

Everyone started online relations 

in Computer

as friends and relations stopped calling over phone or talking directly...!

Everyone started working online sitting all day in same place

in front of Computer

giving rest to physical body and mind...!

Everyone started using Computer in all forms:

Laptops, Palmtops, Smart Phones, 

Transparent Glasses, Projector Screens, LCD, LED along with Internet,

so much that everyone started to feel all alone in a virtual digital world and started forgetting to enjoy this big and beautiful real world...!

--Siva

Article 7 - Review on Sivagamiyin Sabatham

Sivagamiyin Sabatham which means Sivagami's vow is a mega tamil historical novel written by veteran author Kalki Krishnamurthy in the year 1944. This novel is regarded as one of the best novel along with mega hit novel Ponniyin Selvan from the same author.

This novel briefly talks about the Pallava dynasty and the ruling period of Pallavas.The basic plot revolves around the real life characters such as Mahendravarman, the emperor of Pallava dynasty, his son Narasimhavarman a.k.a Mamalla and Chalukya king Pulikesi. It grabs you to the historical time period of Pallava dynasty who ruled 1500 years ago in southern parts of India. It pulls you to see the cities Kanchi (Kanchipuram located in TamilNadu,India) and Vatapi (currently Badami located in Karnataka, India) of that time when Pallavas and Chalukyas ruled.

It also involves the fictional characters starting from the main character of the story - Sivagami - the love interest of Narasimha , her father Aayanar who is a master sculptor (Chirpi in Tamil), Paranjothi who later becomes the chief commander of Pallava army and Naganandhi a.k.a Nilekesi (Twin brother of Pulikesi) who can be considered as the secret villain of the story.I enjoyed reading this novel from the beginning to the end since it makes you mesmerizing and stick to the historical period which you would have dreamt of. It varies from dance to art, spying to war and each part of the entire novel gives the thrilling moment to read on.

Historical Spy Work and Romantic Thriller

If you are interested in reading historical novels, books, fiction , fantasy stories this book is for you. Though the entire novel's original version is written in Tamil, I guess some body would have translated this book in English. The book is actually split into 4 parts as follows:

Part 1: Paranjothi's Journey
Part 2: Seige of Kanchi
Part 3: The Monk's Love
Part 4: Shattered Dream

The PDF format or Ebook of this novel has around 570 pages which may be much more in the original book as it includes the images and pictures of the characters sketched by artist Maniam who has done his best to illustrate the locations by exploring different cities such as Ajanta, Ellora, Kanchi, Badami(Vatapi), Hampi etc. Even Kalki have done his home work before starting the writing.The novel deals with the unique and famous dance Bharatanatiyam, art and sculptures of Pallavas leading to the historical place Mammallapuram which even exists today (Chennai,TamilNadu).Overall the novel is a historical spy work plus romantic thriller.

Historical Adventure

This historical novel is one of my favorite after Ponniyin Selvan.
It is a historical adventure in my opinion which clearly briefs about art,dance,sculptures and historical incidents. Especially when Mahendravarman enters Vatapi as Vajrabahu from the hero side and Nilekesi enters Kanchi as Naganandhi from the villain side rises the expectations of reader.The end of the novel is an ultimate twist which reader would have never expected.

The journey of Paranjothi as a normal villager to Paranjothiyar as the commander in chief of Pallava army speaks about the evolution of character in different parts of the story.The sequences such as love between Narasimha and Sivagami which is broken by the vow of Sivagami,Sivagami residing in the enemy state Vatapi under Chalukya king Pulikesi, Naganandhi turning situations like a fast moving snake really keeps the reader busy.

Overall, this is one of the book worth reading for a Tamil historical novel.

--Siva Subramanian