Article 6 - Top 10 Tamil Historical Novels

List of Top 10 Tamil historical fiction and fantasy novels

                     Welcome to the historical time period of Tamil literature gaining popularity over 2 centuries which spans the dynamic era of historical kings,queens, princes and princesses of Tamil Nadu who ruled over a millennium ago.This page is dedicated to the top 10 historical Tamil novels written by the famous historical fiction authors.

        All the below books can be gifted to any one who loves historical fantasy, adventure, archaeology,sculptures,temples,Tamil language, culture etc.Most of these historical novels may be available in both Tamil and translated English version.All these novels would be definitely a treat to all those who have the passion to enjoy reading books - no matter what language it is - as they can translate and understand it.Keep reading,enjoy reading and involve yourself so deep that you will start visualizing the historical places immediately around you.

#10 Kandhalur Vasantha Kumaran Kathai

 By Sujatha

This is the second historical novel written by famous writer and author Sujatha Rangarajan in 1995. This novel discusses about the time period of Cholas, Cheras and Pandiyas. The main plot revolves around the war(on both land and sea) fought between Chola & Chera-Pandiya over the invasion of Kandhalur sea port.Hero of the novel is Vasanthakumaran who is the messenger of Chola empire.

Sujatha had made use of the tamil words which were used during the Chola time period.Being a famous writer on sci-fi and short stories about families,societies etc Sujatha also experimented historical fiction.His first historical novel was "Ratham Ore Niram"(Color of Blood is always same) which revolves around the Sepoy mutiny around 14th century.Sujatha had expressed his interest to write a sequel to this novel as he wanted to study and research the historical incidents around Kandhalur sea port, but he was not able to complete it.

#9 Nandhipurathu Nayagi
By Vikraman

This is one of the good historical novel which is considered to be an immediate sequel to all time famous novel Ponniyin Selvan. This was published in the weekly magazine Amudasurabhi during 1957 to 1959 by author Vikraman and was published as full book in 1964. The story completes all characters which were puzzled by author Kalki for the audience when they read Ponniyin Selvan.Also it includes some other characters as well depicting the incidents during Chola ruling time period.It also tells about the adventure of great king Raja Raja Chola 1 visiting far way countries and his ruling of Tanjore.This is a must read book for all those who finished reading Ponniyin Selvan and this answers all the questions put by the readers to author Kalki though he had answered shortly at the end of his own novel.

#8 Kaviri Mainthan
By Anusha Venkatesh

Another sequel to Ponniyin Selvan after a long time by Anusha Venkatesh in the year 2007 and published by Avenue Press.It had followed the principles,guidelines and style of author Kalki by adding new characters as well.Those who are still confused who would have murdered Aditya Karikala Chola at the end of Ponniyin Selvan novel, may get an answer in this 1300 page sequel. It was released in 3 parts and author has expressed the gratitude and happiness to special readers varying from 90 year old to 25 year old. Also it was read aloud to those who were blind and those who cannot read Tamil.

#7 Pandimadevi
By Na. Parthasarathy

To know about the reign of Pandiya kingdom and its rulers, their act of bravery, we will have to read Pandimadevi - a historical novel written by Na.Parthasarathy in the year 1958. It was published in the tamil weekly magazine Kalki for one and half years and in 1960 it was published in the full book form. Though most of the characters are original ,author has created some characters of his own. He had done enough research on the historical places of Madurai, Kanchi, Tanjore etc and studied the details of Pandiyan kingdom and their time period.

Author had gathered the information from the pamphlets which mentioned the rule of Raasasimma Pandiya -3 from 900 to 1190 AD.The main central characters revolving around are: "Mahamandaleshwarar - Idayatru Mangalam Nambi, Vanavanmadevi. Prince Raasasimman, Vallalathevan, Narayanan Senthan, Bagavathi, Mathivathani, Vilasani".Though it is a little tough to pronounce the names of the kings, queens and people of that time period before reading this novel, it becomes easy once you finish reading :)

#6 Vetri Thirunagar
By Akilan

This is one of the famous historical Tamil novel written by Akilan - one of the reputed historical writer,novelist and freedom fighter for India.The novel is based upon the Vijayanagara Empire. The hero of the novel is Visuvanatha Nayakkan who imprints the patriotic effect to the people and the struggle for freedom.Vetri Thirunagar here is Vijayanagara means City of Victory. Presently it is covering the south indian states leaving lot of monuments, sculptures and inscriptions as the proof. Akilan wrote a prologue about this novel in the year 1965 in weekly magazine Kalki.

#5 Parthibhan Kanavu
By Kalki Krishnamurthy

This is the first historical novel written by author Kalki Krishnamurthy which was being published in his own weekly magazine Kalki during 1941 to 1943 The main plot revolves around the dream of king Parthibhan which is being fulfilled by Pallava king Mamalla Narasimhavarman.

#4 Udayar
By Balakumaran

We will be always thrilled to read about the history of Raja Raja Chola - no matter how many novels get written depicting the real life incidents talking about Raja Raja the Great which later becomes history.So this novel is one of the longest novel written in 6 volumes by author Balakumaran.

The plot of the novel revolves around the construction of the Big Temple- Brahadeeswarar located in Tanjore by Raja Raja and it also discusses about the ruling power of Raja Raja Chola and his son Rajendra Chola. The entire temple was built by strongest granite stones which proves worth to acclaim the history of Raja Raja Chola to the entire world even after 1000 years.


#3 Vengaiyin Mainthan
By Akilan

This is one of the award winning novel in India. It won Sakitya Academy award for the author Akilan.The plot revolves around the son of Raja Raja Chola - Rajendra Chola and his ruling period. I will be writing a separate article as review on this book.

#2 Sivagamiyin Sabatham
By Kalki Krishnamurthy

This novel revolves around the Pallava dynasty, its original rulers and the fictional character Sivagami. I will be writing a separate article as review on this book.

#1 Ponniyin Selvan
By Kalki Krishnamurthy

I have read so many historical fiction novels by now. But still I feel Ponniyin Selvan is the best and it really deserves to be the first in top 10 tamil historical novels list.This magnum opus novel was written by Author Kalki Krishnamurthy and it is really a master piece from author Kalki Krishnamurthy.Ponniyin Selvan means Son of Ponni - Here Son is Raja Raja Chola (Arulmozhivarman) the Great and Ponni is the river Kaveri.It is a 2400 page mega historical novel which was published like a mega serial in Kalki magazine for 5 years. All the people who were reading this weekly magazine during 1950-55 were surprised about the ending and had asked the author why he finished the story so soon.That itself determine the success of this historical thriller when it released as a full book in 5 volumes till date. Recently famous weekly magazine Ananda Vikatan had republished the book by original paintings drawn by Maniam.

From the beginning to the end it takes you to Chola dynasty time period itself visualizing all the historical characters such as Raja Raja Chola, Vanthiyathevan, Kunthavai Piratti, Azhvaarkadiyan, Sundara Chola, Aditya Karikala, Nandini Devi, Periya Pazhuvettarayar, Chinna Pazhuvettarayar, Mathuranthaka Chola a.k.a Uthama Chola a.k.a Senthan Amudhan, Poonguzhali and many more characters.It is an adventurous,romantic,creative,stupendous illusion and an awesome nail biting spy thriller.In my opinion, its a must read historical novel to get to the core of Indian History.

So the All time best and hit novel award goes to Ponniyin Selvan - A must read book if you are interested in history of Cholas.

--Siva...

Article 5 - Best Actor of All Time - Chevalier Sivaji Ganesan

               Acting - is this born naturally with him ? That is the question every one will think and try to ask when we see his mega hit movies of South Indian Tamil Cinema. We can say it as a diamond era in Tamil film industry when his film career was at its peak. Tears will roll down your cheeks unknowingly once you are watching some of his family packed or slow pace drama or patriotic oriented movies. What an expression ? How it varies from scene to scene ? I really admire when he performs duel roles or multiple roles in the same movie. You cannot really differentiate or criticize each role of him. Splendid performance he will be showing role to role - say its a father - son combination, twin brother combination and even hero - villain combination. Character to Character - we can see his charisma pulling the human emotions and respect.I also get excited when he performs his stylish walk on screen in famous movies. You would think whether all cells in his body are also acting :)

He had won so many awards and honors that we think its not enough for such a veteran actor of all time. Would you believe - most of his movies ran for 1 year or 2 years in many theaters during his acting period. I have seen so many historical personalities, famous kings, freedom strugglers through him.May be if you read about those famous personalities in books or magazines and you have not seen them, you will assume them in the form of Sivaji. For example, he acted as Lord Shiva in movie Thiruvilaiyaadal - which would make you a devotee. He acted as Raja Raja Chola with the same movie name, would remind you of the Chola dynasty ruled under the reign of Raja Raja Chola 1. He acted as Karna with the same movie name, would remind you of Karna and his friendship in mega epic Mahabharatha. Hats off to his contributions to Indian film industry especially to Tamil Cinema.

Sivaji's First Movie Parasakthi

                                            You can watch this movie to see how he handles a lengthy dialogue written by M.Karunanidhi and smashes it on screen – I wonder how he used to remember and speaks it out at a stretch :)

Simmakuralon Sivaji

                                            What a commanding voice and magnificent performance – Excellent and brilliant acting – These are the praise words we hear when we complete watching his evergreen movies which is a never ending list of collections. The great movies which I liked are listed below:

• Thiruvilaiyaadal (As Lord Shiva)
• Thillana Mohanambaal (Sikkal Shanmuga Sundaram – Nadaswara Vidwaan)
• Deiva Magan
• Uyarntha Manithan
• Thanga Pathakkam
  
• Vietnam Veedu
• Rajapart Rangadurai
• Karnan
• Thirisoolam
• Kappalottiya Thamizhan
• Veerapandiya Kattabomman
• Raja Raja Cholan (Raja Raja Chola 1)
• Gouravam
• Aalaya Mani
• Pasamalar
• Paraasakthi
• Mahakavi Kalidas
• Avan Thaan Manithan
• Vasantha Maaligai (Romantic Hero)
• Savale Samaali
• Pattikaada Pattanama
• Padithaal Mattum Pothuma
• Padikkaatha Methai
• Paalum Pazhamum
• Pesum Deivam
• Pudhiya Paravai
• Ooti Varai Uravu
• Thiruvarutchelvar
• Sarawathy Sabatham
• Navarathri (9 roles – 100th film)

You would see most of his mega hit movies would have started with letter “P” or tamil word “Pa”

Sivaji as Lord Shiva - Classical Hit Thiruvilaiyaadal

                                          In one of the song in Thiruvilaiyadal movie - Paattum Naane, Bhavamum Naane-  Lord Shiva (Sivaji Ganesan) reprises him as a nomad to teach a lesson to the Egoist singer Hemanaatha Bagavathar – The lyrics suits the song and sung by T.M.S – Most of the songs sung for Sivaji on screen was T.M.S (T.M.Soundhar Rajan).He showcased all his talents to each and every corner of tamil cinema through his stupendous acting.Actresses K.R.Vijaya and Padmini have acted more movies with Actor Sivaji Ganesan.

Sivaji's Personal Life  and his Son Prabhu

                                          Sivaji was born in Vizhupuram , Tamil Nadu India. He was married to Kamala and had four children – 2 sons and 2 daughters. His younger son Prabhu Ganesan is a famous actor too.Chinna Thambi and Duet are the evergreen movies of Prabhu which I watched many times.Prabhu had acted as hero initially and now currently doing so many supporting roles in South Indian films.Prabhu had also acted along side Super Star RajiniKanth and Universal Hero Kamal Haasan in many movies. Now Sivaji’s grand son and Prabhu’s son Vikram Prabhu also started his acting career - His films Kumki, Ivan Vera Mathiri, Arima Nambi are a good start for his career.

Lets know how much you know Sivaji ?

Crack at least 5 questions here without searching Google to become a fan of Sivaji !!!!

1. Which is the only movie Sivaji and MGR acted together ?
2. Tell a movie in which Sivaji and Padmini acted together.
3. In whch year Sivaji got Dhada Saheb Phalke award ?
4. Which is the 200th film of Sivaji ?
5. Which is the movie in which Sivaji and Vijay acted together.
6. Which movie Sivaji Ganesan and his son Prabhu Ganesan acted together?
7. Tell a movie in which Rajinikanth and Sivaji acted together other than Padayappa.
8. Tell a movie in which Kamal Haasan and Sivaji acted together.
9. Which is the movie in which Mohanlal and Sivaji acted together?
10. Which movie of Sivaji is directed by Bharathiraja ?

What do you think of Actor Sivaji Ganesan ?

Pour in your answers and feedback as comments..


--Siva

POEM 12 - SURPRISE

When you are watching your favorite movie 
in IMAX 3D with a dolby digital surround audio,
your favorite hero comes out of the screen, 
gives you a shake hand and poses photo with you, 
then it is a surprise.

When you are working heavy hard before the week
of your favorite festival such as Christmas or Diwali, 
then suddenly the gifts which you have planned
to buy falls in your hands or desk 
from the roof top or side walls of your house, 
then it is a surprise.

When you are busy attending your most stressful meeting
 with all your seniors and managers in the conference room, 
if they suddenly start dancing in front of you for 
your favorite rock music or song, 
then it is a surprise.

When you are travelling to your office and 
if the weather favors for you as you wish - 
from sunny to stormy to snowy to rainy to windy,
within every second of your thought, 
then it is a surprise.

When you are more hungry and in the middle of an island
where there is no chance of getting food, 
the whole nature including the trees,plants,mountains and rivers
helps you prepare your favorite dish,
gives you a memorable meal of life, 
then it is a surprise.

Life is full of unexpected surprises thus becoming
sweet memories of your life time.
When your dreams come true,
while you are waiting for it, 
then it is a surprise.

Let the surprises flow on its own...

--Siva

Article 4 - A tribute to my favorite author Sujatha

Sujatha Rangarajan - famous writer,author,thinker who shined in Tamil literature,magazines,novels and cinema for over forty years.  His works varied from simple poems to science fiction novels, short stories to historical fiction,drama characters to ultra modern villain characters,normal writing to script or screenplay writer for mega hit Tamil Movies. Every one will feel his magic touch of pen in his written works and golden touch of tongue in his punch dialogues applied in movies. He is proficient in using techno thriller words through out his science fiction related movies or novels or books.

Sujatha's Works Liked By Me

I loved reading each and every bit of his section which came as series in famous Tamil magazines Ananda Vikatan, Kumudam, Kungumam. Especially Katradhum Petradhum, Sujatha Bathilgal impressed me with his unique way of answering questions. He is awesome in writing haiku poetry – definitely we will fall for his one line punch. Even its a one line punch, there is a message for the whole life :)

We cannot forget the dialogue deliveries penned by Sujatha for South Indian Ace Director Shankar movies – Indian, Sivaji and Enthiran.The science fiction stories written by him is based on cognitive estrangement. He pulls the readers to an estranged world which they cannot predict. But most of the predicted science fiction stories written by him in 1980's had come true now and most of them are yet to come.Also his stories cover different methodologies like implied flashback, placing ancient ritual in modern settings, letter narration, imaginary world, humor, emotion, family drama,urban trend etc. He also had written a short series taking examples from his own native place Srirangam titled “Srirangathu Devathaigal”

Some of his important works liked by me are:

• En Iniya Enthira which is the inspiration for Super Star Movie Enthiran…
• Meendum Jeano – Sequel to En Iniya Enthira
• Kadavul Irukkirara
• Sujatha Short Stories Collection
• Katrathum Petrathum
• Sujatha Q & A – Yean Etharkku Eppadi (Why What & How?)
• Srirangathu Devathaigal
• Aah
• Niravana Nagaram
• Aayirathil Iruvar
• Sujatha who used his wife’s name as first name when ever he penned his creations – S. Rangarajan changed to Sujatha Rangarajan.

Sujatha's Role in Tamil Movies

His role as script/screenplay writer and dialogue for Tamil movies is stupendous and thrilling. Below are a list of mega hit movies where his dialogues or screen play gave some life to the characters:

1. Enthiran a.k.a Robot
2. Dasavatharam
3. Billa
4. Sivaji
5. Anniyan
6. Boys
7. Mudhalvan
8. Indian
9. Kandukondein Kandukondein
10. Roja
11. Iruvar
12. Uyirae
13. Kannathil Muthamittal
14. Ayutha Ezhuthu
15. Vikram
16. Ninaithaley Inikkum

Little known drops about Sujatha

• Sujatha was the favorite writer for South Indian Ace directors Manirathnam, Shankar ,and Actor Kamal haasan too.
• Sujatha was the college classmate of former Indian President A.P.J Abdul Kalaam.
• Sujatha had written more than 150 short stories ranging from serious science fiction to humorous humble society .His first story was published in a magazine called 'Sivaji' in 1953 when he was 18.

Still I am yet to read lot of his books, novels, debating topics, his future thoughts on science and evolution of technology and short stories. May be I will share my feedback on his works in detail in my future blog posts. 

-- Siva

Ireland Travel Experience - Part 15

This time it is a historical visit - NEWGRANGE. Started at 8.30 am in the morning and reached New grange at 9.15 am at the visitors center. By 10 am reached the 3200 B.C constructed place which was really historical. The tour guide showed how, why and when it was constructed. It took 80 men to move a big stone in 3 miles a day. This was even before the invention of wheel and before horses were used for transport. It would have taken 2 to 3 generations to complete this historical place. 

We had to enter into newgrange by bending low and was surprised to see how the stones are balancing one above the other without any support. It is believed that on 21st of December sun light will pass through the tomb to enlighten the spirits of ancestors. Then we went to the audio visual room and learned more about newgrange. 

After that we went to monastery called Monasterboice  . The tour guide explained about the different crosses there. Also he told that vikings didn't have the horns on their hats. As we know now a days stories are more in place than histories. We don't know what to believe and what not. Then we went to a place called Slane. There was an abbey over there. Had a quick stroll and went to Hill of Tara. The weather was changing every now and then throughout the tour. As the tourist guide told, you can see 4 seasons in 10 minutes. Then he asked what the colors in the Irish flag meant? Green refers Catholic. Orange refers protestants and White refers Unity. He told about politics too mentioning 2 times females were elected as president for Ireland. That brings an end to the Newgrange tour. So readers, it is time to wrap up the Ireland Travel experience. You can browse through my tumblr site for more gallery or photo archive of Ireland. Thanks for travelling along with me in all the parts of Ireland through my blog posts.

The End....

Ireland Travel Experience - Part 14

                                          The journey continued next to Wicklow mountains where the movies like "Brave heart" and "P.S. I Love you" were filmed. It is a perfect place for natural photography. You will be surrounded by mountains in all colors - brown, blue, green, yellow, red, maroon and so on. 

We had some quick snaps and moved on to Glendalough - which is a valley of monasteries located in County Wicklow. There were lot of monastic towers including the Round Tower. We started exploring the valleys, rivers and trees joined together. It is a perfect place for mountain trekking as well as to shoot song sequences for a movie. 

All rocks, trees, herbs and shrubs all the way in Glendalough remind you about all adventurous movies like Hobbit, Lord of the Rings etc. We did some walking, jogging etc around the nature to refresh ourselves. Also there were flowing lakes surrounded by abundant flowers glowing in yellow and white. Then we started our way back to Dublin listening to some Irish music in the tourist bus. Relishing on the natural beauty is a relaxation to your day to day stressful life. Lets meet on more historical beauty as well in my next blog post.

To be continued..

Ireland Travel Experience - Part 13

                   To discover the south east of Ireland - we planned Glendalough Kilkenny Wicklow Mountains Dunmore Caves Day Tour arranged by Wild Rover tours. Our first visit in this tour was Kilkenny - we had an option to either roam in the city and visit the castle or visit the Dunmore caves and then back to Kilkenny Castle. So we opted for the Dunmore caves which was really a different experience. There was a separate tourist guide to explain about the history of Dunmore caves. 

Once we were inside the caves, it was full of stalactites and stalagmites which reminded me of the geography classes I studied during my school time. The stalactites were in various unique forms looking like an angel with wings, eagle or hawk staring at you, hanging bats etc..When we were standing inside the core of the caves, the tourist guide switched off the lights setup there and it was complete dark as if you had gone blind. The guide explained about the Viking massacre happened there too. As per archaeologists, mostly the bones recovered were of women and children. 

After our survey of the caves, we went back to the Kilkenny castle. Entered into the audio visual room to learn more on the history of the castle, kings ruled etc. So lets have a break here until my next blog post.

To be continued...

Ireland Travel Experience - Part 12

                       Our next halt in the Connemara tour was Kylemore Castle. The first sight of entry was near Kylemore castle or Abbey. Also it was surrounded by the Church and Victorian walled garden.. Along side, we saw the snowy mountains, rivers and sheep which was painted on the back with different colors by the sheep farmers to be identified. 

Then we went to the Killary sheep farm where we got a demonstration of turf cutting and we were standing on a place which was 5000 years old. It was really surprising when the trained dog of the sheep farmer was riding the sheeps by just hearing the signals and words of his master. When he just tells come by, it starts and then when he tell stand by it stops... It was really cool, and then by hearing the whistle sound, it starts moving... Really well trained.Then he showed us feeding 2 young sheep calves with a feeding bottle. Then we signed off back to the Galway city and enjoyed a city tour for an hour there... All along we saw mountains, rivers, valleys and lakes - It was a natural visual treat... River Shannon was one of the biggest river and Phoenix park on of the longest park (11 km walled) in Europe itself.

Then it was good to know about the Number plates in cars of Ireland - The first 2 digits start with the year and the next is an alphabet which denotes the city e.g: D for Dublin, G for Galway etc.. Starting from 2013, the car owners changed it as 3 digits as 13 is considered as unlucky or bad omen in many parts of the country... So they changed it to 131 and 132 (131 - first half of year 2013 and second half of year as 132) Then if you see a car with 141 - D- 299124 - then its a brand new car released now in the year 2014. That ends the Connemara tour and lets talk on another tour we went later on..

To be continued ...

Ireland Travel Experience - Part 11

                                                             Connemara Tour - We started @ 6:50 am from Tourist Office Dublin. Weather was normal and it took 2 and half hours to reach the entry of Connemara. It was almost 9:30 am when we reached there.  The tourist guide as well as the driver of the bus was an old lady with 25 years of experience as a tourist guide. She was from Switzerland and been in Dublin for last 3 years now. She was providing abundant information on Irish history, music, games, sports etc as well as on places such as Connemara, Galway, Dublin and Northern Ireland (Belfast). It was really interesting to learn about historical kings, queens and intellectuals such as Henry the Eighth, Anne Boleyn, James Joyce. She even talked more about the history of Gaelic and Irish languages.

                                                   Irish having spoken rarely now a days which contains 18 alphabets. The reason for Irish to be spoken less was it had become old fashioned and not in use among the youngsters. Also it was difficult to learn.She also shared some personal stories happened to her when she reached Belfast the first time and told Irish people are so nice. 

The examples were from Irish Garda being so nice to her serving cookies and tea to her without any panic signals and to find her lost car back to the multistar hotel persons helping her to pull her damaged car which was out of battery with a beautiful Rolls Royce car. With all these narrations and natural view of snowy mountains all the way, the adventure still moved on ...

To be continued ...

Ireland Travel Experience - Part 10

                                                                Once more we started to explore more Dublin on the areas which we missed in the beginning parts of Ireland tour. This time it was Dublin Zoo. This largest zoo of Ireland is located in Phoenix park, Ireland. The zoo is composed with a variety of animals, birds, snakes, amphibians etc. To name the major animals which we saw there - Tigers (Sumatran, Indonesia), mandarin ducks, snow leopards, penguins, panda, peacocks, zebras, ostriches, elephants,monkeys, gorillas, chimpanzees, swans, cranes, flamingos, seals, snakes, crocodiles, tortoises, deer, giraffes, wolves and so on.. But we missed to see the king - Lion :)

Zebras, Giraffes, Ostriches etc were put under the same region of the zoo in an open wide large space. It was also funny to see the cranes and penguins fighting for the fish which have been fed to them by the zoo keepers. The seals were swimming with full joy in the pool. It was also good to watch the peacocks roaming near you eating the rice grains.

Once we were done with the Dublin zoo, we went again for a long tour the next week after the zoo visit. It was to Connemara located west of Ireland - Will update on that tour in my next post.

To be continued ...