| Ponniyin Selvan | |
|---|---|
 Volume 1 | |
| Author | Kalki Krishnamurthy |
| Original title | பொன்னியின் செல்வன் |
| Illustrator | Maniam |
| Country | India |
| Language | Tamil |
| Genre(s) | Historical, Romance, Spy, Thriller, Novel |
| Publisher | Kalki |
| Publication date | 1950s |
| Media type | Entertainment |
| Pages | 2400 pages |
Ponniyin Selvan (Tamil: பொன்னியின் செல்வன், English: The Son of Ponni) is a 2400 page 20th-century Tamil historical novel written by Kalki Krishnamurthy. Written in 5 volumes, this narrates the story of Arulmozhivarman (later crowned as Rajaraja Chola), one of the kings of the Chola Dynasty during the 10th-11th century CE period.
Ponniyin Selvan is widely regarded as one of the greatest novels in Tamil. It deals with the fortunes of the Chola empire during the 10th century. It was serialised in the Tamil periodical Kalki. The serialisation went on for three and a half years and every week its publication was awaited with great interest.
Considering the huge popularity of the book and the author, this novel was nationalized by the Government of Tamil Nadu and is available as an open source for anyone to publish.
Popular Director Maniratnam is making a film based on the story of Ponniyin Selvan.[1]
Contents[hide] |
[edit] Historical background
Ponniyin Selvan is a historic fiction, which has mostly real historical characters and more of real historical incidents.[2]The oldest evidence that is available on the Chola dynasty is about the famous Chola king Karikal Peruvalathan and then many other famous kings after him such as Killivalavan, Nedunkilli, Perunkilli, etc. After this, the trail runs cold and resurfaces as Vijayalaya Chola once again established the Chola dynasty after defeating the Pandiyas and the Pallavas.
Vijayalaya Chola (848-871 CE) was the founder of the Medieval Chola dynasty. He conquered the country from a vassal chief of the Pallavas, and established Pazhayaarai as the capital of the dynasty which was later shifted to Thanjavur during the rule of Sundara Chola. His son and successor Aditya I conquered the Pallavas and the Kongu country. Later, under the leadership of his son Parantaka I (c 907-955 CE), the Cholas acquired a dominion which foreshadowed the greater empire of Rajaraja and Kulothunga Chola I. Parantaka I won victories over the Banas, the Gangas, the Pandya and the King of Ceylon.
This 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 Krishna III invaded the Tamil Country, killed the Chola prince Rajaditya at Takkolam (near Arakkonam) in c. 948 CE , and seized Tondainadu which they ruled for about a quarter of a century, confining the sway of the Cholas to their ancestral dominion comprising the modern day Tanjavur and Thiruchirapalli districts.
The names of the next five kings after Rajaditya are known by various historical evidences.
Gandaraditya a great Shaivite, whose son was to become the famous Madhurantaka. Gandaraditya was, however, not a great king and the enemies of the Chola kingdom began to rise again at the end of his reign. Moreover, both of his brothers Rajathitha and Arinjaya could not be crowned after him as the former was already dead and the latter was expecting his end any moment. So Arinjaya's son Sundara Chola or Paranthaka II as he was formerly known, became the king after Gandaraditya.
Arinjaya Chola died at a young age at battle,he was the father of Paranthaka II who ascended the throne after Gandaraditya.
Parantaka Chola II (son of Arinjaya, also known popularly as Sundara Chola as he was exotically handsome and ruled the kingdom particularly well), though later fell fatally ill as his legs were paralysed. He was the proud father of Rajaraja, Aditya karikala and Kundavai.
Aditya Karikalan or Aditya II was the elder son of Paranthaka II and was the heir apparent of the Chola dynasty after Paranthaka II.But before he could ascend the throne, he was taken by death due to the treachery . He is killed in kadambur Melakadambur sambuvarayar maaligai, and
Madurantaka, officially Uttama Chola, was the son of Gandaraditya and Sembian Mahadevi. Though he did not wish for the crown, it was thrust upon him by Rajaraja and his friend Vanthiyadeva. He ruled for a period of about 12 years, after whose death Rajaraja ascended to the throne.
Aditya Karikalan II re-conquered Tondainadu from the Rashtrakutas a few years later. He was a great warrior. He performed many heroic deeds in the battlefields of Sevur and beheaded the long-elusive Pandiya king -Veerapandiya. On Aditya's death, the succession was disputed as one community of the Chola empire. Most of the nobles and subjects preferred the popular prince Arulmozhivarman (Rajaraja Chola) ascend the throne, but he himself was in favour of his uncle, Madurantaka Uththama Chola becoming the King. At last, Arulmozhivarman tricked Madhurantaka into accepting the crown. After him, Arulmozhivarman Rajarajan became the King in 985 CE. His reign brought unparalleled glory and greatest fame and prosperity to the Imperial Chola empire.
Ponniyin Selvan was the sobriquet given to Arulmozhi varman. Ponni was another name for the Kaveri and Arulmozhi was the darling of the Kaveri as in Ponniyin Selvan to all his people.
The original title of Arulmozhivarman was Rajakesari Varman, Mummudi-Sola-Deva. He was the second son of the Parantaka Chola II alias Sundara Chola and Queen Vaanamaadevi. Raja Raja Cholan had an elder sister, Kundavai and an elder brother, Aditya Karikalan. He had a high regard for his sister, who spent her later life in Thanjavur with her younger brother, and named his first daughter after her.
Kalki’s other sources were stone inscriptions, copper-plates and other books. There is a stone tablet in the great temple of Thanjavur which has the following inscription: “The revered elder sister of Raja Raja Cholar, the consort of Vandiyadevan, Azwar Paranthakar Kundavaiyar”.[2] The book History of Later Cholas has a five line reference to Vandiyathevan, a Bana prince, a real historical character, who is the hero of this novel. The names of the conspirators also came from a stone inscription.[3]
A lot of the information about the activities of various kings came from inscriptions like these as well as copper plates like the one found at Anbil. The Thiruvalangadu copper-plates state, "The Chola people were very keen that after Sundara Chola, Arulmozhivarman should ascend the throne and rule their country. But Arulmozhivarman respected the right of his Uncle Uttama Chola, the son of his grandfather’s older brother, Gandaraditya, to the throne and crowned him King".
[edit] Plot summary
 | This article's plot summary may be too long or excessively detailed. Please help improve it by removing unnecessary details and making it more concise. (July 2010) |
Parantaka Chola was succeeded by his second son Gandaraditya as the first son Rajaditya had died in a battle. At the time of Gandaraditya's death, his son Maduranthaka was a child and hence Gandaraditya’s brother Arinjaya ascended the throne. After Arinjaya’s death, his son Parantaka II, Sundara Chola was coronated. He had two sons, Aditya Karikalan and Arulmozhi Varman and a daughter Kundavai.
When the story starts, the emperor Sundara Chola is ill and bedridden. Aditya Karikalan is the general of the Northern Command and lived in Kanchi and Arulmozhivarman (who would be famous later as Raja Raja Chola I) is in Sri Lanka in battle and their sister Kundavai Piratti lived in Chola royal household at Pazhayarai.
The story is set in motion, when rumor starts that there is a conspiracy against Sundara Chola and his sons. One person who gets a glimpse of the Pandya conspirators is a warrior of the Vana clan Vallavarayan Vandiyathevan. Even though the book is titled Ponniyin Selvan, the hero of the book is Vandiyathevan, a friend of Aditya Karikalan.
It is through Vandiyathevan that we meet most of the characters in the novel such as Arulmozhivarman, the prince whom all the people loved, and Periya Pazhavetturayar, the chancellor who married Nandini when he was sixty. During his youth, Aditya Karikalan had fallen in love with Nandini, but she turned vengeful after Aditya Karikalan killed Veerapandyan (who was probably her lover) and vowed to destroy the Chola dynasty. We also meet Kundavai Devi, who after hearing the news of the conspiracy sends Vandiyathevan to Sri Lanka to give a message to Arulmozhivarman to come back immediately.
Besides these, there are other characters like Maduranthaka Thevar(the man whom the conspirators want to crown king), the son of Gandaraditya and Anirudha Brahmarayar, Sundara Cholar’s Prime Minister and the man who has eyes and ears everywhere. But the most wonderful character in the book is Brahmarayar’s spy Azhwarkadiyan Nambi, a Vaishnavite, who roams around the country challenging Saivaites for debates. He collects information for the Prime Minister and is always around Vandiyathevan, rescuing him during trouble.
There are some lovely women too, like Vanathi, the Kodumbalur princess who is in love with Arulmozhi; Poonkuzhali, the boat woman who rows the future king to Lanka; Mandakini, the deaf and dumb step mother and Rakkammal, the wife of a boatman who supports the Pandya conspirators. Most memorable among these is Nandini, whose beauty is said to have the power to influence any man.
With Poonkuzhali's help, Vandiyathevan reaches Sri Lanka, meets Arulmozhivarman, and becomes his close friend. In Lanka, Arulmozhivarman realizes that his father had spent some time in an island near Lanka and had been with a girl born deaf and dumb. He meets her and realizes from her drawing that she and his father have had two children. Who are those children and do they have the right to the throne? Later one day in Thirupurambayam forest Vandiyathevan sees Nandini and the Pandya conspirators place a small boy on a throne and take a vow in front of him. Who is this boy and what right does he have to the throne?
While coming back from Lanka, Arulmozhivarman is caught in a cyclone and goes missing. Rumor spreads that he is dead, but he survives and stays at Choodamani Viharam, a Buddhist monastery in Nagapattinam. Then slowly the dispersed family starts assembling. The conspirators meanwhile choose one day in which both the king and both of his sons would be assassinated.
Will the conspirators succeed in killing Sundara Chola and crowning Madhuranthaka as the king or will Arulmozhivarman get crowned the king? That is one of the major questions upon which the story revolves. It ends in a dramatic climax in the fifth part of the book where the truth about Maduranthaka Chola is revealed.
[edit] Characters
- Vallavaraiyan Vandiyadevan (Vallavarayan) - Hero of the story. An adventurous, naughty, lucky and attractive young man.
- Arulmozhivarman (Ponniyin Selvan later became Rajaraja Chola I)
- Sundara Chola
- Kundavai Pirattiyar
- Nandini (Pazhuvur IlayaRani)
- Aditya Karikalar (Veera Pandiyan Thalai Konda Kopara Kesari)
- Vanathi-wife of arulmozhivarman
- Anirudha Brahmarayar - Chief minister of The king Sundara Chola
- Senthan Amudhan -
- Poonkuzhali (Samudhirakumari) - A beautiful,brave, poor girl who sings well and eventually becomes the queen of chola empire.
- Aazhvaarkadiyan (Thirumalai Appan) - Spy of the Chief minister. A great devotee of Lord Vishnu.
- Periya Pazhuvettaraiyar
- Chinna Pazhuvettaraiyar (Kaalandhaga Kandar)
- Sundara Cholar
- Mandhagini Devi (Oomai Rani)
- Maduranthakar (Parakesari Uthama Cholan)
- Sembian ma devi
- Kandamaran - Son of Sambuvaraiyar.
- Manimekalai - Kandamaran's sister. She loves Vandiyadevan sincerely
- Ravidasan (Mandhiravadhi)
- Soman Sambhavan
- Idumbankari
- Devaralan (Parameswaran)
- Sambuvaraiyar
- Kodumbalur Vikrama Poodhi Kesari
- Mazhavarayar
- Parthibendhra Pallavan
- Kudanthai Sothidar
- Eesana Sivabattar
- Pinagapani
- Murugaiyan
- Raakamaal
- Karuthiruman
[edit] Sequels
Copyright rules and their strict enforcement by the Kalki group dissuaded many writers from attempting a sequel (though Kalki himself broad mindedly suggested other writers to take it up in the book's afterword). Nandhipuraththu Nayagi by Vembu Vikiraman is one sequel in which the author uses different spellings for all major characters to avoid infringement accusations.After nationalisation of the works of Kalki Krishnamurthy, the copyright of Ponniyin Selvan ceased to exist. Many publishers now print the same book free of royalty charges.
Balakumaran's Udayar and Anusha Venkatesh's Kaviri Mainthan are sequels to Ponniyin Selvan published around 2000 and 2007 respectively.
Balakumaran's Kadigai runs parallelly to Ponniyin Selvan showing the lives of Ravidasan, Nandhini and ends with the assassination of Adithya Karikalar.
Dr L.Kailasam's Malar Cholai Mangai published by Vanathai Pathipakam is prequel to the Ponniyin Selvan. In this he elaborately discuss the important incidences happened during the younger age of the various characters of Ponniyin Selvan
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