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In this episode, we learn of the design of an ancient fort, as portrayed in Sangam Literary work, Puranaanooru 21, penned about the Pandya King Kaanapereyil Kadantha Ukkira Peruvazhuthi by the poet Aiyoor Moolankizhaar. Set in the category of ‘Vaagai Thinai’ or ‘king’s victory’, the verse celebrates the capture of a famous fort in Sangam times.
புல வரை இறந்த புகழ்சால் தோன்றல்!
‘நில வரை இறந்த குண்டு கண் அகழி,
வான் தோய்வு அன்ன புரிசை, விசும்பின்
மீன் பூத்தன்ன உருவ ஞாயில்,
கதிர் நுழைகல்லா மரம் பயில் கடி மிளை,
அருங் குறும்பு உடுத்த கானப்பேர் எயில்,
கருங் கைக் கொல்லன் செந் தீ மாட்டிய
இரும்பு உண் நீரினும் மீட்டற்கு அரிது’ என,
வேங்கை மார்பன் இரங்க, வைகலும்
ஆடு கொளக் குழைந்த தும்பை, புலவர்
பாடுதுறை முற்றிய, கொற்ற வேந்தே!
இகழுநர் இசையொடு மாய,
புகழொடு விளங்கிப் பூக்க, நின் வேலே!
A striking screenplay is used here to illustrate the greatness of this Pandya king, who seems to have been great friends with his Chola and Chera contemporaries and was praised for this friendship by the female poet Avvaiyaar. This particular poem throws light on a part of his name – ‘Kaanapereyil Kadantha’. The words of this poet can be translated as follows:
“O renowned king, whose fame extends far beyond the knowledge of poets who sing about thee! ‘Piercing beyond the depths of earth was its deep moat, soaring to the skies were its walls, akin to blooming stars were the bastions, and guarded by a forest so dense that the rays of the sun pierce not and surrounded by formidable smaller forts was the fort at ‘Kaanaper Eyil’. Now, to reclaim such a fort is harder that reclaiming water from iron, wielded from the scorching red fire by the black hands of the smith!’ – So laments the chieftain Vengai Maarban’. All across your land blooms the victory endowing ‘thumbai’ flowers, O celebrated king! You are the one who exhausts all the categories of praise by poets. May those who oppose you see their glory fade away, and may your spear, forever bloom with radiant fame!”
Time to delve into the details of this tribute! The poet starts with a statement that can be called humble or proud depending on your inference. He says that the king’s fame extends beyond the knowledge limits of the poets who sing about him. If it’s an acceptance that the poets can know only so much and there’s much more to be known about this world, then it’s intellectual humility. However, if the poet is saying the greatest thing in their world was the knowledge of poets and the king’s fame goes far beyond even that, then it’s intellectual pride. I suspect it’s the latter!
Returning from our musings, we suddenly hear a voice that does not belong to the poet, for the poet seems to be quoting the words of another. This voice is describing the fort of ‘Kaanaper Eyil’, talking about its deep moat, extending beyond the bounds of earth, the walls touching the limits of the sky, and bastions from whose holes, arrows would rain, appearing like stars above. Moving from the fort itself, the voice starts to talk about the surroundings – a forest so deep that the sun’s rays give up trying to pierce through it, and also, about many well-guarded small forts. Continuing this voice declares that it was now impossible to retake this fort from the Pandya king, similar to how it was impossible to retake water inside iron, wielded in the hot fire by the smith! Curiously, the poet mentions black hands of the smith, no doubt, because it was always close to the fire, and covered with smoke, and perhaps scorched a little even. Is that why those makers of iron got named as ‘blacksmiths’?
Putting our questions aside and zooming on to that mysterious voice, we now hear the poet revealing the name of the speaker to be ‘Vengai Maarban’, which can be translated as ‘The Tiger-chested’. This king seems to have been the erstwhile owner and ruler of the ‘Kaanaper Eyil’ fort so described but now this fort has been irrevocably laid siege to and possessed by the Pandya king, the protagonist of this verse. This is the different screenplay I was talking about. The poet is presenting the king’s fame through the words of his arch enemy, who was defeated in battle. It’s like the antagonist is singing praises of the protagonist. Actually, in some larger than life hero movies from the Tamil film industry, even today you can observe this trope of the villain praising the hero and saying how impossible it’s to bring him down, and in the end of the movie, it turns out to be a self-fulfilling prophecy. Amazed to find this eccentric modern narration technique in a two-thousand year old Tamil verse!
The poet returns to his own voice after this rendition and talks about the victory endowing white flowers of ‘thumbai’ that bloom in the king’s country and then mentions about how the bravery and dynamism of the king makes poets sing about him in every possible category and sub-category of praise, hinting at the detailed syntax of writing these Puram songs. He concludes with the words wishing the king’s enemies to fade away and the king’s spear to live for long!
Some questions soar in my mind after travelling through this song, and those are, where were these sky-soaring forts situated? Why aren’t there any archaeological discoveries showing their existence? Reflecting on it, one reason could be these kings could have used perishable elements in the construction of such forts, and two, the unforgiving climate of scorching heat and relentless rains of this Tamil land would make even the greatest of forts succumb. And that’s why while literature speaks of such ancient greatness, traces of the same are rare to find in archaeology of Tamilnadu as opposed to say, that of Egypt, where the dryness of the land has preserved their antiquities for generations afterward!
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