TVS Pandarathar - who has written a noteworthy treasie on Later cholas talks about VDevan as one of the generals of Rajendra ! He does not find a place with Rajaraja - other than the Tanjore big temple inscription in which he is referred to as the husband of Kundavai (This is of importance - I'll come back to this later).
We find many of the generals of Rajaraja working for Rajendra as well. This might mean that - * Either Rajaraja did'nt live up very long - he may not have seen his eighties etc. (Can any one of you tell me the age of Rajaraja when he passed away ?) OR * All these generals were not as old as Rajaraja and lived upto Rajendra's regime as well.
Thus, we find that Rajaraja and VDevan may not be of comparable age - as portrayed in PS. But Kalki should have had his own thoughts in this - he has certainly read Pandarathar much more than me, after all ! Also, I've not come across any material connecting VDevan with Aditya - there are enough evidences for Parthibendra to be connected with him - but not VDevan. Again this makes us suspect that this could be a well knit imagination of Kalki.
Coming to Kundavai and her relationsip with VDevan historically - we find - to our surprise - that something close to what has been portrayed in PS might have happened ! Because - * Kundavai was certainly a well known princess of her time and there might have been many ideas from influencial quarters about her. * Kundavai certainly did'nt move out of Tanjore - fittingly capitalized by Kalki (she says to Vanathi that she will never leave Chozha Nadu - even after marriage) * She probably spent more time growing up sons of Rajaraja than with her husband. (Any historic evidence to this ??) * We are not sure whether VDevan - Kundavi had any issues - and if so, was he/she recognized in Chola empire ?
We find that VDeven ruled a region callen Bramadesam and around - living with his wives and Kundavi spent most of her time in Tanjore. Does this imply anything ? Was his reference in Tanjore temple inscription as "a husband of Kundavi..." tells us something about the power Kundavi wielded in the empire above him ? Considering the fact that he was given due respect and positions for several generations - can we take it that he was quite happy about his positioning in chola dynasty ?
As we read more and more of history - I'm afraid to say that the Young - adventurous - naughty - attractive fellow portrayed in PS was but Kalki's brainchild - Vallavaraiyan Vandhiyathevan just being a name borrowed from the pages of history to attach credibility to the character he created.
The real Vandhiyathevan - if he ever comes back - will be surprised to find how he has become a cult figure : thanks to the pen of a mighty author called Kalki R.Krishnamoorthy. (...To be continued)
When you take up the genre of historical novels, isn't it the way, historical fiction written. For if the author is going to follow and stick to whatever the history says about a person then what happens to his creative imagination. Any historical novel for that matter is a fusion of facts and fiction. Its the very confusion of the reader as to what is fiction and what is fact that makes any historical novel a roaring success among its readers. In that sense, I guess our Kalki has gone beyond anyone that I have read in the genre of historical novels. I may not have read everyone to say this. But have read some and I can guess I can say this :-)
Gokul --
I may not have the knowledge to contribute or counter argue on your elaborations. But I enjoy reading them a lot. Of late, I have become a passive reader mainly because of excess work and travel. Hope to contribute something soon. For I have received so much from this group and I have given nothing :-)
Thanks for your efforts, time and enthusiasm.
Others(Lavanya, Pavithra, Lakshmi, Sreevathson and Ram) --
Y are u guys silent man. Suddenly I feel its only Gokul who's doing the talking. Is everyone that busy? Just joking.. I can understand how pressing it can be at times.