Why not begin with the crowd fav before going into the Grand old lady ...VT
There cannot be a great work of historic fiction in tamil than Sri Kalki's immortal work Ponniyin Selvan, so too a character painted with such dexterity and flair as that of his hero Vallavarayan Vanthiyathevan. While the argument continues even to this day, a full half a century after the early morning trains brought the weekly episode to a swarming crowd of expectant readers, as to who the hero of this work is. Is it the illustrious Sri Rajaraja as the son of Ponni or his fumbling yet lovable friend and future brother in law Vanthiyathevan.
Taking a scanty reference from the Big temple inscriptions which talk of Kundavai as the wife of Vaanar chief ( the actual inscription says he was the husband of !) , the master story teller built such a celebrated character, who would amuse, inspire and even romance the deadly Nandhini. Kalki had the guile to have him being called a Owl face while at the same time, having the strong willing Kundavai hold his hand outside a cell door inside which he is confined and profess her ever lasting love.
For starters, he was not an imaginary character but his depiction as a Baana chieftain, whose clan had definitely seen better days, is again a point of contention. The stature of his clan in those bygone days is masterly retold by the author via an old verse which goes somewhat like this:
"Having weakened their mighty army like that of a dried creeper,
He had his elephants trample their bodies to prepare a field,
and let loose their blood to water it,
and on it, he, the Baana King, planted the crowns of the three kings ( Chera, Chola and Pandya)
My Umbrella, my Palanquin, my Armour, my Horse, my Elephant,
The routed kings cried, as they stood outside his door watching him distribute the war trophies as gifts to the poets of his court
There can be no voice which has not sung the glory of their clan
There can be no chest across which is written their deeds,
There can be no flag pole across which their proud banner flies"
Since Ponniyin Selvan was a serialilsed novel, with the author experimenting with the plot, this darling of the masses charmed many a young maiden in Tamil Land, so much so, that once when Kalki was drawn into the storyline of the main plot, he missed featuring Vanthiyathevan for some weeks, he did bring him back with the words " We have deserted our hero for a long time...". So that kind of settles the Hero debate.
For all all hardcore Ponniyin Selvan fans, there is no greater memory than that of a young Vanthiyathevan riding his horse across the river Ponni on Aadipperukku day and the foot notes of Kalki, that kundavai and he were finally united in marriage after many a struggle. http://www.poetryinstone.in “*Here the language of stone surpasses the language of man*” – Nobel laureate, Rabindranath Tagore