...both seduce ...married to older men (married Julius Caesar in 48 BC. He was 52, she was 22. parallel to periya pazhuvettaiyar>>)
below is written about cleopatra ...
For her actual beauty, it is said, was not in itself so remarkable that none could be compared with her, or that no one could see her without being struck by it, but the contact of her presence, if you lived with her, was irresistible; the attraction of her person, joining with the charm of her conversation, and the character that attended all she said or did, was something bewitching. It was a pleasure merely to hear the sound of her voice, with which, like an instrument of many strings, she could pass from one language to another; so that there were few of the barbarian nations that she answered by an interpreter.
Vijay; You want someone (fictional or real) close in character to Nandhini, try Milady De Winter from Alexander Dumas' "The Three Musketeers". i have already bought this up in this group but anyways as this is always an interesting topic. Also whilst you are into the book (if you haven't read it already) im sure you will find a lot of similarities between PS and 3 Musketeers!!
dumas is a must read - count of monte cristo would have been my first choice ( even though the later portions do drag a bit)...while the man in the iron mask has been remade twice in tamil ( switching of the prince!)... the three musk...was good for the comedy stuff, my first choice would be the count of monte cristo for its depth of story line and stong narration...a man jailed without trail, seperated from his lady love, ailing father - snatched away just when he was about to have everything that he wished for - a captains job, wedlock to his lady love-----kept in solitary confinement for years - left to ponder on what went wrong, left to relive his last few days of freedom in his mind - dissecting every act, every person ....and then to understand the conspiracy..it was truely amazing read.
Find replace_ Caesar with AK, Brutus n others with nandhini, ravidasan, soman etc etc , the priests with kudanthai josier.....in this account of Assasination of Caesar:
Nicolaus of Damascus wrote his account of the murder of Caesar a few years after the event. He was not actually present when the assassination occurred but had the opportunity to speak with those who were. He was a friend of Herod the Great and gathered his information during a visit to Rome. His account is thought to be reliable.
The Plan:
"The conspirators never met openly, but they assembled a few at a time in each others' homes. There were many discussions and proposals, as might be expected, while they investigated how and where to execute their design. Some suggested that they should make the attempt as he was going along the Sacred Way, which was one of his favorite walks. Another idea was for it to be done at the elections during which he bad to cross a bridge to appoint the magistrates in the Campus Martius; they should draw lots for some to push him from the bridge and for others to run up and kill him. A third plan was to wait for a coming gladiatorial show. The advantage of that would be that, because of the show, no suspicion would be aroused if arms were seen prepared for the attempt. But the majority opinion favored killing him while he sat in the Senate, where he would be by himself since non-Senators would not be admitted, and where the many conspirators could hide their daggers beneath their togas. This plan won the day."
Brutus Persuades Caesar to Ignore his Apprehensions:
"...his friends were alarmed at certain rumors and tried to stop him going to the Senate-house, as did his doctors, for he was suffering from one of his occasional dizzy spells. His wife, Calpurnia, especially, who was frightened by some visions in her dreams, clung to him and said that she would not let him go out that day. But Brutus, one of the conspirators who was then thought of as a firm friend, came up and said, 'What is this, Caesar? Are you a man to pay attention to a woman's dreams and the idle gossip of stupid men, and to insult the Senate by not going out, although it has honored you and has been specially summoned by you? But listen to me, cast aside the forebodings of all these people, and come. The Senate has been in session waiting for you since early this morning.' This swayed Caesar and he left."
Bad Omens:
"Before he entered the chamber, the priests brought up the victims for him to make what was to be his last sacrifice. The omens were clearly unfavorable. After this unsuccessful sacrifice, the priests made repeated other ones, to see if anything more propitious might appear than what had already been revealed to them. In the end they said that they could not clearly see the divine intent, for there was some transparent, malignant spirit hidden in the victims. Caesar was annoyed and abandoned divination till sunset, though the priests continued all the more with their efforts.
Those of the murderers present were delighted at all this, though Caesar's friends asked him to put off the meeting of the Senate for that day because of what the priests had said, and he agreed to do this. But some attendants came up, calling him and saying that the Senate was full. He glanced at his friends, but Brutus approached him again and said, 'Come, good sir, pay no attention to the babblings of these men, and do not postpone what Caesar and his mighty power has seen fit to arrange. Make your own courage your favorable omen.' He convinced Caesar with these words, took him by the right hand, and led him to the Senate which was quite near. Caesar followed in silence."
The Attack:
"The Senate rose in respect for his position when they saw him entering. Those who were to have part in the plot stood near him. Right next to him went Tillius Cimber, whose brother had been exiled by Caesar. Under pretext of a humble request on behalf of this brother, Cimber approached and grasped the mantle of his toga, seeming to want to make a more positive move with his hands upon Caesar. Caesar wanted to get up and use his hands, but was prevented by Cimber and became exceedingly annoyed.
That was the moment for the men to set to work. All quickly unsheathed their daggers and rushed at him. First Servilius Casca struck him with the point of the blade on the left shoulder a little above the collar-bone. He had been aiming for that, but in the excitement he missed. Caesar rose to defend himself, and in the uproar Casca shouted out in Greek to his brother. The latter heard him and drove his sword into the ribs. After a moment, Cassius made a slash at his face, and Decimus Brutus pierced him in the side. While Cassius Longinus was trying to give him another blow he missed and struck Marcus Brutus on the hand. Minucius also hit out at Caesar and hit Rubrius in the thigh. They were just like men doing battle against him.
Under the mass of wounds, he fell at the foot of Pompey's statue. Everyone wanted to seem to have had some part in the murder, and there was not one of them who failed to strike his body as it lay there, until, wounded thirty-five times, he breathed his last. "
I am not sure what generated Nandini but there was a character very similar to her in the movie Manohara released in 1954. Vasantha Sena was in all modes same as Nandhini. Those who have seen Manohara would know this person, also equally intriguing is the fact that Nandini being a fictional frame and Vasantha Sena being a fictional person too, both stories are based out of chola dynasty!
I beg to differ with you. She (Vasanthasena) always had sweet words for Manohara for that matter for all the other charecters- Of course all this in front of the king. But can she be compared to Nandhini ... well ...
Precisely, Vasantha sena had 3 husbands, one was manohara's father. Her 1st one happens to kill her. Nandini on the other hand, tried to rope in Aaditya, took over the falling veera pandya, married the age old Pazhuvettayar ... and eventually fell for Vallavarayan.
Both characters are closely over, both falling in the chola lineage add a mystery. Was Nandini entirely fictional?
sure shot medicine to wake up a slumbering group ...works everytime i guess...mention nandhini's name, even kumbakarnan will get up and type i guess....vj
Talking of historical movies - who can forget cecil demille - ten commandments, ben hur, samson and delilah..masterful efforts. pity PS did not reach them.....
while on the same subject - the robe 1953 and its sequel demetrius and teh galdiators 1954 ( 20th C fox) has a few scenes which are amazingly similar to a particular episode in PS....the early christians in the movies are shown to secretly identify themselves to each other by drawing the sign of the fish ( on their foreheads, on the ground etc).....a la ravidasan to alwarkadian on the river front...
Incidentally - the Greek word for fish (ichthus, spelled: Iota Chi Theta Upsilon Sigma). That is an acrostic for "Jesus Christ, of God, the Son, the Savior" [Iesous (Jesus) CHristos (Christ) THeou (of God) Uiou (the Son) Soter (the Savior)]. An acrostic is an "arrangement of words in which the first letter of each line ordinarily combines with others to form a word or words or the alphabet..
I am unable to make out the content of your comment. Our CM being a tamil Scholar himself, I am sure he will be in deep love with all the charecters of PS. But does it mean that Nandhini and Vasantha Sena can be compared ?
Again I beg to differ ... Nandini's words neither Kundavi nor Anirudhar or Tirumalai or for that matter anyone from the chola family liked her / believed in her sweet words. if I am not mistekn not even chinna Pazhuvetarayar had high regards for his sister in law. It was Peria Pazhuvetarayar / Vallavarayan Vandhiya Thevan / Pallava kumaran who believed in him. Adavadhu mohathil mayangiyavargall. Whats the difference between her and Vasanthasena ... Who seduced kesarivarman / Manohara's father / Uggirasenan? Love is blind so people ...
~ Udanx
PS: Ganabadigall ... Correct me if I am wrong in my opinion.
Vasantha sena was a classic, T.R.Rajakumari's voice modulation and her presentation was the closest you can get to imagining Nandini.
As for Dr.KK's closeness to the epic, you can check out the horse rider near anna flyover, the looks fall in place to our hero of PS( the General of Chola army.... He was installed during the then regime.
you are right about kundavai ( who hated her from first sight - maybe she felt jealous of her beauty over hers!!! we can have a discussion on that as well, but i think in terms of sheer physcial beauty ( animal attraction) nandhini wins hands down.
anirudhar, chinna pazhuvetayar.. yes but Tirumalai always had a soft corner for his adopted sister - infact he was cross with periya pazhuvetayar for having married her - for he wanted to devot her into service of god...
as regards the people who fell for her - periya pazhuvetayar/ kandamaaran and parthibendra pallavan .... but you cant say that about VT - VT flirted with almost all the women characters in PS - starting with manimegalai, nandhini, kundavai and even poonguzhali, but fell only for kundavai.
but i think there is one diff between vasanta sena and nandhini - in terms of their objective - vasanta sena's was sheer power whereas kalki gives a patriotic color to nandhini's quest at the same time - he never degrades her character/morality - that is the genius of kalki - his master stroke - the villain characters are not the dumb stupid ones portrayed in todays movies - but steady, strond willed, deep charactered gems - be it naaganandhi in SS and nandhini/ravidasan in PS>
This statue was installed some time in 70's in remembrance of abolition of Horse Racing in Chennai. There were reports that statue of the man is made with the features of Vandhiya Thevan of Kalki's Ponniyin Selvan. Two identical statues are installed on both sides of Anna Flyover
nandhini may not b liked by many people but underneath in her heart she placed vandhiyathevan and aadithan in a special place . she even helped vandhiyathevan at critical situations. but vasantha sena was purely selfish and planned for others downfall. nandhini was put to critical heart breaking incidents. she was refused of her basic rights. but vasanthasena was not hurt by any such incidents . so it is best to say that nandhini is far better than vasanthasena.
To all those who support nandini and are aganist vasanthasena,
I read all the mails and noted the contents. But you should also appriciate the point that Manohara is a Movie 180 minutes where as ponniyin Selvan is a novel spanning 5 Volumes
I am sure many of you in this group might have read The Da Vinci Code and some might have seen the movie as well, apart from reading the book. Well, I belong to the second category. When we saw the movie at home. Every 10th or 15th minute I had to pause the movie give them the background of the scene so that my family members could also appriciate, what was written in that book and how the same has been condensed into a movie.
The point I am trying to drive here is Had Ponniyin Selvan been made into a film, we might not know how the Nandhini charecter would have shaped out finally. On the contrary only our CM will know how Vasantha Sena's charecter would have shaped had Manohara been written as a Novel.
Well, Athai-kku Meesai mulacha Chitappa! (Athaikku Meesai Molachathaane Chitappa, neither was PS taken into a movie nor manohara into a novel.) I will salute the democracy and will accept the verdict of the majority.
thought nadhini /abuthivigal werent immdly successful in overthrowing the cholas, they did keep the flame burning (they took back most of the conquered lands back, and ultimately they had the last laugh - they did outlive the cholas by 5 C, cholas fading in the 13th C whereas you still hear about the pandya til the 17th C)
draw comparison to our CM, battling his friend turned Foe - being out of power for so long and yet maintained his party - and then returned to power!!
the pandyas moved out of madurai in 1320 and propably survived in the sankaran koil area till 1450s till they were slowly pushed aside by the poligars( feudatories of the vijaynagar and later naik kings) some of them took the name pandya as a title like kattabommu and famly,
Almost every other person at that time down near thirunalveli belt had the surname pandiyan. I am not sure if Kattabomman was from the same pandya lineage. Correct me if i am wrong.
accept yours. but the pandyas did outlive the cholas..
while on the subject
Pandalam in Kerala is the chosen and blessed place where Lord Ayyappa, the presiding deity of Sabarimala had had His human sojourn as the son of the Raja of Pandalam. The Pandalam kingdom was established around 79 ME (903 AD) by the Pandalam royal family who are the descendents of the Pandya kings of Madurai. The Pandya royal family had to flee Madurai because of threats to their lives posed by their own ministers. A branch of the fleeing family moved westward, briefly staying at various places it acquired by purchase. The family kept on the move for over a century, finally reaching Pandalam in 79 ME. This was chosen to be the permanent home for the royal family. The then ruler of Venad (later Travancore) helped to establish the kingdom at Pandalam. According to the Travancore State Manual, the Rajas of Pandalam " were always friendly to the Kings of Travancore