the valai eri ( boomerang) plays a very important role in akilans vengaiyin mainthan..without going into much details....did we have boomerangs as part of our weaponry in the 10th C.
i remember reading an article in Mr.Jaybee's website about the tamil weapon Valari. This is also a boomerang shaped weapon but it does not return. So the name Valari must have been concocted from Valai Eri. Knives were attached to the ends and then thrown at the enemy making it highly destructive and dangerous. Periya Marudhu (of Marudhu brothers) is said to have had the capability to throw the valari straight across the Theppakulam in Madurai. Quite a feat considering the size of the kulam and the weight of that weapon!!
nice of you to bring this up...in these days when everyone asks for proof that our heros were indeed heros..and not like 23ram pullikesi ( the painting episode)
anyway, we do hear of superhuman feats ...even from the ramayana ..rama i think is said to be capable of shooting an arrow right though 5 full grown tree trunks, dasarata using just sounds to locate his targets and shoot them down....he is also said to have shot his arrows in rameshwaram ( the many wells)
the buddha was once challenged to demonstrate his archery skills. He asked for five arrows, and shot four of them simultaneously in four directions in the sky. A raven flying high up momentarily found its way blocked everywhere. Then he shot his fifth arrow and brought down the confused raven. This episode is narrated in the text Kanjur Dulwa.
and of course arjuna looking into the reflection and...chanced on this interesting article ( dont have the full one though ) but the concept is quite remarkable..the way they draw parallels
The laparoscopic surgeon is trained to acquire advanced skills to perform the complicated laparoscopic surgery of the target tissue in a three-dimensional (3D) space by viewing its two-dimensional (2D) video image. This technique finds its parallel in a very ancient archery episode portrayed in the longest and the greatest Indian epic, Mahabarata. In this epic, Arjuna, the master archer, is required to employ the strategy of aiming at the eye of a target fish rotating above his head by viewing its reflected image below in water; of course, all this to win the hand of a beautiful princess! Arjuna is so trained that he cannot but excel in focusing his attention on his target. A comparative study of the laparoscopic surgeon and the ancient master archer is done in this paper with a view to throwing light on the interesting similarities between the archer and the modern laparoscopic surgeon with respect to training methods, skills, and techniques. http://www.springerlink.com/content/4632821633652763/
hi vijay; just for humor sake, how sure are you that the armor in Pudukottai museum is indeed the one worn by Kattabommmu? Maybe he was just 5ft tall and ensured that he got his ironsmith to make a huge armor so that future generations would think he is a bull (kaattu erumai in the words of our wonderful Vadivelu). Remember "Varalaaru miga mukkiyam amaichare" I hold a similar opinion about kalvettus and paintings of our maharajas. Do you really think a sculptor/painter/poet would be rewarded if he dint glorify the king. they had to make the king look larger than life else they risk loosing their life. Im not trying to say all our kings were like that but there must have been some really smart chaps. Infact if i were king i would probably want myself painted like a hero and want future generations talk only about my victories with some masala added. While this was being written i would be spending time in the anthapuram..who cares about bringing Ganga or winning wars. :) :):)
you did well by clausing your initial statement...for humor sake. I take your side ...kings are too precious to lead upfront in battle and in most cases they held together their vast lands by surrounding themselves with good hands and not by encasing themselves in iron. Unfortunately our later year maharajas did exactly this...read the maharajas of india, by ann morrow of the later ( princely states during british rule)....you will see their leelaigal...portly, 50 year old, physcially jestor like maharajas dancing with petite damsels of europe, maharajas keeping ( and wining) bets like who will deflower the maximum vi....ns in a year, importing lions from africa because their hunting grounds did not have them in enough number, using the largest diamond in the world as a paper weight, parading around completely naked except for a diamond brocade as a show of kingly masculinity.....a complete silver ensemble train set that could serve dinner to your guests.....
but dont beleive you can bring in RRC/RJC in similar vein....you could possibly get away with murder in your state, but for you disperse these false propaganda across a region as far away as indonesia///china...they were truely great. the big temple and GKC temple were superhuman efforts built to crown their fantastic feats...feats that make you sit up and think...what bade them on this path...reminded of this...dreams are not what you get in your sleep, dreams are what make you loose your sleep.
honestly i have my doubts...a full grown tiger weighs close to 300 kgs..can jump as high as 16 ft and as far 30. i grew up on kim corbett and his accounts clearly show that a tiger can decapitate a full grown male with one swipe, leave alone the claws which are designed to hold on to prey, they use it to pull down bison, hold on to elephant hide and even hit juvinile rhinos...also the tiger almost always locks on to the neck/windpipe and its canine teeth are configured to severe the spine in one bite...i have heard accounts of them carrying livestock and even human bodies weighing over 80 kgs without even a drag mark ( meaning lifting the carcass right off the ground) so as to avoid traces which might bring in hyenas / wild dogs. they can even jump fences while carrying these heavy loads of upto 7 ft..the Champawat Tiger (the first bag of corbett)was responsible for 436 documented deaths in india and it was said to have come in from bangladesh ( god knows how many it took there) plus the scores of people who went missing without a trace ( eaten completelY)....these claims ....comeon bare hands...must have been a pulli kutti.. vj
In Jaipur museum, a lot of items belonging to the Rajput kings are kept. One thing which I remembe very well is the sword and shield of rana pratap singh. Sword weighs 5kgs and shield a 6kg. Meaning, in two arms Rana pratap singh used to lift 11 kgs and used to fight. Apart from this, he must be having armours, helmets, arm gaurds, leg gaurds, wht not.....
And if I remember correctly, Raja Mann sing's pyjama...atlest 10 of my size can get it. so big was his waist size :)
so in the same dynasty one was a sapatu raman and grew his belly while the other could lift 11kgs to fight. Or like 'varalaaru miga mukkiyam amaichare' kind of stuff...he just made those and never used it or rather he never went to wars and sent out only his commanders to fight...:)
-In ponniyin selvan pungkuzhali fights a cheetah with a shark bone and kills it.
i always feel kalki missed a golden opportunity while not including that episode directly in pS and letting pungkuzhali describe it as a incident in the past
yes, how did we miss it....it was kind of scary....but i thought it was more to do with the effect..to scare VD...the kollivai pisasu etc....in tune with her "detached" attitude. but again she did it with a tool...vj
Talking of myths, my sister once mentioned to me (when I was a school kid) that she heard from some one that Hight of Rama was 9 feet and Lakshman was 8 feet. Was their height mentioned in Valmiki or Kamba ramayana?
very close to kodikarai is a small hillock looking into the sea. on it is a foot print -ramar patham. the size is so big a man with that print should have been the height you mention
aanaa paavam . lakshmanan ingkeyum oru adi kullamaa?
Sir, there are many things our mightier and much stronger predecessors did and not possible for us. Taking a simple example of ilavattakkal, every one believes that it was used for army selection. And you can see them at many old temples and other places. Because we cannot even move it, we cannot say, no body could have lifted it.
Look at the doors of new houses, the thickness of the wood kept on decreasing, and still we put in efforts to close them. And now we have come to plastic products (Mr.Chandra don't get angry :o)), may be future generations will find it tough to close the plastic doors, as well.
SYMBOL OF PRIDE: Bronze statues of Marudu brothers to be installed in Madurai.
THANJAVUR: Two nine feet bronze statues of Marudu brothers, each weighing a tonne, have been sculpted by the sthapthis of Swamimalai in Thanjavur district.
Depicting the Marudu brothers Chinna Marudu and Periya Marudu (Pandiyars) on horses with their swords drawn, the statues will be installed at Teppakulam in Madurai. Chief Minister M. Karunanidhi will unveil them on October 31. Sthapthis, Radhakrishnan, Srikantan and Swaminathan ,handed over the statues to Pon. Muthuramalingam, chairman of the Mamannar Marudupandiyargal Thiruvuruva Silai Amaippu Kuzhu, on Wednesday.
The statues would be transported to Madurai from here.
Pon. Muthuramalingam said the brothers were the first to declare a war against the British in a declaration pasted at the Tiruchi Rockfort and Srirangam in1801. They formed an alliance with Kattabomman, Tippu Sultan, Kerala Verman, Krishnappa Naicker of Karnataka and Doondage Wagh. They sought Napoleon's support.
The brothers were well-versed in `Valari (boomerang) warfare.'The brothers is said to have practised the art at the Teppakulam.
Radhakrishnan sthapathi said it took six months to complete the two bronze statues.
> > Chozha Bronze is the Fitting Tribute to Marudhu Paandiyars - Freedom > Fighters ! More fitting is Soil's son of Thiruvarur unveiling it! > >
Hi first I thought why madurai? it should have been kalayar koil where they made their last stand. but then madurai was the maruthu pandyas greatest conquest also in madurai more people could see and pay homage.
and of course kalayar koil with its sky high towers and fort like walls itself stands as a tribute to the famous duo. what more do they need? to those who havent visited, kalayar koil is a shaivaite shrine( in your books it may be called as kanapper) which is intimately linked with the freedom struggle.
another important event in the temple was that ranganathar idol when chased by the turkish army ( 14th century) stayed here even before thirupathi or melkote. kalayar koil is very close to madurai( a couple of housr drive) via sivaganga. venketesh
> ===================== > > Dear Venkat, > > Re KAALAYAR KOIL @ KAANAPPERIYIL : I recall having read that Marudhu > Bros raised a Fortress OVERNITE .. IN ABOUT 8 Hrs time .. using > Panancharu and sandy clay and the next morning British Cannons could > not penetrate this. =================================================
Fortress in a overnite!! wasn't that build by oomaiturai?? i vaguely remember reading about that in my school days!!
I also guess so. kalayar koil was strengthened and used asa fortress by the maruthupandyas. the gopuram was then perhaps the tallest after sivilliputhur and madurai. one could see the towers of madurai 80 km away from its top they used to say. two ponds within the temple were always full of water.
i will post fotos of it from my file today if I can find them. venketesh
" The boomerang (Sanskrit Rsti) occurs in the Maha- bharata. (JRAS, 1898, p. 379 ; J.A.S.B., 1924, p. 205).
Huxley who presumed that the Australians were identical with the ancient inhabitants of the Deccan dwelt upon the ^existence of the Boomerangs in the two countries and upon some remnants of caste in Australia. The following note supplied to Thurston by the then Dewan of Pudukottah may be read with interest :
11 The valari or valai tadi (bent stick) is a short weapon, generally made of some hard-grained wood. It is also some- times made of iron. It is crescent-shaped, one end being heavier than the other, and the outer end is sharpened. Men trained in the use of the weapon hold it by the lighter end .. "
could refer from :
ORIGIN AND SPREAD OF THE TAMILS (A COURSE OF TWO LECTURES DELIVERED UNDER THE SANKARA-PARVATI ENDOWMENT, UNIVERSITY OF MADRAS)
BY V. R. RAMACHANDRA DIKSHITAR, M.A., University of Madras