Dear SPS, Though u have not asked me to reply to this I do so because so far we have been talking abt three issues all of which in my opinion should be discussed seriously. 1.Except his connection to Malayaman and Pari thro his mother, so far there has been no clearcut evidence to link RR and his ancestors upto Vijayalaya to the cola kings of the cankam poems. 2.The Tirukkoyilur inscription is difficult to understand unless we assume that RR was the infant who was being suckled by VM at the time of SundaraCola's death. 3.Vallam cannot be identified either with Vallam near Thanjavur or with Tiruvallam near Ranipet.
* Thiruvalangadu plates state that vanavan mahadevi took the funeral pyre leaving an infant behind - no reference to who this infant is. Sadasiva pandarathar quotes the exact lines but does not say who this kuzhavi is.
* Prof.GR sent another reference from Dr.RN's book - a tamil potetic inscription - also saying that vanavan mahadevi had a child in her hand when she left for the pyre. Infact the way the depiction is done (surandha mulaip paal etc.) is exactly the same in both cases - raising suspition that the same poet did both things.
* Who is this child is the question.
* If we take it that it is RR, then it puts few things to rest and raises a few questions. It explains RR's affection for kundavi who might have raised him in place of mother. It explains uttama getting throne.
* But it contradics Thiruvalangadu plates stat that RR left the throne in favour of mathuranthaka inspite of people's wishes. The age of RR also becomes questionable. Sundara died around 971 AD and in 985 - RR assumed throne. RR will become too young if this theory is accepted.
* The plates as well as inscriptions do not quote who this infant is.
Dear Gokul, Thanq for that critical summary. The article- not book- by R.Nagaswamy is from a book on South Indian Horizons which is a felicitation volume for Prof.Gros of Pondicherry French Institute of Indology on the eve of his 70th birthday,a copy of which was mailed by the editors to my wife last week. Coming to the questions raised by you,ascension to the throne at the age of 15 or so is not unusual and need not pose a great problem.His abdication in favour of Madurantaka against people's wishes is another story.I have no satisfactory answer to that. But there seems to be no other alternative explanation of the two passages! GR
Dear Vijay, I understand your emotions but such is life.We have to follow facts to their logical conclusions.That does not detract from the great literary merits of PS.But as for its historical accuracy,well, that is to be decided purely on the basis of other independent evidence.Who knows,this might be the starting point of yet another magnum opus! GR
Dear SPS, That was a magnificent response on behalf of the entire group to the issue raised by Sridhar Rathinam.Let us keep up the pressure. I have one more question to add to your list: Why was Arumoli's mom called Vanavanmatevi when it is known that she was the daughter of Malayaman?Vanavan is the epithet given to Cera kings.Of course Kari,the king of Mullur,is said to have killed Valvil Ori and donated Kolli to the Cera.But does this make the family of Malayaman fit to be called Vanavan?Compare Vanavanmatevi with Pantianmatevi and Cempianmatevi. There are quite a few more thorny issues with PS from a historical standpoint but I think we have quite a bagful of questions to sort out for the moment! GR
Hi all , Can I make a suggestion? Why not conduct a e-workshop on PS?This could help focus on all issues of relevance-literary,historical,geographical,cultural and so on.It can even be a rolling one in which as and when some one has arrived at a significant contribution he can share it with others.On the literary side I have in mind critical analyses of the kind that have been made on Shakespeare's plays,including possible scripts for theatrical presentations;on the geographical side it can be travellogues and identification of spots,rivers etc;the historical side seems well charted out and needs hardly any elucidation;on the cultural/political side gender issues,monarchy and imperialism etc.Contemporary issues such as renaissance in Tamil literary forms such as historical novel,stylistic issues etc constitute another fascinating area.This way the diverse talents and energies of the group can be channelised towards greater participation,awareness and integration.Perhaps it is a somewhat heavy itinerary but nothing worthwhile is achieved thro just casual and informal remarks but only thro sustained, enthusiastic and systematic efforts which should be well documented. GR
Can I be really stupid and say something Did Vanavan madevi commit Sati? Or did she die leaving a suckling infant behind.If it is the later then it could be vanathi aka vanavan madevi mother of rajendra.
Arumozhi was an adult when sundarachola died ..If he was married and his wife had born him a child by then and died....Then the child would be Rajendra
Was the poet using Sundara's death just as a timeframe??????
> Your quiries have been discussed in "TAMIL NATTU VARALARU CHOZHA > PERUVENDAR KALAM" published by Tamil development corporation.
Thanks for the inputs. Pl let me know what the book says about Rajaraja's birth and lifetime and what is the supporting evidence. We will take it further from there.
I also had the same thought but if this vanavanmadevi is vanathi how can she commit 'sati' when RR was alive? Sounds very absurd. Is that 'Sati' matter a fact? As per books, Rajendra was also brought up by kundavai. But is there any evidence for this?