I am now about 3/4th through with the most celebrated epic by Kalki, Ponniyin Selvan. Plot and narration till now have been beyond epithets, but something has been hurting my mind since I went through with the first few chapters of volumne 1.
The story(semi-fiction) runs somewhere between 960-980 AD, and Azhwarkkadiyaan meets Easwara Battar in Veeranarayanapuram (today's Kaattumannaarkoil), along with his son Nathamuni who was only a kid then. If Yaamunacharya, the grandson of Nathamuni was 80-something when he first saw Illayaazhwan sometime around 1035-37 AD, he must have been born by the time the epic is running. By 960, Bavishyadacharyan should have been passed to Manakkaal Nambi, and by that time King Yaamuna should have been identified. And Yaamuna was not born until Nathamuni departed. Moreover, Nathamuni's real name was Ranganatha, and in his older age, he was honorifically called Ranganathamuni alias Nathamuni.
Though Azhwarkkadiyaan Nambi is fictitious, Easwara Battar and Nathamuni are not; Probably Kalki got something wrong by a margin of 70-100 years. Had he got things right, then 4000 were already recovered(3892 to be precise ;-) ), so Azhwarkkadiyaan's part of the story should have been restructured.
All aside, I thoroughly enjoyed the Kollidam riverside "Naavalo Naaval" challenge! :-D
2 comments:
hey nice research on Ponniyin Selvan! :) Keep it up
Thanks :)
I read somewhere that Sri U.Ve. Villur Karunakarachar, in his teen-age, had written a sequel to PS for some contest. He should have made a stronger point!
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