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AUGUST, 1911.) THE DATE OF MADURAIKKANCHI AND ITS HERO
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the mandiram songs on the ya! :"7 the elephants were fed, the horses were given grass, and the house fronts were swept, cleaned with cow-dung and strewn with white sand ;18 and the housewives wiping out their eyes attended to their daily routine, all the time the silambu, which they wore on their legs, making pleasant notes. The big-mouthed war drum (murasu) kept on the top of a high building (?) (pdsarki) was sounded; the sidar, a class of bards, the Magadar, a tribe sprung from a Kshatriya mother and a Vaiấya father and the Vaiddligar sang the praises and chivalrous exploits of the sovereign and awoke him from sleep.20 The brave and warlike Maravar!! talked loud of his deeds of valour. The king called for skilled troopers, the wounded Kurigilar, the Pánar, the Pattiyar, the Yanar and the Vayiriyar and presented to them garlands of tumbai flowers in gold, cars and elephants. The Porun ar 2 were much favoured by the king. To them he gave tuskers with calves and female elephants. He adorned the heads of victors with lotus flowers made of gold and jewels. The king wore tod: 23 on his shoulders,
His army consisted of elephants trained to serre in wars. These, when taken to the battlefield, were adorned with an ornamental covering for the face and a shining frontlet. They killed mea with their tasks. Swift-footed horses, rapidly moving cars drawn by powerful steeds and brave foot soldiers armed with swords were employed by the king in his wars. The commanders of his army drank toddy and smeared their body with sandal paste.
The members of his council consisted of men free from fear, despair or attachmeat ; they did not give the uselves up to anger or pleasare and in rendering justice resembled the unerring point of a scale. His straightforward ministers of State easily discerned good anl bad, like the great men who performed the sacrificial rites, and led the king in righteous ways and never for once allowed him to swerve from the laws of piety and virtue. They carefully prevented him from doing blame'ul acts and always looked to the increase of his fame.
As has alrealy boen pointel out, the king defeated two great sovereigns and the Vélir. The commentator remarks that the Chêra, Obola, Tidiya, Eramaiyaran, Elini, etc., were his enemies. The five chiefs appear to bave occupied hilly tract. The king took Nellur, and fought the celebrated battle of Talaiyalanganam with a large army, and in doing this be cut off the forest in front of the enemy's fortress, set fire to it, destroyed villages and cities with all the houses, temples, etc., let loose his fierce elephants to roam at will with uproaring sounds and devastate the country and attacked and destroyed the high walls, accompanied by the sound of conches and trumpets.
The king is called the Porunan, s.e. the lord of the Tâmraparnt. In the hamlets of his beautiful city, Korkai, tbore dwelt those who drank toddy and those who dived into the sea to procure rich pearls and shells. The king was also styled as the lord of the Paradavar, who resided in the southern districts. The Paradavar ate rice mixed with meat and the root of the kirai, wore bows and arrows which ever smelled flesh, uttered harsh words and raised uprorious sounds. Their streagth was often felt by the enemies of the king.
The capital of the king had high winged beautiful streets with several storeyed buildings in them. The works of protection raised round it were: (1) a thick guard forest hard to be reached by enemies, (2) a deep moat, (8) high gates attached to far reaching towers, and (4) huge walls, one of which was painted with ornamental figures. On the tops of high palaces ventilated by spacious windows, several kinds of flags flattered in the air. The two large bazaara of the city were busy
11 From the description given of the ydin Parumbandgruppadai and elsewhere it seems that the instrument was something similar to the Vinai. The bards who handled it were
18 A reminiscence of this custom is still seen in Travancore. When the king goes out to the temple of to any other place, he walks on fine sand spread on the path for the purpose.
11 This is still in use in some of the temples of Southern India. ** This oustom appears to have been borrowed from the Aryans.
11 At present there is a class of persons who call themselves Maravar, and they are mostly to be found in the Madurs and Tinnevelly districts and in the Pudukkottai State.
The river Tamnaparol is called the Poranai and as such the Puruinar must indicate the people inhabiting some tract of country on ita banks,
Todi is a general name for ornamenta worn by kings, Warriors, and women, either on lege or on hande.
