Post No. 15,256
Date uploaded in London – 9 December 2025
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part 40
item 246
Akanānūru verse 26 by Pāndiyan Kānapēreyil Thantha Ukkira Peruvazhuthi is the king who compiled Aka naanuuru . That means he was one of the last kings of Sangam Age. He has a Sanskrit name UGRA which is found in Tiru Vilaiyaadal Puranam as well. He is a contemporary of Rajasuyam Yaga performer ; also contemporary of Avvaiyar who was also present in the Rajasuyam Yaga. This king’s name helps us to calculate the periods of other kings.
247
Verse 26 has the usual stuff of Tamil men visiting prostitutes and the wives getting angry and then reaching a compromise through their children.
Pandyan king used one notable simile in the poem:
I softened like fine soil
which had been rained on heavily and ploughed
many times.
***
248
Akanānūru verse 27 by Mathurai Kanakkāyanār compares the pearls from Korkai with the teeth of a heroine/ woman in the poem. Whenever Pandyas are or their country are mentioned, poets always add pearls from the Pandya country. And there is some colour contrast in the poem too. Woman’s lips are coral red, teeth are like shining white pearls, her eyes with kohl have black lining, the elephants of Pandya king have white tusk and her eyes are like blue lily flowers.
…. your smile with bright teeth
in your coral-coloured mouth,
resembling pearls from the wide
shores of Korkai town that is
protected well by brave battling
Pandiyans who got white-tusked
elephants from the northern
Vēnkadam Hills.
How will they let him go? Your
kohl-lined eyes, that have ruined
the beauty of blue waterlily flowers
வெண்கோட்டு யானை – elephant with white tusks, அறத்தின் காக்கும் கொற்கை – Korkai city that they protect with justice, அம் பெருந்துறை முத்தின் அன்ன – like the pearls from its wide shores teeth ,இலங்கும் எயிறு கெழு துவர் வாய் – red mouth with bright teeth, coral-like red mouth with bright teeth, the beauty of (eyes) blue waterlily flowers
***
249
Akanānūru verse 28 composed by Pandiyan king Arivudainampi shows that Pandya kings were also good poets. Among the kings mentioned in the Sangam age , Pandya kings composed more poems than Chera and Choza kings. One must remember Pandyas were the kings who patronised the Tamil language in Madurai Academy. More poets have Madurai as prefix than any other town.
***
250
Akanānūru 29 composed by Vellādiyanār has two notable similes
Eyes like cut tiny mango
eyes that bring happiness when seen,
……….beautiful like the two pieces of a
……….fragrant tiny mango cut with a knife,
***
251
Elephant- Mirage- Boat on ground without water
……..where an elephant
that became thin, not knowing where to
find water to drink, runs to a mirage only
to find no water and lies down with sorrow,
looking like a boat on land without water
……………….
***
252
Akanānūru 30 by Mudangik Kidantha Neduncheralāthan has some interesting lines that are appreciated by Tamil scholars
Will your pride be ruined if you come to the
fragrant seashore grove where punnai tree
buds look like unwashed pearls and ask us
about our beauty and then leave?
பெருமை என்பது கெடுமோ, ஒரு நாள்
மண்ணா முத்தம் அரும்பிய புன்னைத்
தண் நறுங்கானல் வந்து, நும்
வண்ணம் எவனோ என்றனிர் செலினே?
***
253
Mystery about name! முடங்கிக் கிடந்த
Neduncheralāthan is one of the most famous Chera kings. We don’t know why he was given an epithet Mudangi Kidantha! It is a strange epithet. In other places he was praised as one who had conquered lands up to Himalaya.
The meaning of Mudangi Kidantha முடங்கிக் கிடந்த is “lie with knees drawn up and arms close to the body”. Did he compose this at the ripe old age? Or was he afflicted with rheumatism? No one has explained it properly as far as I know. Maybe it is a different Neduncheralathan.
To be continued………………………………..
Tags- Ancient Tamil Encyclopaedia ,Part 40, One Thousand Interesting Facts, item 253, Neduncheralathan, Pearl, Korkai, Ugra, Sanskrit word
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