Written by London Swaminathan
Post No. 16,265
Date uploaded in London – 3 October 2026
Contact – swami_48@yahoo.com
Pictures are taken from various sources for spreading knowledge.
this is a non- commercial blog. Thanks for your great pictures.
tamilandvedas.com, swamiindology.blogspot.com
xxxx
75Purananuru wonders-75, Tamil Encyclopaedia 115, One Thousand Interesting Facts -Part 115,
item 991- Tamil belief- God is everywhere!
In line 353, poet Maangudi Maruthan says the palace doors where God lives, they applied ghee and white mustard paste or oil. One of the commentators says that the door has goddess Durga engraved on it.
And then the river Vaigai is portrayed as a perennial river. Silappadikaram, later day Tamil epic, also praised the river as never failing ever flowing river. Today it has become a dirty river. In the same way near, by Tirupparankundram is also praised as a place with water falls and wild animals. Now it looks like a dry rocky hill. What a change!
***
item 992- Swans flying towards Sun- lines385/86
commentators missed the significance of one important simile!
Beautiful chariots are pulled by horses, with
well-trimmed, coloured manes, that are decorated
with yak hair, that gallop, splitting the wind,
looking like red-legged ganders that fly on the huge,
pretty sky thinking of joining the sun with bright
rays,
Chariots with white flags are compared with swans flying towards sun! Why?
Tamil commentary says swans fly towards sun with the thought in their heart of joining it (sun). this is because, In Hindu mythology and Vedic philosophy, the Hamsa (the sacred swan or bar-headed goose) flying towards the sun represents the journey of the individual soul (Jivatma) returning to the Supreme Source or Universal Consciousness (Brahman).
In Advaita Vedanta, the Hamsa is the bird of the soul. Its flight upward away from the earth and directly toward the sun symbolizes Moksha—the soul breaking free from the gravity of material illusion (Maya) and the cycle of rebirth (Samsara) to merge back into the pure light of the divine cosmic source
We must remember that this poem is called Maduraik KANCHI; the very purpose of the poem is to teach philosophy of instability.
The chapter titled Instability (of wealth, youth, life) is in Tirukkural and other Tamil didactic works. Upanishads and Bhagavad Gita dealt with it in more details.
Mangudi Maruthan also snag about Maya (illusion) in this poem
***
item 993- Beautiful Madurai- Sea like Market
The heart of the poem is Madurai. Its daytime markets and night time markets are described in detail. Its festivals are also pictured. The food items served there also are given. The streets are as wide as rivers. Flower vendors, garland vendors, restaurants with sweet dishes were there. Even today many of these can be seen particularly during festival time. Fragranct materials sold by old women and young women are also mentioned. Sangam literature shows business women in many poems. We cant see such laborious women in other poems. Then the poet used Paranar’s sea simile (Pthitrupaththu 45-19 and 90-16). The sea never becomes full despite thousands of rivers joining it or nor decrease in size even after clouds taking its water. This is from the Hindu Vedas. Here Mangudi Maruthan compared it to Maduri Markets! They never decreased in size because of the sales nor increased because of inflow of goods. This is an apt simile to illustrate the constant and busy sales.
***
Item 994- Seven Day Festival – Lines 427/8; Siva festival
A seven day festival and the holy dip is mentioned in lines 427/8. A lot of things changed 500 years ago when the great Nayak king Tirumalai Nayak combined two festivals. Later Tamil works show that a seven day festival is called Ganam.
Madurai has the world-famous Siva temple; it has been mentioned in Purananuru where Pandya king Mudukudumi Peruvazuthi worshipped it. Here also lines 453-460 described the temple and the evening Puja ceremonies. It is continued until this day. They made offerings to all Devas.
***
Item 995- Buddhist and Jain Temples- 461-488
For the first time in Sangam Tamil literature, we come across places of worship of Jains and Buddhists. Brahmin’s Vedic school is also mentioned
Each place of worship is mentioned with details of worship. And the poet added that the whole family with children are going to places of worship.
Later in Silapapadikaram we see these temples.
***
Item 996- Hall of Justice- Judicial Court- ministry- committees
Lines 489-510 give lot of information about how the government worked. From this we know there were judicial courts, a ministry and four member committee.
The information about the four committees is interesting.
The commentators add that this actually Five Member Committee; since the ministers were dealt with separately it is mentioned as Four Member Committee.
The Five members of the committee are : Minister, Priest, Commander in Chief, Ambassador and Spy.
Kosars are famous for their truthful dealings. We have more references to them in many poems in Sangam literature.
The four committees in the royal court are like the
flourishing four groups of Kōsars in the court of
Pazhaiyan of Mōkūr, which flourishes with unfailing
harvests due to abundant rains.
***
Item 997-Veggy Food! Lines 527-535
Food is served to many, with sweet rice, segments
of jackfruits with juice and fragrance, beautiful, sweet
mangoes of various kinds, vegetables and fruits in many
different shapes that grow on beautiful plants, with delicate
sprouts from properly grown branches, that have opened
into leaves that are nurtured by the rains, sugar cubes that
are like nectar, rice cooked with meat that is praised by many,
tubers that go down into the earth and others.
(Vaidehi Herbert’s Translation is used; thanks)
***
Item 998-Line 522- Four Streets around the Temple
After describing various types of workers such as weavers and cloth merchants, poet mentioned Four Streets where they were standing. Here the commentator interpreted it as four different types of vendors such as Gold, Gem, Cloth, Grocery Merchants’ streets. But in later Silappadikaram, famous commentator Adiyarku Nallar interpreted as Streets where four different cates people were living.
***
Item 999- lines 536-544 – ships with sails bring goods
When the poet wanted to describe the clamour in the night market of Madurai he said
ships with white sails that are guided by the wind bring
different goods. The uproarious sounds heard in the
night market is like the chirping of many kinds of birds
–this shows the maritime trade that was done 750 years ago.
***
Item 1000- lines 545-589- Madurai at Night
First the poet said that the family women dressed themselves with flowers and fragrant items and lighted the oil lamps in the evening. They played seven notes on Yaaz/lute.
At the same time courtesans became busy entertaining their visitors.
Two beautiful similes are used; the courtesans were like bees; like they suck nectar from flowers and forget them, these courtesans took money and left them. The men who wanted to enjoy the company of harlots are compared to the birds that fly eagerly towards the fruit bearing trees.
To be continued……………………
Tags- Why do Swans fly towards Sun? Purananuru wonders-75, Tamil Encyclopaedia 115, One Thousand Interesting Facts -Part 115,
