Written by London Swaminathan
Post No. 16,146
Date uploaded in London – 30 August 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
part 61
Item 854
The next book we are going to see is Nedu Nal Vaadai, one of the Ten Idylls ( Paththup Paattu) in Sangam Tamil Literature.
First let me list the wonders in it:
Vaastu shaastra in Sangam literature;
Zodiac in poem;
Reference to stars Rohini, Uttara;
Gajalakshmi figure ;
Thaali = Mangala Sutra;
Full description of Queen’s Bed with elephant tusks;
Mattress with feathers of Swan that were shed during mating;
Yavana lamp;
Women won’t put on ornaments when husband is away;
White umbrella and Valampuri Chank (conch) as in Kalidasa books;
Description of Army Camp as in Mahabharata.
Women using their swelling breasts to warm Veena Strings!
***
Item 855
Name of the book: Nedu= long; Nal=good; Vaadai= Northerly, cold wind.
(Vadai is fried spicy doughnut; vAAdai is hated cold northerly wind in India).
Author : Brahmin poet Nakkirar who is the author of Tiru Murugu Aatruppadai as well.
Subject: how queen suffered because of Pandya King Neduncheziyan’s absence/separation; he was in battle field.
Length of the poem- 188 lines.
Strange thing: no mention of the name of the king; only from famous commentator Nachchinarrkiniyar, we know it was Nedunchezian; and Tamils know that there were two Nedunchezians. So, a bit of little confusion.
Lines 29, 30 – Streets were as broad as rivers and with tall buildings.
It is guessed the poet is talking about the great Madurai city, capital of Pandya Kingdom.
Madurai is the only planned city in the whole of India 2000 years ago which we knew from another Sangam book called Paripaatal.
Whenever the poets describe tall buildings they say Seven Storied Buildings; but here poet said only mansion.
***
Item 856
Gods in the houses!
Lines 36 to 44 show what Hindu women did in the evenings in ancient Madurai.
We know from these lines and from line 578 in Maduraik Kaanchi, another Sangam book, every house has a prayer room or prayer place. There was a god before which Hindu women lighted lamps and offered paddy and flowers around sunset. Even today Tamil Hindu women do it. This gives a severe blow to anti Hindu political Dravidians!
***
Item 857 two linguistic points:
In Sanskrit literature, poets say Aho Raatri= Day (and) Night; in Tamil, poets say Iravum Pahalum= Night(and) Day (line 47).
Both Iravu and Pahal are Sanskrit words but in Tamiized form.
I am writing this because South Indians and North Indians changed direction of writing at one time. In the Indus Valley, scholars believe that they wrote from Right to left. But now in India, we write from left to right.
This is seen in many other places as well
Tamils say Lava Kusa (sons of Rama); north Indians say Kusa Lava.
This is a subject for research. Hindus always give respect for Right hand; they are still Rightists! If anyone use left hand to receive anything, it is disrespect; in temples, it is blasphemy.
Mothers force their children to use right hand from the birth.
Another linguistic point here is the poet used PITHI (line 40) for a kind of jasmine flower. But in modern Tamil it is called PICHCHI.
This shows T=S. I have been showing it in all my linguistic articles.
English pronounce TION as SION (E.g. Condition, education and hundreds of such words)
Again, I use this to say all ancient languages can be traced back to Tamil and Sanskrit.
Again, I emphasize there is no Dravidian or Aryan language in India. One language split it into two, and thousands of years gap in time and location,changed them
Example : French spoken in Indian ocean island countries.
***
Item 858– round stone from Himalayas
வடவர் தந்த வான் கேழ் வட்டம் -51
Very interesting line is 51 where we come across north Indian, round, grinding stone for south Indian sandal!
Poet deliberately used it to emphasize the unity of India.
In Purananuru book, we saw southern pothiyam compared to north Indian Himalayas.
Here also poet refers to Himalayas which is confirmed by Tamil epic Silappadikaram 4-37-8
Commentators showed it. What a wonderful unity 2000 years ago!
Just to grind south Indian sandal and other spices, they imported Himalayan stones, round in shape.
This also shows the pilgrimage. Tamils bring Ganges water even today from North Indian holy spots.( I also did bring Ganga Jal from Haridwar).
***
Item 859 Breast for warming Veena
Verey interesting and strange habit of lute players.
When the cold windblows in winter, women warmed the strings of the lute by rubbing them against their breasts! Strange indeed! Poet was a keen observer!
He says,
Fair dancing girls to keep their songs in tune
With small and dark stemmed Ayaz on which they play
Warm the sweet toned strings made useless by the cold
By rubbing them upon their swelling breasts….
***
Item 860 -VAASTU SHASSTRA-
Lines 76-80
The broad sun travelling in its western course
Its widespread rays diffuse everywhere
And shadows cast by two poles planted straight
Do not incline at noon tide either way.
Then architects with care compute tapes
And note the quarters where the gods reside
They mansions build befitting noted kings…..
Because all the ancient Tamil kings were Hindus, they followed Shilpa Shastra and Vastu Shastra to build temples and palaces. They were very different from other parts of the world.
In Vastu, they have different Gods managing or controlling different directions. If the builders want to set up Treasury then they do it in Kubera Direction (North).
Ancient Hindu Palaces like Mysore Palace, Tirumalai Nayak Mahal in Madurai were all constructed following Vastu rules.
For the measurements, they plant two sticks straight and see that no shadows cast at noon. That means 100 % straight. Then they use threads or strings as tapes for the measurement. In Sanskrit, Sutra. Egyptian Pyramid Builders also used Sutra (String or rope).
நூலறி புலவர் நுண்ணிதின் கயிறிட்டு
தே எம் கொண்டு தெய்வம் நோக்கி 76/77
Play on words : Nuul = Suutra; both in Tamil and Sanskrit it has two meanings =thread and book.
If you say one who knows Nuul= Suutra, it means one who knows to handle plumbing line and one who knows scriptures (Vaaastu Shasstra books etc). Once again, it shows that both languages have the same source.
***
Item 861 -Zodiac and Stars
Though we have indirect reference to Zodiac in Purananuru, here we see poet himself refers to Aries (goat sign). He refers also to Rohini star and Uttara star. This shows the knowledge of astronomy in ancient Tamil Nadu.
Line 82 – Uttara nakshatra
Uttaram is beam in Tamil; poet plays on words following Kalidasa.
Rohini – line 163;
Mesha rasi – goat sign- line 160;
***
Item 862- Gaja Lakshmi Lines 81-83
Gaja Lakshmi is also in another Sangam book Kalittokai 44.
When I went to palatial houses in Chettinadu, Karaikkudi areas in Tamil Nau and Mysore Palace in Karnataka I noticed Gaja Lakshmi sculpted on doors. It is a symbol of wealth. Goddess Lakshmi is in the centre and two elephants on either side pour water on her.
This shows flow of water; even in British library in London, they have set up big fountain of flowing water.
You can notice that wherever there are big fountains at the entrance, those places doing roaring business.
Gaja Lakshmi was found from Denmark to Sri Lanka . Gaja Lakshmi is in Sri Suktam, part of Vedas.
(Please see my article written in 2012. Hindu Goddess’ march to Denmark !)
Following three Sangam books referred to Gajalakshmi also found in Gundestrup Cauldron in Denmark)
குறிஞ்சிக் கலி- Kurichik Kali in Kalittokai.
வரிநுதல் எழில் வேழம் பூநீர் மேல் சொரிதரப்,
புரிநெகிழ் தாமரை மலரங்கண் வீறு எய்தித்,
திரு நயந்து இருந்தன்ன தேங்கமழ் விறல் வெற்ப! (கலி.44-8-5/7)
மதுரைக் காஞ்சி Maduraik Kaanchi
விண் உற ஓங்கிய பல் படைப் புரிசை
தொல் வலி நிலை இய அணங்குடை நெடி நிலை(352-353)
நெடுநல்வாடை Nedun al Vaadai
ஐயவி அப்பிய நெய் அணி நெடு நிலை
வென்று எழு கொடியொடு வேழம் சென்று புக
குன்று குயின்றன்ன ஓங்கு நிலை வாயில்
திருநிலை பெற்ற தீது தீர் சிறப்பின் (86-89)
Gajalakshmi’s figures have travelled from the Himalayas to the southern most part of Sri Lanka. It is in the form of old coins, lamps, wooden figures, idols and stone sculptures. It has travelled from India to Denmark !! We have Gajalakshmi figure carved in to Gundestrup silver Cauldron. Now it is in Copenhagen. When they dug up a marshy area in Jutland , Denmark in 1891 they recovered a big silver vessel which is dated to second century BC. A very interesting fact about this vessel is that there is a god surrounded by animals like we see in the Indus valley seal (For more details please read my article Vishnu in Indus Valley Seal) The earliest reference to Gajalakshmi is in Sri Suktam of the Vedas:
“Laksmir –divyair-gajendrair-manigana-kasithai: snabitha hemakumbhair nithyam sa pathma hastha”
(Holding a lotus in hand she is bathed by water from the gem studded golden pot by the celestial elephants)
The above is from my article posted here in 2012.
***
Item 863- sanctum sanctorum
Now we have Garbha Grihas (Karu Arai) in temples ;Temple is compared to human body and the sanctum sanctorum is called Garbha Griha (womb) This has been there from Sangam days.
Here the queen’s private inner chamber is called Karu Arai
English word core = Tamil Karu.
Garbhagriha – line 114;
***
Item 864 Dasa Naanku 10 X 4=40 in Sanskrit
In Line 115 we find a strange Sanskrit word Dasa=10; naanku=4;
When the poet wanted to tell us that the queen’s bed had tusk decoration and those ivory objects came from 40 year old elephant, he used it. It is interesting to note the age of the elephant.
There is a linguistic point as well: D becomes R in the lines.
It is shown as an example for distorting or corrupting Sanskrit words by poets.
***
Item 865 Yavana Lamps
Yavana- we have at least five refences in Sangam literature including Purananuru in addition to intro in Pathitruppaththu.
Yavana made lamps – lines 101-102.
Yavana is a confusing word; in Sangam literature it meant Romans from Italy. But later it is used for Greeks.
But I have a big question. Did Yavana mean carpenters from North west India?
The reason is I could not find Yavana lamps in Greek and Roman sculptures.
Yavana is found in Mahabharat and Valmiki Ramyana too.
By the middle of 15th century, it meant Arab merchants( also called Sonakar).
***
Item 866 Mating Swans shed Feathers!
Swan feathers – 131-133
Poet Nakkirar has described Queen’s bed, her mattress and pillows in minute details.
Someone must draw a picture of it.
Nakkirar added one more interesting detail. Quen’s mattress and pillows had swan feathers which shed them during sexual intercourse/mating because of body heat.
Use of swan feather in bedding is already in Kalidasa who lived before Sangam age.
***
Item 867- Mangala Sutra of Hindu Women!
Thaali = mangala sutra = 136/37
Very often bad women who want to be in magazines write that Tamil women did not wear Thaali or Mangala Suutra during Sangam Age. They were proved wrong by commentators who lived 700 years ago. They have clearly mentioned Thaali worn by Tamil Hindu women. I wrote on these many years ago quoting famous writers.
Puram 177, Nedu Nal Vaadai 136/7 and Tamil epic Silappadikaram, their commentators said it.
பெண்கள் தாலி :–புறம்127, சிலப்பதிகாரம் 1-47, 4-50
தமிழர்களுக்கு தாலி உண்டு:–ம.பொ.சி
தமிழர்கள் திருமணத்தில் தாலி கட்டும் வழக்கத்தைக் கடைப்பிடித்தனரா என்று அவ்வப்போது விவாதங்கள் எழுகின்றன.
தமிழர்கள் திருமணத்தில் தாலி கட்டும் வழக்கத்தைக் கடைப்பிடித்தனர் என்று பல தமிழ் அறிஞர்கள் கூறுகின்றனர். இதற்கு முடமோசியாரின் புறநானூற்றுப் பாடலையும் சிலப்பதிகார வரிகளுக்கு அடியார்க்கு நல்லார் எழுதிய உரையையும் அவர்கள் எடுத்துக் காட் டுகின்றனர்.
இந்தியப் பண்பாடும் தமிழரும் பக்கம் 297/298 ஆசிரியர் எஸ்.ராமகிருஷ்ணன் (மதுரை எஸ். ஆர்.கே). தமிழர் நாகரீகமும் பண்பாடும் பக்கம் 51, ஆசிரியர் ஆ.தட்சிணாமூர்த்தி, பூண்டி, தஞ்சாவூர்.
“ஈகை அரிய இழை அணி மகளிர்” —
(ஆய் அண்டிரனின் மனைவியர் அணிந்திருந்த மங்கல சூத்திரம் பற்றி முடமோசியார் புறம் 127ல் பாடிய வரிகள்)
“அகலுள் மங்கல அணி எழுந்தது”- சிலப்பதிகாரம்1-47
(மங்கல சூத்திரத்தை ஊர்வ லமாக கொண்டுவந்தனர்-அடியார்க்கு நல்லாரின் உரை)
“மங்கல அணியின் பிறிது அணி மகிழாள் “
(கண்ணகி பற்றி இளங்கோ அடிகள் (இதுவும் தாலி என்பது எஸ். ஆர். கே.யின் வாதம்.
. நல்லாவுர் கிழார் குறிப்பிடும் ” வால் இழை மகளிர்” என்பதும் தாலியே என்று அவர் வாதாடுகிறார்.
கி.பி. 10ஆம் நூற்றாண்டில்தான் தாலி இடம்பெற்றது என்று மா. இராச மாணிக்கனார் கூறுவார்.
ம.பொ.சிவஞான கிராமணியார், பேராசிரியர் வீரபத்திரன் ஆகியோர் சங்க காலத்திலேயே தாலி இருந்ததாக வாதிடுகின்றனர்.
***
Item 868
Applying starch to clothes is mentioned here.
134/35- starch to clothes.
***
Item 868 Gold Rings
143/44- finger ring in fish mouth shape.
Queen wore a finger ring shaped like a fish mouth.
Interesting thing is we have found such rings in Tamil Nadu and other places.
They are also known as Makara Mothiram.
***
Item 869
White umbrella is mentioned throughout Kalidasa works and Tamil literature
184- white umbrella
***
Item 869 – Queen without decoration
Hindu women dress their hai , body etc only when their husbands are around. If they hang their hair without plaits or hair bun something went wrong is the meaning. Here we have a full description of the queen in desperation because her husband was in the battle field.
Her friends even prayed to Goddess Durga for her husband’s safe and quick return.
Tamil lines-136-147
***
Item 870 King in the Army tents
In Mahabharata also we see that after the battle finished , during sun set each leader went to the battle ground or tents of soldiers and treated the wounded soldiers. They consoled some and they boosted confidence in others.
Here also poet Nakkirar described it. Lines 168-177
***
Item 871 Sanskrit words
Saalekam for window is from Jhaalakam in Sanskrit.
Deivam, Dasam,Rohini, Uttaram, Mesham, Gaja Lakshmi, Yavana are also mentioned in Sanskrit or its Tamil translation.
Saalekam – 125 Jalakam in Sanskrit
***
At the end of commentary, we find the following:
Brahmin of Bharadwaja gotra Naccinarkiniyar, teacher in Madurai, finishing the commentary on Nedunal vaadai written by Nakkiranar, son of Maduraik kanakkaayanaar on Pandyan Neduncheziyan .
But Purapporul Veba Malai says it is about Talai aalankaanaththu seru vendra Nedun chezian
–subham—
Tags- Thali, Mangala Sutra, Vastu Shastra, Thali, Zodiac! Purananuru wonders-61; Tamil Encyclopaedia 101, Item 871
