PONNIYIN SELVAN

Before few months if someone asked me to read a tamil novel, i would have laughed out loudly, that too a 1600 page novel. But now i'm feeling why the novel ended up soon. It has been like a wonderful journey to 10th century itself, meeting great men like Arulmozhivarman, Vandhiyathevan etc and some beautiful ladies like Kundhavai, Nandini, Poonguzhali etc. Though the novel is based on the incidents happened over just eight months, you will get to know about the 200 yrs of Chola Kingdom from 800-1000 A.D after completing the novel. This novel explains Arulmozhivarman's leadership quality, treating everyone equally, his desire to build big temples (later he built the Brihadiswara temple in Thanjur) etc, that he had in the young age itself. Though the title role is Arulmozhivarman, the story revolves around Vandhiyathevan and the problems he is facing to finish his job and Thirumalai Nambi, a talented spy who helps Vandhiyathevan during troublesome times. The picture above is the scene where Vandhiyathevan and Kundhavai meets for the first time after knowing each other (before they met once without knowing each other's name). The way the author explained their emotions at this time is, fantastic. It is one of my favourite part in the novel. I got so much angry after finishing the novel as many would have got after reading it in weekly magazine 'Kalki' for 3 and a half years in 1950s. (Author 'Kalki Krishnamurthy' came out of weekly magazine 'Anandha Vikatan' and started 'Kalki' in 1941 in which his novels 'Ponniyin Selvan','Sivagamiyin Sabadham' were published). But after reading his explanation for his ending, it seems reasonable and i'm quite satisfied. Altogether it is a great novel in tamil, and everyone should have read this. I think some other novels came as a continuation for this novel. I'm searching those and i'll update about that soon.

PS: 'Ponniyin Selvan' is translated in English also. So Non tamilians can try reading that one. I guarantee you that it is worth reading.