South India and her Muhammadan Invaders c11.24

c11.24

The Śilappadhikāram describes the roadways feasible for travellers from Uraiyūr, the suburb of Trichinopoly, to Madura in early times; and then apparently there was only a single road going down to Koḍumbāḷūr not far from Viralimalai. This branched off from there into three, somewhat in the shape of a trident one leading westwards to a little way to the west of Madura from where one had to make a turn eastwards and reach Madura. The middle road took itself straight down, and was apparently the shortest; but it went through a desert tract and was infested by robbers. It was therefore not worth taking for a party in which there was a young and apparently well-bred lady. The third road slightly longer went through a much more hospitable country and took one on, through stages, to Tirumāliruṅśolai (Aḷagarmalai), said to be a place worth visiting for its own sake, and thence to Madura. This eastern-most road of the Śilappadhikāram is however not identical with the high road between Trichinopoly and Madura known to historians.