South India and her Muhammadan Invaders c11.27

c11.27

The bit of the old road between Tiruppattūr and Pon-Amarāvati which is said to be about six or seven miles long shows even old bridges. This confirms the statement of the Mahāvamśa that the high road went from Tiruppattūr to Pon-Amarāvati. The road must have continued from Pon-Amarāvati to Trichinopoly either through Pudukoṭṭa or just outside of it. The present day high road from Trichinopoly goes from Trichinopoly to Pudukoṭṭa, from Pudukoṭṭa to Tirumeyyam, and from Tirumeyyam to Tiruppattūr, leaving Pon-Amarāvati at the centre of the arc from Pudukoṭṭa to Tiruppattūr. As far as I have been able to make out there is no road connecting Pon-Amarāvati with Tirumeyyam, and therefore it is inevitable that a road from Pon-Amarāvati must have led towards Trichinopoly. The present day road to Pon-Amarāvati from Pudukoṭṭa, branches off a little way from Pudukoṭṭa along the Pudukoṭṭa-Kuḍumiyāmalai road. That road continues almost unbroken northwards to Annavāśal, from which another place Nārttāmalai (Nagarattārmalai) is reachable at a short distance cross country. I am told that an old road, the road is in use even now, leads from Koḍumbāḷūr to Kuḍumiyāmalai, and thence to Pudukoṭṭa, the Pon-Amarāvati road branching off from this. Inscriptions of Māravarman Sundara Pāṇḍya I are found in the temples ruined and standing along this road. They are found in Pon-Amarāvati, in Iḷayāttākuḍi and in one part of Narttāmalai called Kaḍambarmalai. It seems likely therefore that the high road continued from Pon-Amarāvati towards Kuḍumiyāmalai across to Annavāśal and thence to Kaḍambarmalai, wherefrom it would follow the present road almost, to Trichinopoly, or might go round by way of Viralimalai and Koḍumbāḷūr to Trichinopoly. The road Malik Kafur followed seems to be the former. The Kham of Amir Khusru seems to be a corruption of, or a contraction from, Kaḍambavanam which must have been another name of what is called Kaḍambarmalai now, as the god of the temple in the locality is named Kaḍambavanēśvara. From Kaḍambavanam, Kham is a possible contraction in the mouth of a Muhammadan. This Kaḍambamalai must have been a fortified place. There are remains of what was intended to be a strong fortification on the hill and about; the temple is a structure altogether in the character of those of Māravarman Sundara Pāṇḍya I, the special feature of which is a high plinth, popularly called Sundara Pāṇḍyan Koraḍu. I have not been able to trace any inscription of a Pāṇḍya later than this Māravarman Sundara Pāṇḍya I in this place which is full of inscriptions. Kaḍambavanam is one of the names of Madura, and it is likely that the place was built by Māravarman Sundara I as a new frontier town.