The Pandyan Kingdom from the Earliest Times to the Sixteenth Century c5.s1.4

c5.s1.4

many Pāṇḍyan inscriptions as the name of the capital. Another story (No. 36) refers the name Madura to the fact that Śiva converted into sweet nectar the river of poison emitted by a giant cobra set upon the city by the magic of the Jainas. On another occasion these heretics sent an elephant against the city (No. 26) and the Lord petrified this beast in the form of the Ānamalai Hill, and as he used a lion-faced arrow on the occasion, the Pāṇḍyan king made a temple for Narasimha on the hill. We shall have occasion later to notice the true history of the temple. Apart from such stories, which need not be further retailed here, these Purāṇas,—especially the earliest version, which has been engaging our attention more than the others,—may be found occasionally to contain hints of great importance. Thus the life of Māṇikkavāsagar is treated in such detail as to explain the occasions on which he sang particular hymns of his Tiruvāśagam and his life is narrated before that of Gnānasambandar; and in this order, this version is followed by the later versions also. It must also be noted that some of these ‘sacred sports’ are referred to in the works of early Tamil literature and it is significant that none of these early references shows any sign of hostility to Jains or Buddhists.¹ These local and traditional Purāṇas are often very well supplemented by references in quasi-historical and religious works like the Periyapurāṇam, while the few direct references to historical persons and occurrences furnished by the saints and poets of the Tevāram and the Tiruvāymoḷi are of inestimable value. Then, we have the Sangam works which form a class by themselves and contain much valuable information which still awaits systematic and scientific treatment by the historian; the task has been begun in the works of the late Mr. Kanakasabhai and Dr. Ś. K. Aiyangar and other scholars. The ‘ Age of the Sangam ’ however is one of the debated problems of South Indian History and will engage our attention presently.