A History of South India from Prehistoric Times to the Fall of Vijayanagar c19.s2.35

c19.s2.35

In secular literature, the Tañjai-vāṇan-kōvai of Poyyāmoḷi of Vañji comes first. The Vāṇan of Tañjai, the hero of the poem, is described as ‘the eye of the Pāṇdya who conquered the malai-nāḍu.’ This must be a reference to Māravarman Kulaśekhara I (1260-1308) especially as the kōvai illustrates systematically the rules of the Nambi Ahapporuḷ, a work on grammar composed and published by Nārkavirājanambi under Kulaśekhara. Tañjai, the residence of the Bāṇa hero of the kōvai, is modern Tañjākkūr near Madura. The Naḷaveṇbā of Pugaḷēndi is an easy and moving narration of the tragic story of Nala and Damayanti; nothing authentic is known of the author except that he was patronized by a chieftain named Chandran Suvarkki, ruler of Muḷḷūr in Maḷḷuva-nāḍ; he certainly came after Kamban and the popular stories that connect him with Oṭṭakkūttan and Auvaiyār deserve no credence. The Bhāratam of Villiputtūrar (c. 1400) is a poem of great merit which tells the entire story of the Great Bhārata War in 4,350 well-turned verses. The narrative style of the author and his rich diction marked by a profuse admixture of Sanskrit words and expressions make the poem very attractive reading. The author was patronized by a certain Varapati Aṭkoṇḍān of the Kongar family. Contemporary with Villiputtūrar were the two brothers, one lame and the other blind, known as Iraṭṭaippulavar (twin poets), authors of Ekāmra-nādar-ulā and two kalambakams; in the Ulā which celebrates the Śaiva shrine of Kāñchi they refer to Mallināthan Rājanārāyaṇa Śambuvarāyan (1350), the last of the Śengeṇi chieftains of North Arcot and Chingleput districts.