When the Sea Swallowed a City Whole

Yo Asli-Masanamuthu,

So, did you watch the dance drama ``Silappathikaram`` presented by the Cleveland Cultural Alliance in North America between September and November 2004? I know it is not the same as the movie ``Baba`` (script supervisor: Doctor Artist Leader the Fund of Compassion). However, the person who wrote the lyrics for the dance-drama is none other than Kanimozhi (literally, ``Sweet Words``), the illegitimate daughter of Elder Son of Mother Tamil-Doctor Artist Leader the Fund of Compassion. That ought to rank it higher than the original epic written by Ilango and ``Sweet Words`` should now become the ``First Illegitimate Daughter of Mother Tamil`` or some such crap.

Soysauce, that`s why I said yet another, you will of course have noticed. I did notice Danielou.And of course, there is a long history of foreigners, and many missionaries in the last 300 years, being very proficient. Most Indians learn English in India at school. Most foreign scholars learn it for the first time at university.

soysauce #13

The east coast is hit often enough by cyclones and associated tidal surges to make regular evacuation and disaster drills worthwhile life-saving activities.

For example, the October 1999 Orissa `super` cyclone killed 9000-10000 people(at least count). Its severity and expected path was known well in advance. One of the major reasons cited for such a high death toll are lack of proper evacuation, due to

1) administrative incompetence and
2) resistance of vulnerable population to appeals to evacuate.


India already has a national policy on disaster management including cyclones :
http://www.ndmindia.nic.in/

which already talks of village/Panchayat-level drills and trainings :
http://www.ndmindia.nic.in/Mitigation/mitigationhome.html


IMO changes required to this policy after the tsunami disaster are
1) tsunamis have to be added to the list of potential disasters, and regions/ cities at risk identified, evacuation procedures listed

2) State governments and local administrations have to be forced to take disaster training more seriously than before. Perhaps benchmarks including disaster-mitigation benchmarks ought to be defined to hold institutions responsible.

3) Schools, colleges, health centers, government institutions and large employers have to be included as places where disaster training is mandated.

4) Building standards (for earthquakes and cyclones) are already part of the national disaster management policy, so now tidal wave-related building regulations have to be added/or made more stringent.

5)anything else


Re Tamil understood in Kerala in the 3rd century. Since you mentioned it I went looking again. It appears Tamil was the language of administration and scholarship in present-day Kerala and Malayalam was closely allied to Tamil until the post-Sangam era(9th century).

``The earliest written record of Malayalam is the /vazhappaLLi/ inscription (ca. 830 AD). The early literature of Malayalam comprised three types of composition:

Classical songs known as /pATTu/ of the Tamil tradition
/maNipravALam/ of the Sanskrit tradition, which permitted a generous interspersing of Sanskrit with Malayalam
The folk song rich in native elements``

``The oldest examples of /pattu/ and maniprvAlam respectively are /rAmacharitam/ and /vaishikatantram/, both of the twelveth century.

The earliest extant prose work in the language is a commentary in simple Malayalam Bhashakautaliyam (12th century) on Chanakya`s Arthasastra. Malayalam prose of different periods exibit degree of influence of different languages such as Tamil, Sanskrit, Prakrits, Pali, Hindi, Urdu, Arabi, Persian, Syriac, Portuguese, Dutch, French and English..``

harimou#8:

I think that you missed the point. If soysauce is a christian, he could not have benefitted from the reservation quotas.

Beautiful reminder. There is no doubt that Tamil more than fishermen had also been great sailers and spread their ethnic groups right upto the pacific. The epic may well be a historic truth that needs to be investigated and researched.

This also reminds me of the great civilisation of the Lost River in Pakistan and partly in India. In january, I would be making what would be the first foray into this inhospitable region of NARA and criss cross allover on foot and camels to see the area for myself. Sattelite pics indicate huge lagoons and legend has it that crocodiles live there. According to local folklore in some areas, camels and men just sink into the sand. Some say that an entire civilisation lies buried on the dunes.

So lets wait and see.

Cheerios

Hmmm. #14, I suppose is by DrDr since #13 is mine.
DrDr, there are two separate things - one is a warning system which is always good to have & the other is preparing people for disasters which is hard to do for freakish incidents. The point of the article is that the incident, which we grew up learning about, the destruction of Puhar, may have been due to a tidal wave. Doesn`t seem so extraordinary now, but it would have just a week ago.

nb: Alain Danielou, whose translation I have quoted from is a white man, fwiw. If indians can excel in english lit what`s such a big deal about foreigners becoming proficient in our languages?
Tamil has a history of foreigners - missionaries & such - learning the language and composing literary works so a foreigner commenting on Tamil literature would not be unusual.

#11 sadna
Alain Danielou says in his preface: ``...provides us with an astonishing amount of information about the civilization of the period -its arts, customs, religion, and philosophy - as well as a political map of Sount India and the names of a number of North Indian monarchs, which may, one day, permit us to date accurately the events it relates.``
He also speculates that the absence of any mention of the Pallava dynasty (credited with the erection of Mahabalipuram temples) implies a period before that, and somewhere around 200 CE.
The description of various musical and dance styles and of muscial instruments is very lucid and detailed, something we hated when made to learn by rote in high school, but have come to appreciate over time.
Ilango`s command of Tamil suggests that it was widely used in present-day Kerala. An obvious point perhaps.

Re - the other point, just as school kids in the West Coast do not have tornado drills, nor midwesterners have earthquake drills, it seems somewhat pointless to train people to deal with freakish events.

I can`t say I got the point of this article.
However if a disaster drill ain`t gonna cost much and COULD save a few lives its worth it dont` u think? What do u have 2 lose? India cud easily afford the 10, 20 million bucks?

John Simpson? I was mighty impressed at yet another white person who appeared to be an expert on ancient classical Indian literature!
Thanks for the facts, but it could have been made a little more interesting and less dry, given it is such a fascinating story. I hope you and yours were not affected by the tsunami.

soysauce #5
There are temple traditions in Kerala based on Kannagi where her tale is recited over 10 days during the yearly temple festival.

I went looking for more information online and came across these:
http://www.hssworld.org/homepage/html/boudhik/ekatmata_stotra/kannagi.html
and
http://www.geocities.com/promiserani2/co1100.html

`` The 3rd century author of the early Tamil epic Silappadigaaram (cilappadikAram), he was the son of a Chera King (in Kerala) and the youngest brother of King Cheran Chenguttuvan.

ILango is believed to have likely been a Jain (or perhaps a Buddhist), though the epic describes many features similar to those ascribed to the Hindu god Vishnu. He was also among those who challenged astrology and became a saint and monk. It is said that once when the king was traveling through the mountains, tribal girls told him of a mysterious woman who had recently come among them and who had soon after ascended to heaven. They said that this woman was missing her left breast, and that she was a goddess of chastity. The king assigned his brother, ILango, to collect the full story of the mysterious woman and write it as a book of verse. The story narrates the history of 3 kingdoms: Chera (western), Chola (eastern), and Pandian (in the middle of South India). Silapadikaram was written between 200 - 300 AD. The story of Jeweled Anklets, is rooted in the ordinary lives of the early Tamils of the Pandyan Kingdom.``


Also this:

``Vadavaraiyai mattaakki is a chapter from the Silappadikaaram made famous by MS Subbulakshmi.

Silappadikaaram is among the earliest works which describe the music and dance of India. From it, we gain knowledge of early ragas, concepts and terms used in music, and many folk songs. The work has 6 chapters on music: Arangetrukadai, Kanal Vari, Venirkadai, Vettuvavari, Kunrakuravai and Aychiyarkuravai. It refers to 11 folk dances: Kadayam, Ayirani, Marakkal, Kudai, Thudi, Alliyam, Mal, Kumbham, Pedu, Pavai, Pandarangam & Kotti.

Two commentaries on the Silappadikaram by Adiyarkkunallar and Arumpadavurai describe the music, dance, and literature contained in the book.``



Re sea flooding - Dwarka too was supposed to have been destroyed by an angry sea. There are remains of a submerged city(ies) discovered there too.

Re educating the general public about a once-in-a-century disaster - just like fire drills, disaster drills can also be held, at least in schools and colleges. It is also not very different from telling people to get their children immunized. It is a matter of wanting to.

Ref dost-mittar #6

[soysauce:
You have finally proven harimou wrong about you:) ]

The only reason any Masanamuthu would go to Nagapattinam would be to make a pilgrimage to nearby Tirukkuvalai, the birth-place of the Elder Son of Mother Tamil-Doctor Artist Leader the Fund of Compassion.

Asli-Masanamuthu, if you noticed, quoted a translation by Alain Danielou. Why couldn`t he translate the relevant portion himself? Because while the Masanamuthus talk a good game about the grandeur of Tamil, they haven`t got a clue how to read and understand ancient Tamil literature. Nor would they have a book on `Silappathikaram` in their houses.

Asli-Masanamuthus derive their knowledge of `Silappathikaram` or the City of Puhar from the cheap movie `Poompuhar`, scripted by Doctor Artist Leader the Fund of Compassion and starring ``Kazhagak kanmanikal`` (literally, ``the apple of the eye of the DMK`` -- this is how flunkies of the DMK are referred to, I kid you not!) SS Rajendran and his wife Vijayakumari, the Queen of Tear-Jerkers (and incidentally, the paramour of Doctor Artist Leader the Fund of Compassion).

Carnatic music composers Thyagaraja and Muthuswami Deekshitar have referred to legends of the sea attempting to invade the land in Nagapattinam in their songs written on the deities presiding over the famous temples in that town. Deekshitar in his song ``Soundara Rajam`` (Raga Brindavana Saranga -- ``Brindabani`` to you Northies) describes the Lord as ``ambudhi garva nigraham`` (quelling the arrogance of the ocean). Tyagaraja in his kriti ``Karmame Balavanda Maya`` (Raga Saveri) states ``Varidhi madi garvinci yeevasudhaku ta ranencaci ninnu`` (when the sea spurred by arrogance threatened to overwhelm the land, you humbled his onslaught). So there have been local legends, probably backed up by real incidents, about large sea waves trying to destroy the town.

PS. I, having gone to a Tamil-medium school and having chosen to read a second course in Tamil in place of Sanskrit, actually learnt about 200 lines of Silappathikaram`s ``Vazhakku Urai Kaathai`` (Canto on the Presentation of the Case to the King) and can still recall most of the lines. It opens with the King`s guard announcing the arrival of Kannagi:

``Vazhi! Em Chezhiya Vazhi! Thennava Vazhi!
Pazhiyodu patara Panchava Vazhi!...``

I just noticed how the words are liberally sprinkled with that sound loosely transcribed as ``zh``. As Asli-Masanamuthu once called it, it is is the Brahminometer... Asli-Masanamuthus can`t get that tongue-twister out of their mouths!

Ref dost-mittar #6

[soysauce:
You have finally proven harimou wrong about you:) ]

DM-ji, you might want to enlighten Asli-Masanamuthu about whether Madhavi (with the aspirated `dh`) is a Sanskrit name or not!

I also wonder why Kannagi was named ``Kannagi`` and not ``Senthamizh Selvi`` or ``Love Queen``!

Ref Asli-Masanamuthu #5

[John Simpson indeed! I have asked Chowk editors to credit me as the author.]

Your knowledge of English is rather limited. If you want to sex up your name, you could have tried John Sexton, sexton being a grave-digger and about as close to ``Masanamuthu`` (Smashaan-Moti) as you can get.

=== Interact Filtered ===
view this users filtered interacts

soysauce:
A beautiful story. One wonders whose curse has caused the present catastrophe!

PS: You have finally proven harimou wrong about you:)

re: lost civilisations and Poompuhar
A common thread among ancient literature and epics is the deluge and lost cities or civilisations, even predating the destruction of Pompei. Grandeur of Poopmpuhar has not been forgotten even today. Graham Hancock in his fascinating book (he is a marine biologist who has explored the lost city of Poompuhar, Dwaraka etc) ``Underworld: the mysterious Origin of Civilizations`` has some interesting things to say.

``Looking for evidence of ancient cataclysmic floods, Underworld explores up-to-date geological and climatological research on what may have happened during the last 17,000 years. Central to Hancock`s investigation are inundation maps created by Dr. Glen Milne of Durham University which show vast tracts of mostly coastal land which were submerged by three waves of cataclysmic flooding between 17,000 and 8,000 years ago. The area of land -- the best quality habitable land of that time -- lost to the sea was huge: 5 percent of the earth`s surface or 25 million square kilometers. While such maps cannot be 100 percent accurate, Hancock believes they are accurate enough to support his theories.``

One can read about Poompuhar and the recent archeology in the following url:
http://www.grahamhancock.com/underworld
sridhar