Ponniyin Selvan — Vandhiyathevan kadandhu vandha paadhai

Deepika
2 min readSep 30, 2022

வந்தியதேவன் கடந்து வந்த பாதை

When I first read “Ponniyin Selvan”, I started looking back at every city I had set foot that had been part of the Chola dynasty with new eyes. Kalki’s words were mightier than Arulmozhi’s sword, that they pierced me with sharp metaphors and the sezhippu that my very birthland was. Whenever I visited Mamallapuram, I saw Karikalan, Parthibendhran and Malaiyaman sitting amongst the majestic sculptures. I have always wanted to whistle my horse out, hop on and follow, no, be Vandhiyathevan (Yen ponnunga Vandhiyathevan mela crush dha vechikanuma? Vandhiyathevan ahve vaazha nenaikka koodadha?? Stereotype, moonji!) So, here’s me putting together the journey in bits and pixels…

பாகம் 1 (Part 1)

  1. வீரநாராயண ஏரி (Veeranam lake)
  2. விண்ணகரக் கோயில் (Veera Narayana Perumal Temple)
  3. கடம்பூர் மாளிகை (Kadambur Sambuvaraiyar Maaligai)
  4. கொள்ளிடம் (Kollidam)
  5. குடந்தை (Kudanthai) (Kumbakonam)
  6. அரிசிலாறு (Arisalaru )
  7. திருவையாறு (Thiruvaiyaru)
  8. தஞ்சாவூர் (Thanjavur Palace)
  9. வடவாறு (Vadavaaru)
  10. பழையாறை (Pazhayarai) (Dharasuram)
  11. கோடிக்கரை (Kodiyakarai)
  12. கோடிக்கரை கலங்கரை விளக்கம் (Kodiyakarai Chola Light House)
  13. பூதத்தீவு (Bootha theevu)
  14. நாகத் தீவு (Naga theevu)

Vandhiyathevan Paadhai in Google maps

Interactive Ponniyin selvan google map

View in Google maps here.

Explore with illustrations from Artist Maniam

Explore with quotes from the book

P.S: I’m planning to make this an ongoing project, filling the map up with every piece of land our mighty Cholas touched, ruled, sculpted, left for us to celebrate (the least we can do!).

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Deepika

Deepika loves reading, writing just about anything that intrigues her. On a normal day, you will find her pondering over something that arose her curiosity.