Garlands of thazhai, marigold, jasmine and chenpakam flowers decorated the womens’ hair. Men, women, children and even some elderly people have come dressed in festive new clothes. Wasn’t it the eighteenth flood festival day? Crowds of people in caravans decorated with ivory colored coconut palm fronds were gathering from the surrounding villages. There was a lot more going on to make this scenic place even more attractive. From the southwest corner the sight of Vadavaru joining the lake with trees on both sides resembled a beautiful painting. Along the shore there was a dense cover of reed. In order to prevent erosion of the bank karuvel and wood-apple trees were planted on the lake bed. The lake formed a bed that extended to the shore. There he saw the sight of Vadavaru, a branch of Vadakaveri joining the lake. With these thoughts Vandhiyathevan reached the south corner of Veeranarayana Lake. Just as the waves rose and crashed on the shore of Veeranarayana Lake, his heart too swelled with pride. When he thought how fortunate he was to have the friendship of such Chola kings Vandhiyathevan’s shoulders rose. Just as they excel in virtue they do in religious belief as well. These Chola kings are extraordinary men! Just as they excel in martial valor they do in virtue as well. What foresight? Who can measure up to his wisdom and courage? In the Thakkolam war wasn’t he at the forefront fighting from an elephant? Didn’t he give up his life there baring his chest to a lance? Didn’t he ascend to heaven from there with the fame ‘the lord who died on the elephant.’ He succeeded in turning his idea into reality.
After about fourteen miles he had counted seventy.Īha! How enormous is this lake? How long is it? How wide is it? Doesn’t it make one think of the lakes constructed by the Pallava kings in Thondai Nadu as ponds? Paranthakar’s son prince Rajathithar planned this lake in order to make use of the water from the river Vadakaveri that was flowing into the sea unused. From the time he started on the lake’s shore he started counting the stream outlets in order to see if there were in fact seventy four sluices as he had heard. Listening to all of this Vandhiyathevan went slowly without hurrying the tired horse. The farmers who were ploughing and the women who were planting were happily singing sweet melodies. As far as eyes could see there was ploughing and sowing going on in the fields with the lake’s water. Through seventy four sluices the river pumped out the water irrigating the surrounding area for many miles. Water surged into Veeranarayana Lake from the river known as Vadakovari by pilgrims and as Kollidam by the locals through Vadavaru turning it into an ‘ocean’.
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It is also common for the lakes that are fed by these rivers to be full and jostling with waves at this time. It was common for Chola Nadu rivers to be flooded from shore to shore on the flood festival of July eighteenth. The expansive vista of the Veeranarayana Lake had captivated his mind. His horse tired after a long journey was walking slowly. His name was Vallavaraiyan Vandhiyathevan. He belonged to the Varnar tribe famous in the military history of Tamil Nadu. On the eighteenth day of the month of July a brave young man was traveling by horse along the shore of Veeranarayanapura Lake that spread like the ocean.
Did our ancestors consider their welfare and that of the people of their time alone? Didn’t they through their work show their consideration for the generations that would follow them in their mother country for millenniums? Those who see Veeranarayana Lake in the months of July and August when it stands flooded with the monsoon rain, cannot fail to contemplate with pride and awe their Tamil Nadu ancestors’ ingenious endeavors. It is about fourteen miles long north-south and four miles wide east-west. The name having undergone the ravages of time it is now known as Veeranathu Lake. On the south side of Thirumunaipadi Nadu situated between Thondai Nadu and Chola Nadu, twenty miles west of Thillaichittampalam there is a lake that spreads like the ocean. At the speed of a hundred years per minute let’s go back nine hundred and eighty two years. We invite our friends to take a ride in the boat of imagination to travel the limitless flood of time. Translated from the novel Ponniyin Selvan written by Kalki Krishnamoorthy.
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