Veerayuga Nayagan Velpaari ( வீரயுக நாயகன் வேள்பாரி)
by
Su.Venkatesan
Genre: Historical fiction
Language : தமிழ் (Tamizh/Tamil)
Did the Tamil civilization become great because of three river valley civilizations and the three great kingdoms - Chera, Chola and Pandiyan or because of the hill-forest kingdoms who took in the clans or communities that were violently displaced in the name of building great kingdoms? Who was Paari and why is he so famous in Sangam literature which was written in the plains even though he never belonged to any of the three kingdoms? Why was he praised even in these kingdoms by ordinary people even though they had never seen him? Why was he known even to the Greeks who traded with the three kingdoms? What was about Paari that drew poets and nomadic singers to him? Su.Venkatesan asks and answers these questions in his fantastic novel,"Veerayuga Nayagan Velpaari "
Being a huge Kalki fan, I started reading this novel after the rave reviews that it is equivalent to or better than Kalki's historical epic Ponniyin Selvan. The other factor is that Pachamalai aka Green Hills where the action takes place is very close to where I grew up. So I was curious and had my reservations at the same time much like the poet Kapilar who sets out on a journey to find the truth about the famed Vallal Paari.
The book takes you on a journey through the history of the three great kingdoms - Chera, Chola and Pandya, their politics and their trade with the Greeks. But it doesn't stop there. It introduces you to the hill people of Tamilnadu, the people of Parambu Nadu, the kingdom of Paari, their science of counting time, medicine, healing, especially their botany and zoology. It also includes their history.The hill kingdoms were the ones who took in people who were displaced by conquests of the three kings and made them their own. It was amazing to read about the number of displaced and hunted communities, each of whom carried with them their knowledge of discoveries, medicine, unique strength and strategy, botany and zoology apart from metal and alloy making, weaponry, etc. But they were all taken in but not used to fight wars. All were able to live peaceful lives in the forests in the hills and pass on the knowledge to the next generation apart from gaining new knowledge.The people of the hills were happy to live amidst nature but at the same time knew how to protect themselves from nature's fury. More importantly, they never traded and stuck to the barter system to acquire salt which they couldn't acquire as they weren't near the sea. They were peace loving people in a society where both women and men practiced equality and not patriarchy. Even their king was not above the collective wisdom of the elders.
When the three kings of ancient Tamil land became jealous of the fame of Paari, they all attacked his kingdom separately and they couldn't win. Despite their suspicion and hatred for each other, they combined forces and attacked the small kingdom again, just out of spite for the famous Paari who they had only heard of but never seen. He defeated the combined forces too. No other king had to face the combined forces of all three powerful Tamil kingdoms together and this bit of history makes the book even more interesting.
It isn't often one comes across a truly marvelous novel . The word to be used for this one is epic as it changes you. This is more of a page turner than Ponniyin Selvan because that was mainly about the Cholas and particularly about Rajaraja Cholan. But this one covers all four kingdoms but mostly the hill kingdom of Paari and life there in greater detail where loyalty and love was commanded and never demanded. From”முல்லைக்கு தேர் கொடுத்தான் பாரி”(The man who gave his chariot to a vine ) or ” (கடையெழு வள்ளல்கள் பாரி)” (One of seven philanthropists) he becomes அறம் காத்த பாரி(the king who protected morality), no wonder people of ancient land praised him in their records of literature and history.
The writing is crisp and the pace is like being on a racing horse. There are so many characters but they are very memorable and the reader's knowledge of plants and animals grow. The characterization is slightly different that one never hates the antagonists but actually feels sorry for them. There is a lot of sadness when the book ends as the reader is entwined with the protagonists, especially Paari with whom one falls in love with that you never want the book to end.
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