“Hari and Siva are one. Mud in the mouths of those who don’t know this.”

Roughly translated from a  tamil proverb.

This is the second time i am reading the translated work of Kalki’s Ponniyin Selvan. A few facts about the book. It is a story of the great Rajaraja Chola who was responsible for building the Thanjavur Temple. An awesome read with beautiful characterisation. Wish i could read it in tamil as fluently as i can read in english. The book was first serialised in the popular tamil magazine Kalki which was then owned by the writer Kalki Krishnamoorthy. A rage during that published period, it was made into a book after the huge success. It originally had illustrations by Maniam, whose grandson I studied with. The illustrations of Vandiyathevan and Azhwarkadikan are still very popular.

Each of the 5 parts start and end on the banks of a river. It is very evident that Kalki thoroughly researched the said time period before writing the book.

I could relate a lot about the places in the book that pulls me in. Mamallapuram, Eelam, Poompuhar, lots of places in Tamilnadu feature in it. A five part series that i highly recommend.

In case you want the ebook, let me know. Will mail it in. But it is in tamil.