The Sangam Age - Before the 2nd Century CE - நீரின்றமையா யாக்கை

செல்லும் உலகத்துச் செல்வம்

நீரின்றமையா யாக்கைக்

கெல்லாம்

உண்டி கொடுத்தோர் உயிர்

கொடுத்தோரே

உண்டி முதற்றே உணவின்

பிண்டம்

உணவெனப்படுவது நிலத்தோடு

நீரே

       - புறநானூறு  18   புலவர் - குடப்புலவியனார்

 Profound message conveyed in simple terms by the Poet of the Sangam Age - 

          There can be no life without  water. 

        People who give food to others give them Life.  

        Food is a combination of water and earth.

So, water is vital. 

How do we find water? 

 The Sangam poet advises Pandyan Thaliayalanganathu cheruvenra Nedunchezhiyan to save water where the land has a gentle curve.

அடுபோர்ச்செழிய இகழாது வல்லே

நிலநெளி மருங்கி நீர்

நிலைபெருகத்

தட்டோரம்ம இவட்டட்டோரே

தள்ளா தோரிவட் டள்ளாதோரே

O King! Where there is a curved land, build reservoir, store water. If you can do that

 you are the king. If not, you would fall. 

Guided by this noble thought, leaders and the people of those times had strived, created water bodies and brought prosperity to a land that had no rivers. 

Water harvesting and management brought agriculture, and skills such as metallurgy, carpentry, weaving, trade, and economic administration. The Sea coast enabled movement of goods trade with neighbouring places and countries far off.

The Road along the East Coast had long connected the Tamilagam with the northern territories. It had been called a Peru Vazhi or Highway.  

It had busy ports such as Pazhaverkadu, Kovalam, Chaturangapatnam, Neerpeyarru, Tharangampadi, Poompuhaar and Nagapattinam. Some ports of the Eastern Coast of India find mention in the book, Periplus of the Erythraean Sea, written in Greek about 2000 years ago!  

 

 About 18 kilometers, South of Mamallapuram,  one of the great heritage sites, is a place called Vasavasamudram.  The excavations carried on by the Tamil Nadu State Archaeological Department has discovered wells, Ancient Pottery and Amphora Pottery from the Mediterranean countries.  

With similar discoveries made at Arikamedu, near Pondicherry, it has been firmly established that, the East Coast had ports that engaged in active trade from the earliest times.

The revenue generating ports needed a strong defense and were coveted by Political Powers. Thondaiman Ilanthirayan is a King of the Sangam Age who walked on this land and left a footprint.  இளங்கிள்ளி had ruled the area after Ilanthirayan.  

ஆற்றுப்படை is a variety of literature where a poet consoles a person in need and directs him to a place where he may be patronized and be relieved of his state of sadness. 

 Perumpaanaarrupadai, (பெரும்பாணாற்றுப்படை ) a Sangam text Composed by  Urudhran Kannannaar describes the port நீர்பேர் / நீர்ப்பெயற்று on his way to reach king தொண்டைமான் இளந்திரையன்  Thondaiman IlanThiraiyan.

நீர்ப்பெயற்று என்னும் ஊரின் சிறப்பு

வண்டல் ஆயமொடு உண்துறைத் தலைஇப்
புனல் ஆடு மகளிர் இட்ட பொலங்குழை
இரை தேர் மணிச்சிரல் இரை செத்து எறிந்தெனப்
புள் ஆர் பெண்ணைப் புலம்பு மடற் செல்லாது
கேள்வி அந்தணர் அருங்கடன் இறுத்த   315
வேள்வித் தூணத்து அசைஇ யவனர்
ஓதிம விளக்கின் உயர்மிசைக் கொண்ட
வைகுறு மீனின் பைபயத் தோன்றும்

நீர்ப்பெயற்று எல்லைப் போகிப் (311-319)

Description as given by Padmabhushan Dr R Nagaswamy

பெரும்பாணாற்றுப்படையில் குறிக்கப்பட்டுள்ள சிறப்பு வருமாறு: நீர்ப்பேர் என்ற ஊரில், நீருண்ணும் துறையில், இளம் மகளிர் விளையாடச் சென்று நீராடினர். அப்பொழுது அவர்கள் கழற்றி வைத்த மீன் போன்ற காதணிகளைச் சிச்சிலிப்பறவை தன்னுடைய இரை என்று கருதி, கொத்திச் சென்றது. அருகிலே ஏராளமான பனைமரங்கள் இருந்தன. அவற்றில் பறவைகள் எல்லாம் சென்று அமர்ந்தன. அத்துறையிலே அந்தணர்கள் வேள்வி வேட்டுச் சென்ற யூபத் தூண்கள் இருந்தன. சிச்சிலிப்பறவை மட்டும் பனைமரத்தின் மீது அமராமல், அந்த வேள்வித்தூணின் மீது சென்று அமர்ந்தது. அதன் மூக்கில் மகரக்குழயைக் கொத்திக்கொண்டு, தூணத்தின் மீது அமர்ந்திருந்ததைப் பார்த்தால் யவனர்கள் கூம்பின் மீது வைக்கும் அன்னம் போன்ற விளக்குகளை ஒத்திருந்தது. அவ்வாறு விளங்கிய நீர்ப்பேர் என்ற ஊரின் எல்லையில், அப்பட்டினம் இருந்தது.

Reference - from Padma Bhushan Dr R Nagaswamy

Dr R Nagaswamy on the Sangam times

The Prehistoric Megalithic Times...

The Stone Age  

Early humans with stone made implements were first hunter - gatherers.  The presence of such stone hand axes made of Quartizite of the Paleolithic Age have been found in many places of the Kanchipuram district, including Oragadam, Nanmangalam, Pallavaram etc.

Next came the Mesolithic Age with people settled down with huts and cattle around them.

Then came the Megalithic Age with people had better lives with bricks, pottery, iron implements for agriculture and defense. They buried their dead and placed stones in a circle. 

    Each stone circle is left undisturbed where a mini ecosystem is established by nature in the form of trees, bushes, grass and weeds that become home for many insects and birds.

 Archaeological Survey of India has identified some the Megalithic Cists with Stone Circles known as Cairn Circles in the Kanchipuram and Chengalpattu Districts

 Some of the Centrally Protected sites in the neighbourhood are –

 Thirupporur

 Ponmar

 Pudhuppakkam

 Melakkottaiyur

 Unamanjeri

 Padur

 Sithalappakkam

Millions of years ago - The Beginning

"It is possible that most civilizations have such intervals, when the links between society and polity get shattered, or vitiated; they remain in a state of hibernation. It may be that for several centuries, we have been passing through such a phase, and that a time will soon come when India's polity will begin to reflect not only the aspirations and urges of our society, but also its manner and idiom." 

                -  Dharampal - Historian and Thinker

The Hills are alive... 

Most hillocks dotting the landscape in Coromandel Coast are solid rocks that have come into existence over 2000 million years ago.

Igneous Rocks are product of consolidation of earth’s Magmas, the molten silicates which underlie the solid crust of the earth.

Some of the underlying magma - mass, that tries to come to the surface through the crust, get stopped. 

In the standard geological time – scale, Archaean ( or Azoic ) rock period is approximately of the duration of about 3000 million years.  There are generally no fossils as no life forms existed during this phase.

 Gneisses, Charnockites ,Cretaccous Rocks occur in the Eastern Coast of South India.

The emerald hills of the region remain surprisingly a refreshing green throughout the year, even in the scorching summers!

 It is because the vegetation native to this region, have evolved, to absorb moisture from the air and remain green!!

 

The Gondwana Sequence

It is interesting to note that millions of years ago, that Australia, South America, Southern part of Africa, Madagascar, India and Antarctica were all united to form one continuous stretch of land known as Gondwana Land.

The solid rocks had then acquired, a thick sedimentary column that have characteristics of having been formed under a shallow stretch of water in river and lake basins.  They constitute the Gondwana group.

These rocks occur near Chennai, Tiruchirapalli and Ramanathapuram.

Ref - Botanical Survey GOI publication Vol  I 1996 

Foreword...

 

This is the story of an interesting landscape that has everything. 

The Sea, the Coast, Salt Pans, Hills that remain green throughout the year, stretches of dry lands with shrubs, plants, ‘forests’ that have no mighty trees now but for the Eucalyptus trees planted in the more recent times, Many Lakes and Agricultural Lands.

This sacred land has nurtured humans for thousands of years and was nurtured by our ancestors who were deeply conscious of her kindness and revered her.  Every gift she gave, was received with humility and gratitude.  She was a mother not a mere resource to be exploited. 

Several events that shaped the history of this country had happened right here and many personalities who made them happen had been here too.

Countless common men and women are making their presence felt to this day, in the form of numerous lakes created by them, and as inscriptions on the temple walls. 

Inscriptions in the temple walls, of the Pallava, Chola, Pandya, Vijayanagar, Nayaka, Sambuvarayar times share wealth of information – they mention names of great kings, feudatories and generals, common citizens who were donors and benefactors, interesting anecdotes and finer details of the past for those who are interested.

 This land has supported human life since the pre – historic Megalithic times as attested by the Megalithic burial cists and Cairn circles - Stones arranged in Circles are seen.

Perhaps inspired by the Sangam Text Puranaanooru, where Poet Kudapulaviyanaar exhorts the Pandya king to build Reservoirs where the land is curved, to store water and enrich life, the ancients had created numerous water bodies that support plants, animals and birds to enrich human life.

Most villages here had sustained themselves and grown based on a lake or two in their neighbourhood.  Through the centuries, a sophisticated culture with high agricultural productivity, artisanal skills, trade links with elaborate networks of administrative, defense, economic, cultural and other essential services had thrived.

Ancient Temples in tiny hamlets, or temples in larger towns, come with Sthala Puranams that lay special emphasis on the rare sanctity of the place.  The more you read, the more you are convinced that our ancestors of Ancient Bharat wanted every inch of this sacred Geography including the skies, land, water and air to be appreciated and adored by us.  Gratitude, a deep emotion felt towards the Pancha Bhootas for nurturing life had inspired this civilization of Bharat; Attuned to nature, to live with introspection, to enrich the living experience.

This area had come under the power of the British East India Company in 1763. The detailed study of the Chengalpattu district during 1764 -1774, done by the British from palm leaf manuscripts sourced from every village to familiarize themselves with the lands over which they were to wield power, is a good source of information of those times for us with very limited information about our own civilization.

Chennai, the Metropolitan city has seen massive growth in the recent decades with indiscriminate destruction of its inheritance. When it is poised for the next phase of growth, the earlier errors can be avoided, and disasters averted with better awareness. 

Time travel need not always be a science fiction. Inscriptions and Fine Data can take us on a time travel too.