The inundation of Pūmpukār

 Part 1 : Karikal Chola who built Kallanai (Grand Anicut) was a contemporary of Adi Shankara

Part 2: History of Karikāl Chola and Iḷam Thirayan and the route to Kanchi gleaned from Sangam texts

Part 3: Karikāl Chola's conquest of Kanchi and the expedition to the Himalayas

Part 4: Kallaṇai was built by Karikāl Chola after a personal tragedy of loss of his son-in-law

Sometime after Nedumudi Kiḷḷi, Pūmpukār was lost into the sea. The next flooding was in Manimekalai-s time in the 1^st century CE. The earlier flood must have occurred in Karikāla’s time necessitating him in building a dam across the flow of Kaviri. Land can be flooded but the loss of a city like Pūmpukār could not have happened by a flood in the Kaviri. Normally a coastal land is lost into the sea in the event of an earthquake as in the case of Pavlopetri (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pavlopetri) which submerged 5000 years ago. Today the submerged parts of Pūmpukār are seen in the water.

Recently, the researchers of Bharatidasan University’s Department of Remote sensing carried out studies which found out a sunken town at a depth of 50-100 metres, about 30-40 km off the coast of the present-day Pūmpukār. In the report that appeared in The Hindu dated 20^th January 2023 stated,

“The studies carried out using GEBCO data showed a series of three deltas of the Cauvery, which run up to 40 km in the sea. The MBES data led to the discovery of a major coastal land system with sand banks, backwaters, beach ridges, rivers, estuaries and ancient shorelines. “We also inferred a scientifically designed harbour, about 11 km long and 2.5 km wide, running from north to south, with a number of canals meant for movement of big vessels and turning them. In between, there are broad plateaus which could have been used for loading, unloading and storing of merchandise.”

To the east of the harbour were 70-80 docks in north-south direction for a distance of 30 km for berthing ships. To the north were settlements with clusters of houses covering an area of about four square kilometres. Further up north were rowed settlements with compound walls. About 10 km away from the harbour on the north was a lighthouse, with a spiral staircase as evident from the pillar relics.

Several geological features such as deep river cut valleys of the Cauvery river system and submarine canyons were interpreted on the sea floor. They indicate that the Poompuhar region was prone to floods, tsunamis and accelerated impact of sea level rise and cyclone-induced surges. The port city had probably been relocated and rebuilt repeatedly owing to such natural occurrences. The seventh redevelopment was probably about 2,500 years ago and it might have submerged due to a rise in sea level about 1,020 years ago.”

(source: https://www.thehindu.com/news/national/tamil-nadu/ancient-port-city-of-poompuhar-traced-undersea-claim-researchers/article66413969.ece )

The vital hints for us are the presence of three delta-s of Kaviri under the water. Two of them have been accounted for in the Tamil texts, one in Karikāla-s time and another in Manimekalai’s time. The first one must have been more than 10,000 years ago as suggested by Graham Hancock. Pūmpukār was a safe city for a very long time. It is even mentioned in the very beginning of Silappadhikaram that people didn’t move out of the city. (Ch- 1 - line 15)

பதியெழு வறியாப் பழங்குடி

The ancient people of this city were never known to have moved out of this city. The commentator attributes this to the prosperity of the city and absence of threat from enemies.   The seventh redevelopment mentioned by the researchers captures our interest because that could probably be the development done after the loss of Pūmpukār during Karikāla’s time. It was dated 2500 years ago, which we will take up for analysis after finishing this section.

There are two strong evidences for the loss of Pūmpukār and some other coastal regions. One of them can be quoted from Pattinap Pālai sung in praise of Karikāl Chola.

Temple mentioned in Pattinap Pālai exists now.

Pattinap Pālai talks about a temple where Magha festival was observed on the day Full moon joined Magha star. Next to this temple (Kottam), two ponds were present – one for gratification of wishes of this birth and another for gratification of wishes for the next birth. (lines 34 – 39)

மழை நீங்கிய மா விசும்பில்

மதி சேர்ந்த மக வெண் மீன்

உருகெழு திறல் உயர் கோட்டத்து,

முருகு அமர் பூ முரண் கிடக்கை

வரி அணி சுடர், வான் பொய்கை,

இரு காமத்து இணை ஏரி.

In Silappadhikaram, a temple near the estuary of Kaviri is mentioned along with two ponds whose names appear as ‘Soma Kund’ and ‘Surya Kund’. Devotees, after taking a dip in these ponds used to worship Kama Deva in his temple to lead a happy life with the husband, says Silappadhikaram (Ch 9- lines 57-61)

கடலொடு காவிரிசென்றலைக்கு முன்றில்

மடலவிழ் நெய்தலங் கானல் தடமுள

சோம குண்டஞ் சூரிய குண்டந் துறை மூழ்கிக்

காமவேள் கோட்டந் தொழுதார் கணவரோடு

தாம் இன்புறுவர்.

This was told by a woman by name Devanthi to Kannagi on hearing about her travails with her husband who left her and then returned empty handed. Kannagi replied that she was not used to doing such austerities. This verse indicates that there was a temple for Kāma Deva in that location.  

This resembles the verse of Āndāḷ (Tiruppāvai- verse 22),

அங்கண் மாஞாலத்து அரசர், அபிமான

பங்கமாய் வந்து நின் பள்ளிக் கட்டிற் கீழே,

சங்கம் இருப்பாற் போல் வந்து தலைப் பெய்தோம்….

திங்களும் ஆதித்தியனும் வந்து எழுந்தாற்போல்

The estuary of Kaviri is also known as Sangam. The verse talks about kings who used to wait under the bed of Vishnu. It also talks about the rising of the moon and the sun as a metaphor. The same temple mentioned in Pattinap Pālai on the coast near Pūmpukār where the river Kaviri joins the sea, and where Maasi Magha festival was observed (Mahāmaham), seemed to be that of Vishnu in reclining posture on the snake bed. This is known from the 10th chapter of Silappadhikaram, which states that Kovalan and Kannagi went round a Vishnu temple after coming  out of the entrance of Pūmpukār (lines 8-10).

நீணொடு வாயில் நெடுங்கடை கழிந்தாங்கு

அணிகிளர் அரவின் அறிதுயில் அமர்ந்த

மணிவண்ணன் கோட்டம் வலம் செயாக் கழிந்து

It is not known whether the Kāma temple was present at that time, but if a Kāma temple existed, there is a greater possibility of another temple dedicated to his brother, Sāman! Sāman is the other name for Budha, i.e., Mercury. Both Kāman and Sāman were the sons of Vishnu. A Sangam verse mentioning them exits in Paripādal (1-28)

இருவர் தாதை இலங்கு பூண் மால்

(இருவர் – காமன் – சாமன் (புதன்))

Today the temple of Mercury exists but the temple for Kāma Deva is not found. In fact going by a kind of literature called ‘Piḷḷai Thamizh’ (பிள்ளைத் தமிழ்) on the stages of growth of a girl child till adolescence, worship of Kāma Deva was the final stage for girls before they got married. This indicates the prevalence of many temples for Kāma Deva in olden days. Āndāḷ worshiped Kāma Deva.

Today a temple of Budha exists near Pūmpukār, but instead of Vishnu, the main deity is Shiva. The place is known as Tiruvenkādu (திருவெண்காடு) – which can be interpreted to mean Vella-k- kādu (வெள்ளக் காடு flooded area) or Ven kādu (வெண் காடு)– white forest. The main deity is Shiva known as Swetaranyesvara – (the lord of the white forest). There was an image of Vishnu in reclining posture known as Sweta Narayana on top of a Mantapa when I visited this temple 20 years ago. It is not known if it still exists. The towers of some of the shrines within the temple have images of Vishnu indicating that this temple was the “Manivannan Kottam” (Krishna temple) of Silappadhikaram times.

Looking at its location, we can say that this was the Magha Kottam of Pattinap Pālai of Karikāla times which seemed to have been devastated by a flood that killed Karikāla’s son-in-law. After the construction of the Kallaṇai and due to un-explored reasons of the shift in Kaviri’s course, there is no evidence of a waterway near this temple. A shrine for Mercury is inside this temple which had existed right from Sangam age and even before Karikāla’s time, but the shrine for Kāma Deva which must have existed inside the temple or near the temple must have been destroyed. The fact that not even a single temple or shrine of Kāma Deva exists in Tamilnadu which glorified the worship of Kāma Deva by pre-adolescent girls goes to prove wanton destruction of these temple after the 1^st century CE.

The two ponds are nowhere to be seen today. Either they were closed by those opposed to Vedic religion because these ponds signified wish fulfilment for this birth and next birth. The ponds existed in Silappadhikaram times too. Therefore, there is no way to believe that they were lost naturally. The following map shows the location of Tiruvenkādu which is six kilometres from Pūmpukār.

Location of Tiruvenkādu 

Another evidence for the geographical changes in the region where Kaviri had flown comes from a surprising observation in Kulasekara Alwār’s Tirukkannapuram verse. He says in Perumāl Tirumozhi 8-10,

காவிரி நன்னதி பாயும் கணபுரத்தென் கருமணியே.

He says that the river Kaviri was flowing in Tirukkannapuram. Today it is not so. The map is produced below.

Location of Tirukkannapuram where Kaviri once flowed

The river flows to the south of it, not across it, though a water way is seen at a distance on th east. During Varāhamihira’s time (around 1500 years ago), Kaviri had several branches entering the sea. In one of the verses in Brihat Samhita, he refers to Kaviri in plural form as ‘Kāveryāh’ (14-13). This justifies the presence of Kaviri running closer to Tiruvenkādu and Tirukkannapuram in the past but lost in course of time. A major topographical change could have happened in Karikāla’s time when Pūmpukār sank. The transformation of the temple of Vishnu into that of Shiva seemed to have happened after Silappadhikaram time.

(to be continued)