Nostalgic reflections
Trip along the Cauvery recapturing the ancient culture of this region
Ashokamitran
NATANTAY VAAZHI KAVERI — Travelogue (Tamil): Citti Sundararajan, Thi. Janakiraman; Kalachuvadu Pathippagam, 669 K.P. Road, Nagercoil-629001. Rs. 225.
Forty years ago when Lakshmi Krishnamurthy founded a book club for Tamil readers with an annual programme of six originally written books and two special publications, the initial response was positive. Natantay Vaazhi Kaveri was one of the special publications. The book club named “Vachakar Vattam” had specially commissioned the authors Thi. Janakiraman, Chitti Sundararajan and a renowned artist-sculptor Kalasaagaram Rajagopal to take a trip along the course of the South Indian river Cauvery and write a book about the river. Thirty-five years after the first edition, the book now has a fresh edition.
Poignant
The title taken from the ancient Tamil classic Silappadikaram is amply justified by the text which not only traces the course of the river but also is enriched by the authors’ poignant reflections on the related history and geography of the regions through which the river flows. The part of the book which treats Thanjavur and Gangaikondacholapuram is an extremely evocative one. The river occurs in a number of Tamil literary works and the turning point of the classic Silappadikaram occurs in the port city of Poompukar which was in the mouth of the river as it pours into the Bay of Bengal. Legend has it that the city was submerged under the ocean and what one now gets to see is a small fishing town.
Archaeological finds have produced evidences of a grand city having existed in that place centuries ago with a flourishing trade with the Greek-Roman sailor-traders. The temples along the river are numerous but many have had no planned maintenance or restoration until recent times. The irony is that the outer walls of the Gangaikondacholapuram temple were dismantled so that the granite stones could be used for a dam built in the 19th century. The 11th century temple was planned to excel the big temple of Thanjavur and in many respects, it did.
Ancient culture
The book though classified as a travelogue is an account of the ancient culture of the land. The literary flavour is unmistakable, but the book gives a feeling that the authors could have edited the text a little more tightly. Some drawings of the artist, Rajagopal, are amazing — a distant view of the rock fort temple of Tiruchirapalli, for example — but his style of line-drawing might be considered not the right one to depict scenes of nature like the flowing waters of a river or a waterfall. But it is still an exceptional book and one that may not find a peer for a long time. The publishers have thoughtfully included as appendices the Madras Mysore Cauvery Agreement of 1924 and a brief account of the 1968 project of bringing Cauvery waters to augment Madras (Chennai) drinking water supply.
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