The Bhikṣuṇī Maṇimēkhalai

53 - How Far Historical in Character?
his elder brother Māvaṇ Kiḷḷi a victory against the allied Cēra and
Pāṇḍya at a place called Kāriyāṟu. 14 [19]
In discussing the circumstances under which Puhār, at least a part of it,
was destroyed by the sea, we are given the information that seems
actually to be a reference to the birth of Toṇḍamāṉ Iḷaṁ-Tiraiyaṉ,
who, as ruler of Kāñcī, became a very important figure in the age of
the Śangam. The Cōḻa ruler for the time being entered into a liaison
with a Nāga princess, namely, Pīlivaḷai, the daughter of Vaḷai Vaṇan,
ruler of Nāga Nāḍu. She stayed with him for about a month, and went
away from him without any intimation. When she had become
mother of a son, she sent the baby from Maṇipallavam through a
sea-going merchant Kambaḷa Setti, whose ship touched the island on
its way. When he had arrived within sight of the shore, he suffered
shipwreck, and, in the resulting confusion, lost sight of the baby. He
took it, therefore, that the baby had died in the accident and so
reported the matter to the king in the discharge of his responsibility
to him. The king was so upset in his search for the baby that he did not
issue the instructions for carrying out the arrangements for the
celebration of the annual festival to Indra. On account of this
remissness, the goddess Maṇimēkhalai brought about the destruction
of Puhār by the sea.
So much of the story is under reference in Maṇimēkhalai itself. It
agrees so far with the details given of the birth of Toṇḍamāṉ
Iḷaṁ-Tiraiyaṉ in other Śangam Poems that it is ordinarily taken to
refer to the birth of that chief. The baby was obviously alive and had
been subsequently brought to the king. Recognizing by the mark,
previously agreed upon, which was no more than a sprig of the
14 XIX, ll. 120-128 and XXVIII, p. 172.