Puhar
Encyclopedia
Puhar (also known as Poompuhar) is a town in the Nagapattinam district in the southern Indian state of Tamil Nadu
. It was once a flourishing ancient port city known as Kaveri puhum pattinam, which for a while served as the capital of the early Chola
kings in Tamilakkam
.
It is located near the end point of the Kaveri river, aside the sea coast. Much of the town was washed away by what is now speculated to be a tsunami around 500 AD. Ancient pottery dating back to the 4th or 5th century AD have been discovered off shore around this town.
. Elara Chola are ruled(1,389,968 sq mi)from the Place of present parts India, Sri Lanka, Bangladesh, Burma, Thailand, Malaysia, Cambodia, Indonesia, Vietnam, Singapore, Maldives and they had around 10,000 battle ships in the kavaripatinum port .near river Kaveri
mouth. The town had two distinct villagesMaruvurpakkam near the sea and Pattinappakkam to its west. These two vilage were separated by a stretch of gardens and orchards where daily markets were held under the shades of the trees. The market place was known as Naalangadi during the day and as allangadi by night.
. Maruvurpakkam being close to the shore and hence to the shipyard was naturally preferred by the many overseas travellers, merchants and yavanas (foreigner) whose pleasant features arrested the eyes of the spectators living close to each other.
Maruvurpakkam was inhabited by the fisher folk. The town had several warehouses. Weavers, silk
merchants, vendors, fish
and meat
sellers, potters
, grain
merchants, jewellers and diamond
makers lived in Maruvurppakkam.
, court dancers occupied Pattinappakkam. The five Manrams - Vellidai Manram, Elanchi Manram, Nedankal manram, Poothachathukkam and Pavaimanram were located in Pattinappakkam. Gardens like Elavanthikaicholai, Uyyanam, Chanpathivanam, Uvavanam, and Kaveravanam added beauty to the town.
poem (poem 30) says that big ships entered the post of Puhar without slacking sail, and poured out on the beach, precious merchandise brought from overseas. In the extensive markets of Puhar there were many tall mansions surrounded by platforms reached by high ladders. These mansions had many apartments and were provided with doorways, great and small, and with wide hallways and corridors (Pattinappaalai
– II –142-158). In all parts of the town there were flags of various kinds and shapes flying in the air.
Pattinappaalai
, a poem that describes the ancient Puhar very vividly, was written by the poet Kadiyalur Uruthirangannanaar is part of the Ten Idylls
anthology and was sung in praise of Karikala Chola
, a second century Chola king.
– II –199-212):
possibly caused by Krakatoa 535 AD event.
This tsunami is mentioned in the Tamil buddhisit poem Manimekhalai (see below), which relates that the town Kāveripattinam or Puhār was swallowed up by the sea due to the Chola King not holding the annual Indra festival, causing the wrath of the sea goddess Manimekhalai.
This event is supported by archeological finds of submerged ruins off the coast of modern Poompuhar.
The town of Kāveripattinam is believed to have disappeared in between the 3d and the 6th century.
is set in the town of Kaveripattanam.
Ancient ruins of a 4th-5th century Buddhist monastery, a Buddha statue, and a Buddhapada (footprint of the Buddha) were found in another section of the ancient city, now at Pallavanesvaram.
Silappathikara Art Gallery
A beautiful building of great sculptural value has been built as Sillappathikara Art Gallery.Scenes from Sillappathikaram, the Epic of the land have been given lively shapes in stones on the walls of the Gallery. These sculptures carved by the sculptors of Mamallapuram Art College remain the treasure house of Tamil Culture.
Masilamani Nathar Koil
Though heavily eroded by the sea in a number of places, this temple built in 1305 by Maravarma Kulasekara Pandiyan, still manages to impress all the tourists to Poompuhar with its architectural richness.
Tamil Nadu
Tamil Nadu is one of the 28 states of India. Its capital and largest city is Chennai. Tamil Nadu lies in the southernmost part of the Indian Peninsula and is bordered by the union territory of Pondicherry, and the states of Kerala, Karnataka, and Andhra Pradesh...
. It was once a flourishing ancient port city known as Kaveri puhum pattinam, which for a while served as the capital of the early Chola
Early Cholas
The Early Cholas of the pre and post Sangam period were one of the three main kingdoms of the ancient Tamil country. Their early capitals were Urayur and Kaveripattinam...
kings in Tamilakkam
Ancient Tamil country
The Sangam period is the classical period in the history of Tamil Nadu, Kerala and other parts of South India, spanning about the 3rd century BCE to the 3rd century CE...
.
It is located near the end point of the Kaveri river, aside the sea coast. Much of the town was washed away by what is now speculated to be a tsunami around 500 AD. Ancient pottery dating back to the 4th or 5th century AD have been discovered off shore around this town.
City layout
The general plan of the city of Puhar is described in considerable detail in the fifth book of Silapathikaram (c. fifth century CE). The town was built on the north banks of the river KaveriKaveri River
The Kaveri , also spelled Cauvery in English, is a large Indian river. The origin of the river is traditionally placed at Talakaveri, Kodagu in the Western Ghats in Karnataka, flows generally south and east through Karnataka and Tamil Nadu and across the southern Deccan plateau through the...
. Elara Chola are ruled(1,389,968 sq mi)from the Place of present parts India, Sri Lanka, Bangladesh, Burma, Thailand, Malaysia, Cambodia, Indonesia, Vietnam, Singapore, Maldives and they had around 10,000 battle ships in the kavaripatinum port .near river Kaveri
Kaveri River
The Kaveri , also spelled Cauvery in English, is a large Indian river. The origin of the river is traditionally placed at Talakaveri, Kodagu in the Western Ghats in Karnataka, flows generally south and east through Karnataka and Tamil Nadu and across the southern Deccan plateau through the...
mouth. The town had two distinct villagesMaruvurpakkam near the sea and Pattinappakkam to its west. These two vilage were separated by a stretch of gardens and orchards where daily markets were held under the shades of the trees. The market place was known as Naalangadi during the day and as allangadi by night.
Maruvurpakkam
The village of Maruvurpakkam was near the beach and had several terraced mansions and warehoused with windows shaped like the eyes of the deerDeer
Deer are the ruminant mammals forming the family Cervidae. Species in the Cervidae family include white-tailed deer, elk, moose, red deer, reindeer, fallow deer, roe deer and chital. Male deer of all species and female reindeer grow and shed new antlers each year...
. Maruvurpakkam being close to the shore and hence to the shipyard was naturally preferred by the many overseas travellers, merchants and yavanas (foreigner) whose pleasant features arrested the eyes of the spectators living close to each other.
Maruvurpakkam was inhabited by the fisher folk. The town had several warehouses. Weavers, silk
Silk
Silk is a natural protein fiber, some forms of which can be woven into textiles. The best-known type of silk is obtained from the cocoons of the larvae of the mulberry silkworm Bombyx mori reared in captivity...
merchants, vendors, fish
Fish
Fish are a paraphyletic group of organisms that consist of all gill-bearing aquatic vertebrate animals that lack limbs with digits. Included in this definition are the living hagfish, lampreys, and cartilaginous and bony fish, as well as various extinct related groups...
and meat
Meat
Meat is animal flesh that is used as food. Most often, this means the skeletal muscle and associated fat and other tissues, but it may also describe other edible tissues such as organs and offal...
sellers, potters
Pottery
Pottery is the material from which the potteryware is made, of which major types include earthenware, stoneware and porcelain. The place where such wares are made is also called a pottery . Pottery also refers to the art or craft of the potter or the manufacture of pottery...
, grain
GRAIN
GRAIN is a small international non-profit organisation that works to support small farmers and social movements in their struggles for community-controlled and biodiversity-based food systems. Our support takes the form of independent research and analysis, networking at local, regional and...
merchants, jewellers and diamond
Diamond
In mineralogy, diamond is an allotrope of carbon, where the carbon atoms are arranged in a variation of the face-centered cubic crystal structure called a diamond lattice. Diamond is less stable than graphite, but the conversion rate from diamond to graphite is negligible at ambient conditions...
makers lived in Maruvurppakkam.
Pattinappakkam
The kings and nobles, rich traders and farmers, physicians, astrologers, members of the king’s armyArmy
An army An army An army (from Latin arma "arms, weapons" via Old French armée, "armed" (feminine), in the broadest sense, is the land-based military of a nation or state. It may also include other branches of the military such as the air force via means of aviation corps...
, court dancers occupied Pattinappakkam. The five Manrams - Vellidai Manram, Elanchi Manram, Nedankal manram, Poothachathukkam and Pavaimanram were located in Pattinappakkam. Gardens like Elavanthikaicholai, Uyyanam, Chanpathivanam, Uvavanam, and Kaveravanam added beauty to the town.
Thriving ancient city
A PurananuruPurananuru
Purananuru is a Tamil poetic work in the Pathinenmaelkanakku anthology of Tamil literature, belonging to the Sangam period corresponding to between 200 BCE – 100 CE. Purananuru is part of the Ettuthokai anthology which is the oldest available collection of poems of Sangam literature in Tamil....
poem (poem 30) says that big ships entered the post of Puhar without slacking sail, and poured out on the beach, precious merchandise brought from overseas. In the extensive markets of Puhar there were many tall mansions surrounded by platforms reached by high ladders. These mansions had many apartments and were provided with doorways, great and small, and with wide hallways and corridors (Pattinappaalai
Pattinappaalai
Paṭṭiṉappālai, is a Tamil poetic work in the Pathinenmaelkanakku anthology of Tamil literature, belonging to the Sangam period corresponding to between 100 BCE – 100 CE. Pattinappaalai is part of the Pattupattu collection, which is the oldest available collection of long poems in Tamil literature....
– II –142-158). In all parts of the town there were flags of various kinds and shapes flying in the air.
Pattinappaalai
Pattinappaalai
Paṭṭiṉappālai, is a Tamil poetic work in the Pathinenmaelkanakku anthology of Tamil literature, belonging to the Sangam period corresponding to between 100 BCE – 100 CE. Pattinappaalai is part of the Pattupattu collection, which is the oldest available collection of long poems in Tamil literature....
, a poem that describes the ancient Puhar very vividly, was written by the poet Kadiyalur Uruthirangannanaar is part of the Ten Idylls
Pattupattu
PathuPattu – The ten Idylls, is an anthology of ten mid length books and is one of the oldest surviving Tamil Poetry. This collection is considered part of the Sangam Literature and dated approximately between 300 BCE and 200 CE...
anthology and was sung in praise of Karikala Chola
Karikala Chola
Karikala Chola or Karikala Chozhan was one of the great Tamil kings of Early Chola during the Sangam period. He was the son of Ilamcetcenni and ruled around 270 BC....
, a second century Chola king.
Merchants of Puhar
Pattinappaalai also gives an idealised description of the merchants plying their trade in Puhar (PattinappaalaiPattinappaalai
Paṭṭiṉappālai, is a Tamil poetic work in the Pathinenmaelkanakku anthology of Tamil literature, belonging to the Sangam period corresponding to between 100 BCE – 100 CE. Pattinappaalai is part of the Pattupattu collection, which is the oldest available collection of long poems in Tamil literature....
– II –199-212):
- They shunned murder, and put aside theft, pleased the gods by fire offerings,…they regarded others rights as scrupulously as their own, they took nothing more than was due to them and never gave less than was due from them. Trading thus in many articles of merchandise, they enjoyed an ancient heritage of prosperity and lived in close proximity to one another.
City's destruction
The ancient city of Puhar was destroyed by the sea around 1500 years ago. Scientists speculate that this could have been the effects of a TsunamiTsunami
A tsunami is a series of water waves caused by the displacement of a large volume of a body of water, typically an ocean or a large lake...
possibly caused by Krakatoa 535 AD event.
This tsunami is mentioned in the Tamil buddhisit poem Manimekhalai (see below), which relates that the town Kāveripattinam or Puhār was swallowed up by the sea due to the Chola King not holding the annual Indra festival, causing the wrath of the sea goddess Manimekhalai.
This event is supported by archeological finds of submerged ruins off the coast of modern Poompuhar.
The town of Kāveripattinam is believed to have disappeared in between the 3d and the 6th century.
Manimekhalai
The ancient Tamil Buddhist poem Manimekhalai by the poet Seethalai SaathanarSattanar
Sattanar is the Tamil Buddhist poet who composed the epic called Manimekalai. He lived in the period of Ilango Adigal. He was also known as Seethalai Sattanar or Sīthalai Sāttanār....
is set in the town of Kaveripattanam.
Ancient ruins of a 4th-5th century Buddhist monastery, a Buddha statue, and a Buddhapada (footprint of the Buddha) were found in another section of the ancient city, now at Pallavanesvaram.
Geography
Kaveripattanam is located at 11°08′21"N 79°50′57"E. It has an average elevation of 1 m (3.3 ft).Tourism
The major tourists attractions in Poompuhar :Silappathikara Art Gallery
A beautiful building of great sculptural value has been built as Sillappathikara Art Gallery.Scenes from Sillappathikaram, the Epic of the land have been given lively shapes in stones on the walls of the Gallery. These sculptures carved by the sculptors of Mamallapuram Art College remain the treasure house of Tamil Culture.
Masilamani Nathar Koil
Though heavily eroded by the sea in a number of places, this temple built in 1305 by Maravarma Kulasekara Pandiyan, still manages to impress all the tourists to Poompuhar with its architectural richness.