VELLORE: A part of the present day Javadi hills, located in the border regions of Vellore and Tiruvannamalai districts, could have been known as ‘Navira Malai’ during the ancient Sangam period, says Tamil Professor Dr Mohan Gandhi. A faculty attached to the department of Tamil in Sacred Heart College in Tirupattur, Dr Mohan Gandhi said he recently undertook an expedition to Javadi Hills with a group of explorers and stumbled upon a stone inscription in Pudur Nadu village in Javadi Hills near Tirupattur.
The inscription contained a reference to Navira Malai, indicating the Javadi Hills could have been known by this name some 2000 years ago. Spread across an area starting from Vellore to Singarapettai in length and from Polur to Alangayam in breadth, the Javadi Hills is now located in the border regions of Vellore and Tiruvannamalai districts.
Of late, a number of stone inscriptions, stone artefacts and rock structures, believed to be dating back to ancient civilizations, had been found in these hills by archaeologists and explorers. Some of these were identified to belong to the periods of the Cholas, Sambuvarayar and Vijayanagara Rayars, making the hills a vista into the ancient past.
“The finding of this stone inscription, containing reference to Navira hills, increases the historical significance of the hills,” he pointed out. According to him, the Sangam period Tamil literature has been broadly classified under ‘Ettuthogai’, and ‘Pathupattu’. Both are anthologies of classical poetic works and part of the ancient Tamil literature.
A lost kingdom
Pathupattu is an anthology of ten books and is one of the oldest surviving works in Tamil poetry. A chapter in Pathupattu is believed to have been written around 2000 years ago. A chapter of this collection describes a king called Nanan Seinanan, who ruled Navira Malai with his capital in Chengama. “This place could very well be today’s Chengam town in Tiruvannamalai district, which lies close to the Javadi Hills. There is also a reference to a river called ‘Seyyaru’, known as Cheyyaru now,” said Dr Gandhi.
In the absence of any substantial evidence, many Tamil scholars, who studied ‘Pathupattu’, had presumed that the term Navira Malai could be referring to Parvathamalai, a small hill range near Polur in Tiruvannamalai district. However, the identification of this stone inscription in Pudur Nadu has changed this view. The inscription also talks about the donation of a village named Pudur to a ‘Muzhalainatheeswar’ temple. This temple still exists and retains the same name, while the village has taken the name Pudur Nadu.
The geographical location of river Seyaru (now Cheyyaru) and the reference of Chengama (now Chengam), found in Pathupattu chapter 10, and the references found in the stone inscription point to the conclusion that Naviramalai could very well be the present day Pudur Nadu hills, the professor said.
He also thanked fellow explorers M Munisamy, Govindaraj and Vendhan of Kilur and Sivasnakar of Chittor for their support and participation in the expedition.
Pieces fall in place
The geographical location of river Seyaru (now Cheyyaru) and the reference of Chengama (now Chengam), found in Pathupattu chapter 10, and the references The geographical location of river Seyaru (now Cheyyaru) and the reference of Chengama (now Chengam), found in Pathupattu chapter 10, and the references found in the stone inscription point to the conclusion that Navira Malai could very well be the present day Pudur Nadu hills, the professor said. He also thanked fellow explorers M Munisamy, Govindaraj and Vendhan of Kilur and Sivasnakar participation in the expedition