PONNIYIN SELVAN (PONNI'S BELOVED SON)

              Today's readers are tomorrow's leaders. Hence, reading books is a good habit. Every child must start reading books apart from their academic books every day at least for an hour. This helps them increase their vocabulary skills in that particular language which they choose to read. Here parents can help their children in choosing right books. According to your child's taste and interest, you can choose a genre for him/her and find out the best author's book under that genre. Start it from today.

             Now let me tell you about the best book I have ever read in my lifetime. I had read many books in English and Tamil. But the best one among these was a tamil novel written almost 70 years ago(as on 2020). That is none other than "PONNIYIN SELVAN" written by Kalki Krishnamurthy. 

             

         This Novel is a historical novel   first serialised in the weekly editions of Kalki during period from 29 October 1950 to 16 May 1954, and released in book form of five parts in 1955. In five volumes, or about 2210 pages, it tells the story of early days of Arulmozhivarman (அருள்மொழிவர்மன்), who later became the great Chola emperor Rajaraja Chola I. Kalki visited Srilanka three times to gather information for it. Even today, the novel has a cult following and fan base among people of all generations. The book continues to be admired and garner critical acclaim for its tightly woven plot, vivid narration, the wit of the dialogue, and the way in which the power struggle and intrigues of the Chola empire were depicted.

           A film series adaptation of the Novel is in production and is directed by the renowned Indian filmmaker Mani Ratnam.

Volume	Title	Chapters	Note
1	புது வெள்ளம் (transl. New Floods)	57	The story unfolds with the journey of the protagonist Vandhiyadhevan to the capital Thanjavur. Ends with Vandhiyadhevan making enemies in Royalty and joins the Royal services.
2	சுழற்காற்று (transl. Whirlwind)	53	The events that took place on Sri Lanka where Ponniyin Selvan ( Raja Raja Cholan ) was stationed for "Eezhathu Por" Battle of Lanka, the tragic stories from the past of the characters' lives.
3	கொலை வாள் (transl. Sword of Slaughter)	46	The revenge set up by the suicide squad of Veera Pandiyan ( Aabathuthavigal ) against Aditha Karikalan and Chola Empire, the plot devised by Nandhini.
4	மணிமகுடம் (transl. The Crown)	46	The struggle for the crown among the members of Chola dynasty. The inside conspiracy is being revealed eventually among the patriotics.
5	தியாக சிகரம் (transl. The Pinnacle of Sacrifice)	91	The Climax is being set. The conspiracy is broken due to lack of motivation and the head of conspiracy comes to senses. The rulers are reunited and the danger is averted. The rightful prince offer the throne to his cousin out of magnanimity. The tragic deaths of the main characters also adds sorrow to the fact that the story ends.

English and other translations

There are at least five different translations of Ponniyin Selvan available in English by Indra Neelamegam, CV Karthik Narayanan, Varalotti Rengasamy, Sumeetha Manikandan and an ongoing one by Pavithra Srinivasan. On 21 February 2015, a Sanskrit translation by Rajalakshmi Srinivasan was released at a public function in Chennai.

Characters in this book:

                      I feel like I am personally involved with each and every character has I read this book. Among all those more real and a few fictional characters, the character I liked the most is the two young pairs- 'Arulmozhi and Vanathi' and 'Vanthiyadevan and Kundavai'. Each of them expressed their love for their pair in a unique way and inspired me by taking equal scores.
                    THE GREAT KING RAJA RAJA CHOLA'S YOUTH LIFE IS DEPICTED IN THIS BOOK IN AN INSPIRING WAY.  
                   
Conclusion:

                    Every person born in this world must not leave this world without reading this book. I feel if someone leaves this world before finishing this book they may be unlucky. May be if they had started reading this book but due to some reason die without finishing it, their souls may be wandering around with the unfulfilled desire to finish reading this novel. LOL! 

Thank you for reading!