The Lost Tamil Continent

Well. I read few interesting books on this topic at Anna Library. A book on Tamil social history by Dr. Aravanan, ex-vice chancellor of MS univeristy, is noteworthy. The book seems to be an evidence based research work on the origin of Tamils. Though he has not provided any conclusion about the origin, he has effectively compiled most of the evidences that we have and related theories. The author's area of research is about the similarities between ancient Tamil society and the African tribes.

 

The extensive references about 'kadal konda thamizhakam' (the Tamil land engulfed by ocean) come from the treatise by Irayanar and the explanatory notes by Nakkeerar in early mediaeval period. The literary works earlier than these poets such as silappathikaram or purananooru do mention about the lost continent here and there. For example, purananooru - poem no. 9 mentions kabadapuram. Silappathikaram, while introducing the pandiyan king, mentions about the lost kingdom and the big Tsunami. I checked these two myself. The references are also found in Kalithokai and the commentaries of Adiyarkkunallar.

 

However, it is mysterious how Irayanar, a romantic poet, could get such an extensive account on the lost continent. He lists the kings and poets who were involved with the first two Tamil conventions took place in the lost continent. He mentions several poetic works of those period, which are never discovered. More importantly he gives the names of various territories in the lost continent, the rivers and the mountains. We cannot simply ignore them as a white lie or mere imagination. More or less similar data are also mentioned by Adiyarkkunallar.

 

It is also strange that Valmiki's Ramayanam (not Kambar's) mentions the name Kabadapuram. Rama instructs Hanuman to search for Sita in Srilanka and if not found, to search in Kabadapuram. This verse contains a brief description about the palaces in the city as well. The treatise by Megesthenes also has a reference to Kabadapuram and a Pandya king.

 

The most mysterious reference is about the rivers in the lost continent. One is Paktruli river and the other is Kumari river. The name, kumari river, appears in many references - just like Saraswati river in Sanskrit literature. It is ironical that the governments and universities spend plenty of resources to locate the traces of Saraswati river while no one is serious about Kumari river. Kabadapuram was said to be on the banks of Kumari river. Some of the old poems mention about taking bath in 'Kumari'. Based on the contexts, it is plausible that the Kumari did not mean the ocean at Kanyakumari, but the lost Kumari river. Taking bath in ocean had not originally been the tradition of Tamils in older days, but river bathing had been.

 

The present day Kanyakumari has a shallow water and rocky base. It could have been a mountain extension engulfed by ocean. Kumari river might have passed through this mountain. Pazhayaru could be the vestige of Kumari river, as per one writer. According to the Irayanar and Nakkeerar legends, the Pandya capitals shifted from Then Madurai to Kabadapuram to Korkai to Koodal (current Madurai). We have a documented history of Pandiya kings only from Korkai period and the history of the previous rulers is lost with the continent.