Kalki is a skilled storyteller who transports every reader to the Tamil lands of a 1000 years ago with Ponniyin Selvan. Nine out of 10 will confess that they do forget the time while reading the story – ask him about the timespan of the storyline, he is likely to say ‘a few weeks’. Actually the storyline is spread over several months.
In one of the last posts, we saw how Vandhiyadevan mislead Princess Kundavai. Today, we will try to understand how long he took to travel from Pazhayarai to Kodikkarai (Pt. Calimere), and why!
Princess Kundavai despatches Vallavariyan Vandhiyadevan from Pazhayarai to Kodikkarai and to Sri Lanka. We know that Vandhiyadevan arrived at Pazhayarai on Sri Jayanthi day, met Kundavai the next day, and left on the 2nd day for Kodikkarai.
Kalki does not specify how many days Vandhiyadevan and Pinakapani travelled to reach Kodikkarai – simply that he arrives there tired and weary. But we know how long he stayed there. That night at Poonguzhali’s home, next night on the boat enroute to Sri Lanka. Thus, he steps ashore at Naka Tivu (Nainativu) on the 2nd day after arriving at Kodikkarai.
The distance between Pazhayarai and Kodikkarai is only 90 km as the crow flies. Since Vandhiyadevan’s horse could not have flown like a crow, the possible travel route is around 115 km – mere two or three days by horse. Here is it visualized in a Google Map.
What we know from the novel is that Princess Kundavai arrives at Thanjavur, leaving Pazhayarai, on the same day Vandhiyadevan lands at Naka Tivu (Nainativu of today). And that day is the first day of Navratri or Dasara! Well, there we have it.
Navratri starts one day after Mahalaya Amavasya, which is the New Moon day during the Tamil month of Purattasi (Sep-Oct). Vandhiyadevan had arrived at Pazhayarai on Sri Jayanthi day, which is 7 days before the New Moon day of the preceding Tamil month of Aavani (Aug-Sep).
With that, the formula for the number of days Vandhiyadevan travelled from Pazhayarai to Kodikkarai becomes:
Days travelled (Dtr) = Days between New Moons (Dnm) + Days to SriJayanthi (Ds) – Days at Pazhayarai (Dp) – Days at Kodikkarai (Dk) + 1
Dtr = 30 + 7 – 1 – 1 + 1 = 36
Uh Oh! 36 days is quite a long time to cover 120 km. Vandhiyadevan carries an official authorization that he is on mission for “Emperor’s Welfare”, and has more than enough gold sovereigns to see his way through – apart from what he started with, he was gifted more by the younger Pazhuvettaraiyar at Thanjavur.
What could have prevented him from travelling more than 4 km a day? The only thing that could have hobbled (pun intended) him are the horses – which were sanctioned by Kundavai! Which brings up the question.
Did the Princess get back at Vandhiyadevan for lying to her about 8 days by dumping lame horses on him?
In one of the last posts, we saw how Vandhiyadevan mislead Princess Kundavai. Today, we will try to understand how long he took to travel from Pazhayarai to Kodikkarai (Pt. Calimere), and why!
Princess Kundavai despatches Vallavariyan Vandhiyadevan from Pazhayarai to Kodikkarai and to Sri Lanka. We know that Vandhiyadevan arrived at Pazhayarai on Sri Jayanthi day, met Kundavai the next day, and left on the 2nd day for Kodikkarai.
Kalki does not specify how many days Vandhiyadevan and Pinakapani travelled to reach Kodikkarai – simply that he arrives there tired and weary. But we know how long he stayed there. That night at Poonguzhali’s home, next night on the boat enroute to Sri Lanka. Thus, he steps ashore at Naka Tivu (Nainativu) on the 2nd day after arriving at Kodikkarai.
The distance between Pazhayarai and Kodikkarai is only 90 km as the crow flies. Since Vandhiyadevan’s horse could not have flown like a crow, the possible travel route is around 115 km – mere two or three days by horse. Here is it visualized in a Google Map.
What we know from the novel is that Princess Kundavai arrives at Thanjavur, leaving Pazhayarai, on the same day Vandhiyadevan lands at Naka Tivu (Nainativu of today). And that day is the first day of Navratri or Dasara! Well, there we have it.
Navratri starts one day after Mahalaya Amavasya, which is the New Moon day during the Tamil month of Purattasi (Sep-Oct). Vandhiyadevan had arrived at Pazhayarai on Sri Jayanthi day, which is 7 days before the New Moon day of the preceding Tamil month of Aavani (Aug-Sep).
With that, the formula for the number of days Vandhiyadevan travelled from Pazhayarai to Kodikkarai becomes:
Days travelled (Dtr) = Days between New Moons (Dnm) + Days to SriJayanthi (Ds) – Days at Pazhayarai (Dp) – Days at Kodikkarai (Dk) + 1
Dtr = 30 + 7 – 1 – 1 + 1 = 36
Uh Oh! 36 days is quite a long time to cover 120 km. Vandhiyadevan carries an official authorization that he is on mission for “Emperor’s Welfare”, and has more than enough gold sovereigns to see his way through – apart from what he started with, he was gifted more by the younger Pazhuvettaraiyar at Thanjavur.
What could have prevented him from travelling more than 4 km a day? The only thing that could have hobbled (pun intended) him are the horses – which were sanctioned by Kundavai! Which brings up the question.
Did the Princess get back at Vandhiyadevan for lying to her about 8 days by dumping lame horses on him?
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