Puhar
Poompuhar is a town in
Thanjavur district in the southern Indian state of
Tamil Nadu. It was once a flourishing ancient port city known as
Kaveripattinam, which for a while served as the capital of the
Chola kings.
Much of the town was washed away in what is now recognized as an ancient Tsunami around 500 C.E. Ancient pottery dating back to the 4th or 5th century C.E. have been discovered off shore around this town.
The greatness of the city is brought out in the
Sangam epics
Silappathikaram and
Manimekalai. The life and time of the Tamil classic Silappathikaram has been recreated at Poompuhar to the immense pleasure of the Tamils.
Puhar, also known as
Pumpuhar,
Kaveripumpattinam or
Kaveripattinam was one of the few great cities of the ancient Chola period.
[ Puhar in Tamil means the estuary of river in the sea.] Being on the seacoast, it was also a great trading centre for the Chola kingdom. The city, its port and the trade are fully described in the
Sangam Literature and in the epics
Cilappatikaram and
Manimekalai.
Contemporary sources
Poompuhar has been mentioned and cited in a number of temple inscriptions and in ancient literature in many names such as
Kaganthi,
Sampapathi,
Palarpukar Moothur,
Mannagathu Vanpathi,
Cholapattinam, and
Kolapattinam.
There are frequent references to this important port town in ancient Tamil literature.
Akananuru,
Purananuru,
Pattinappaalai,
Pathirruppaththu,
Mutthollayiram,
Cilappatikaram,
Manimekalai, etc. refer to this town.
Ancient
Pali literature like
Milindapan,
Buttha Jathakakathaikal Abithamma Avathar and
Buddhavamsakatha and the
Periplus of the Erythraean Sea (Periplus Maris Erythraei
) contain the references to Kaveripoompattinam. Ptolemy and Pliny also mention Poompuhar in their writings.
Somaya a Buddhist Pikkuni from Poompuhar donated one of the beautifully sculptured pillars that were erected by the Sunga-Kings of North-India during the second century B.C. The pillars carry the inscription Kaganthia Somaya Pikkunia Thanam'' ("This Pillar was donated by Somaya Pikkuni of Poompuhar"), proving that
Buddhism flourished in Poompuhar two thousand years ago.
Thriving ancient city
A
Purananuru 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 â€" II â€"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 Idyls anthology and was sung in praise of
Karikala Chola, a second century
Chola king.
Merchants of Puhar
Pattinappaalai also gives an idealised description of the merchants plying their trade in Puhar (
Pattinappaalai â€" II â€"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 that 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.
The general plan of the city of Puhar is described in considerable detail in the fifth book of
Cilappatikaram. The town was built on the north banks of the river
Kaveri near its mouth. The town had two distinct districts:
Maruvurpakkam near the sea and
Pattinappakkam to its west. These two districts 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
Nalangadi during the day and as
Allangadi by night.
Maruvurpakkam
The district of Maruvurpakkam was near the beach and had several terraced mansions and warehoused with windows shaped like the eyes of the
deer. Maruvurpakkam being close to the shore and hence to the shipyard was naturally preferred by the many overseas travellers, merchants and
'yavanas (foreigner) who 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.
Pattinappakkam
The kings and
nobles, rich traders and farmers,
physicians,
astrologers, members of the king's
army, 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.
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
Tsunami.
* Mudaliar, A.S, Abithana Chintamani (1931), Reprinted 1984 Asian Educational Services, New Delhi.
* Nilakanta Sastri, K.A. (1935). The CōĻas, University of Madras, Madras (Reprinted 1984).
* http://www.nio.org/projects/vora/project_vora_5.jsp
