Ponniyin Selvan Varalaatru Peravai

The last plantation I worked in Malaysia before migrating to
Australia was situated near the town of Sitiawan in Western
(Peninsula) Malaysia. One of my first duties in that plantation was
to familiarise myself with the plantation boundary. This was of
crucial importance as it prevented neighboring plantations and
smallholders from encroaching into our plantation. In my stay in the
plantation, I patrolled the boundary at least one a month to prevent
the above from occurring. In my very first boundary patrol however,
I was shocked to notice a strange rock formation at the back of the
plantation.

This formation presented itself suddenly to me as I drove along the
winding dirt road at the back of the plantation. The whole rocky
feature just sort of jumped out of nowhere as I negotiated a tight
corner in the road. The first time I saw it, I was completely
spellbound. There in front of me were rocky outcrops, about thirty
meters high in an array of fascinating shapes. It appeared as if a
giant had gone to work a mighty chisel and hammer and carved out all
these fantastic shapes. The rocks in this area were all reddish
brown in color except for the first rock as we enter the area, which
was off white. The locals in the area called this first rock, "lady
with a baby". Looking at this rock one would swear that it was
chiselled into shape by humans and not shaped by natural forces, as
it bore striking resemblance to a lady nursing a baby. It was about
thirty meters high and was surrounded by wild shrubs. The other
rocks in the area too were no less strange. There was a rock outcrop
that looked exactly like a human face. There was a distinct nose,
mouth and chin, and wild oil palm trees grew on top of this
formation giving it a surreal effect of the head having hair on top.
More will be mentioned about this face like structure later. The
rest of the rocks appeared to have faces of the Hindu pantheon. Thus
one could make out the form of the Hindu god Ganesh, who has an
elephant head, the form of Vishnu and that of the goddess
Saraswathy, complete with her vina (musical instrument).

After about six months in the plantation, I made discreet inquires
from the locals about the history of this place, and why all the
rocks in it looked as if they were carved out by human hands. This
is the grand story they told me regarding this place.

Close to and north-east of Sitiawan lies the small town of Bruas
(Beruas). During earier times, this was the seat of the Hindu
kingdom of Ganga Negarra in Malaysia( then called Malaya ). The
rulers of this kingdom were from south India and most likely from
the early Chola dynasty. It was a prosperous kingdom, and managed to
bring several of the neighboring districts under its control. It
grew in strength as the years went by, and its successive rulers
attempted to break away from the main Chola empire in South India.
To bring this renegade kingdom back into the folds of the Chola
empire, the then emperor of the Chola kingdom, Rajaraja Cholan II
despatched an army to Malaysia to teach the ruler of Ganga Negarra a
lesson he would not forget. The ruler of Gangga Negarra got wind of
this impending attack from merchants, and prepared to defend his
kingdom.

Now close to where my plantation was is a large tract of sandy area.
This is sand from the nearby river called Sungei Perak. Throughout
history, this river had changed course several times, and each time
it did, it left a sandy area behind. My bungalow was situated on
this sandy tract. The sand was several meters deep and allowed only
certain types of grasses and Tembusu trees to grow on it. The ruler
of Ganga Negarra thought he would engage the forces of the Chola
empire on this sandy tract. The Sungei Perak was much larger then,
and the warships from India would have planned to use it to get as
close as possible to the town of Bruas. The ruler of Ganga Negarra
therefore planned to surprise the Chola forces by engaging them as
soon as they left the open seas and entered the Sungei Perak. He
probably planned an ambush at this area.

The battle that ensured took place on this sandy tract. The Chola
forces were better armed than that of Ganga Neggara. Besides having
cannons, the Chola force was battle hardened- having continually
fought battles in India. The end result was a riot. The Chola forces
practically mowed down the forces of Ganga Negarra. The ruler of
Ganga Negarra fled. He had brought his wife and his infant with him,
and now they ran for their lives. The baby was only a few months old
and the wife clutched it to her bosom as they fled through the
trees. The Chola general sent a platoon after the Ganga Neggara
king, but the latter being familiar with the area, managed to
outdistance himself from them. As they ran deeper into the forest,
the baby for one reason or another, was abandoned, and left to die.
The king and his wife finally reached the rocky outcrop mentioned
above and decided to hide out there. The wife however soon died from
a broken heart, pining night and day for her lost child. The king of
Ganga Negarra was therefore left alone in this rocky outcrop.

What was not known to the populace of Ganga Negarra however was that
A History and a Mystery Carved in Stone. Not only could he meditate
for long hours, he had also mastered several yogic powers. With the
loss of his wife, the king decided to plunge even deeper into his
spiritual practices. Using mind power alone, he started carving the
rocks to leave a memento of the tragic events that befell his life.
The rock that represented a lady nursing a child was supposed to
represent his wife and baby. The rock outcrop that represented a
face was to represent himself facing in the direction of his beloved
kingdom in Bruas. Being a Hindu, he had carved the other rocks to
represent the many gods and goddesses of that religion.