in veenai bavani kalki would come out against the devadasi system. he would ask thro the words of one of the charecters " why did god have to create such a caste"
in sivagamiyin sabatham he almost glorifies the system in the last page. perhaps he did not have any other settlement for sivagami .
kalki could be considered a social reformer but he chose other punai peyars for it. as Kalki the story teller what social issues were high on his list????
Venkat, great subject!!! I think Kalki's priorities changed as he evolved as a writer and with freedom movement giving way to other issues. My father often used to say lot of freedom fighters felt a big 'loss' in their lives after the movement since things changed radically and that was one of the reasons many writers including Kalki found to cater to the masses.
Thyaga Bhoomi was one of Kalki's strong anti casteist novels. There is a dialogue there in cow shed where cows talk about casteism. One cow says to another - I am red and you are black but we are still cows, why are humans so different. Another one says perhaps they have horns, i have never seen humans with horns, maybe they only think they have. Something like that. It is Kalki's great sense of humor intertwined with message.
The message got diluted in later works, I don't believe SS was supportive of castesim. I think it was more on the lines of Classicm and power struggle. Power and Love have been a subject of struggle all through history, for generations. Besides one of the strong reasons Sivakami was not allowed to marry NP was becasue she could not dance any more and the dance culture would lose a great artiste. Am I missing something here?
Besides one of the strong > reasons Sivakami was not allowed to marry NP was becasue she could > not dance any more and the dance culture would lose a great artiste. > Am I missing something here?
Hi kalki was evolving as a historical writer. in his early novel he dared not disturb the facts. mamallan was married to the pandya princess not to a dancer. but during his later novels like PS he dared to do it. the one main issue he took history head on was pungkuzhali and senthan amudhan becoming king and queen.
> kalki was evolving as a historical writer. > in his early novel he dared not disturb the facts. mamallan was > married to the pandya princess not to a dancer.
Yes exactly that is what I meant, he was only allowed to marry princesses not dancers or outsiders.
I think somehow Poonguzhali/SA becoming king and queen was an afterthought he had somehow to conclude a story that was becoming increasingly complex. In PS Kundavai makes several arguments against commoners marrying royalty which border on pro casteism although this type of arguments exist world over in history. (English royalty still disallows marrying 'commoners').
> I think somehow Poonguzhali/SA becoming king and queen was an > afterthought he had somehow to conclude a story that was becoming > increasingly complex.
Hi i was one amidst strong opposition from many group members who fet other wise. there are many places early in the novel where kalki gives hints of senthan amudhan having royal links.
and the fact from the leyden plates(?? or was it anbil plates) that rrc sacrificed his throne. kalki could not have crowned rrc at the end. that happened 14 years away. coming back to my conviction that kalki intended amuthan to ascend the throne was ona co incidence that i realised after reading anagrams of da vinci code uthama is an anagram of amutha.
Perhaps it was intentional..besides Poonguzhali is portrayed even early on as an ambitious woman . She might have made a good queen atleast better than Vaanathi (one of my least favorite PS characters).
Some of the best parts of PS are the ongoing debates on saivism versus Vaishavism between VD and Azhvarkadiyaan. Also just a passing question - Kalki mentions Jesus in SS, as one of the figures to be drawn into Mamallpuram temple integrating religion. Was it really true that Pallava/Chola kings were aware of western religion, or was it just Kalkis imagination and strong need for cultural integration?
Hi around that time a chera king had even converted to islam and built a mosque.
marco polo visiting mylapore during later pandya times visits the shrine of st. thomas. and pallavas had a lot of association with pallavaram and mylapore. they must have known.