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In Memoriam – Songs from Purananuru - Song 226

Tinai: Potuviyal (general heroism)
Turai: Kaiyarunilai

Marokkattu Nappacalaiyar sings:

If Death had come to him in hatred, or shown anger
or so much as touched him, there would have been no escape
for Death
! He must have joined his palms together in respect
as a singer would and praised him and begged to take
Valavan who wore a garland of gold
Whose chariot was powerful, whose army won victory in dense battles!

Extracted from ‘An Anthology of Poems from classical Tamil: The Purananuru’ translated and edited by George L Hart and Hank Heifetz.

This is part of our series on songs from the Purananuru in memory of the trauma visited on the Tamil people two years ago this month.

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