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.