6. The Grand Feast or Perumcorru

The cooked rice (coru) is an important food item of Indians, especially for the south Indians since the ancient times. Many Sangam literary sources praised the merits of hot, well cooked rice with ghee. “Coru” was the cooked rice flavoured with spices. The term “Perumcoru” was an offering, made in the memorial of a fallen hero in a battle. The grand feast held before a battle was also referred by the term Perumcorru.

1. The Grand Feast in Purananuru

Purananuru included as the 8^th text of Ettutokai. The Puram poems refer the sagas of the kings, warriors and wars. It contains 400 songs in 4 divisions. But the 267 and 268 songs of the text were already lost and now the text contains only 398 songs.

In Purananuru, the second song after the prayer is about Utiyan Ceralatan. In this song, Muranciyur Mutinakarayar directly praised the king that Utiyan was the great feeder of the Kurukshetra war. He denoted the Kauravas with the term “iraimpatimmar” and Pandavas with the term “Aivar”.

alankulaippuraviyaivarotu cinai i
nilantalaikontapolamputtumpai
iraraimpatimmarum porutukalattozhiyap
perincottumikupatam varaiyatu kotuttoy^[1]

Translation-

Majestic monarch! When the ten times ten
Kauravas, crowned with golden tumbai wreaths,
Wrathful in battle against the heroes five-Lords of the fiery steeds with tossing mane-
Their patrimony lusting after, fought,
Thou didst unstinted savoury food supply
To either host, till all the Kurus fell.^[2]

Great king with horses tossing their waving manes! When hundred under Duryodhana bedecked in necklaces of gold fashioned in the shape of “Thumpai” flowers, quarrelled with the five having grabbed all their lands, you served unending quantities of the best cooked rice to both armies.^[3]

2. The Grand feast in Akananuru

Akananuru or Netumtokai is included as the 7^th text of Ettutokai. It is a collection of 400 poems divided in three parts namely Kalirriyanainirai, Manimitai Pavalam and Nittilikkovai. In the Akam. 168 Kottampalattunciya Makkotai gave reference about the kitchen of Utiyan Ceralatan. He compared the sound of waterfalls is similar to the sound of vessels from the kitchen of Utiyan. It obviously indicates the fact that King Utiyan was very generous to provide food to common people. But the poet did not refer the myth of great feeding in the battle of Kurukshetra.

pallan kuntir patunizharu cernta
nallan parappiru kuzhumurankatu
kotaikkata nenra kota nenci-
nutiya nattilupola voliyezhu-
ntaruvi yarkkum pruvarai ccilampin (Akam, 168)

Translation-

And there are waterfalls with roaring sound
Like the sounds in the kitchen of King Uthiyan
Cheraalthan who undertake charitable work
Without discord in Kulumur, where herds of
Cows are spread in the shade of Pallankundram Mountain.^[4]

(Akam 168, Kottampalattunciya Ceraman)

In the Akananuru, Mamulanar praised the great feeding in a Palai song what the heroines friend said to her. He referred a great feeding conducted by the king to please his ancestors. The poet did not clarify that the grand feast was occurred in the battle of Kurukshetra.

marappatai kkutirai mara maintin
turakkam eytiya toyya nallicai
mutiyar ppeniya Utiyan ceral
pruncoru kotutta nantai irumpal
kuli ccurrn kuzhi iyiru ntanku-
kkuriyavum netiyavun kunrutalai mananta
curanira ntakanrna rayinum ….

Translation-

He has gone with an unbending mind, confused
Through the wasteland hugged by mountains
Short and tall, like ghouls and their relatives
When king Uthiyanceral gave offerings to his
Very brave ancestors with unspoiled fame,
…who have gone to the upper
…world with their horse brigades,
In summer, when clouds move away from the huge,
Proud forest that is burned, surrounded by fire, and
Elephants have lost their flesh and are sad.^[5]

3. Grand feast in Cilappatikaram

Cilappatikaram is a Tamil classic poem by Ilamko Atikal. It depicts the story of Kannaki, her husband Kovala and Madhavi, a courtesan. This work refers the prominent Cera King Ceran Cenkuttuvan, the grandson of Utiyan Ceralatan and his capital Vanci. The king established a temple in the name of Kannaki at Kotungallur included in the Vanci region. This incident was portrayed in the in the 26^th Katai^[6], namely “Vancikandam”of the work.

Perumcorru story is also referred as the “ucalvari” (unnalpattu) of Vancikandam as given below:

oraivariraimpatinmarutinrazhunta
porir perumcoru poraratu tanalitta
ceran poraiyan malaiyanriram pati
kkarcey kuzhalatavatamo vucal

We should enjoy the swinging by praising the merits of that Ceran who generously provide food in the tremendous war between the Pandavas and Kauravas.

Here the term “Oraivar” denotes the five Pandavas and “Iraimpat” (double of fifty) referred the hundred Kauravas. Here also depicted the grand feeding in the Kurukshetra war.

Footnotes and references:

[1]:

. Purananuru, Puram 2

[2]:

K.G Sesha Aiyar, Cera Kings of Sangam Period, (London: Luzac & Co., 1937), 6.

[3]:

T. Madhava Menon, The Puranaanuru (Tamil Sangam Classic), Tr. and interpretation.

[4]:

Herbert Vaidehi, Aknanuru -Translation with English meaning, (Chennai: Digital Maxim LLC, 2013).

[5]:

Ibid.

[6]:

The term “Katai” is the vernacular form of the word “Gatha”.