Nalan 1.04 Self-Chosen Wedding News Poem by Rajaram Ramachandran

Some Change Exists

The signs of love-sickness,
Were visible on the princess,
But her maids couldn’t guess
What was the reason behind this?

They were scared about her,
And told this to her mother,
“Dhamayanthi, your daughter
Is not doing well, as before.”

“Some change exists, we see.
Of late she’s not care free.”
On hearing this, her mother
Carried the news to her father.

Her Father came

On hearing the same,
Vimarasan, her father came,
Accompanied by her maids,
Many walking on both sides.

Some blew conches.
A few bet drums.
Others shook fans
To give him cool breeze.

Heading this royal procession,
He reached her mansion,
In a tense atmosphere
To know more about her.

The Girl Carried Creeper

Honeybees swarmed
Her flower garland
And were humming
Around while circling.

With her soft hair
She looked so fair.
She fell at his feet
As a mark of respect.

Wedding thoughts.

As she stood up face to face,
He saw her sweating face.
Her face was full of beauty
That made him so happy.

He thought, as a father,
“A chance be given to her
To select a bridegroom
Of her own, well in time.”

It was a prevailing custom
To select a bridegroom
From an assembly of princes
Eligible to marry a princess.

The bride went round,
With a flower garland,
To select her own
Choicest groom then.

Suyam-Varam day for the girl

The flooding surplus water,
From the Ganges River,
Was flowing, with noise,
O’er the green palm leaves.

The good country’s ruler,
Vidharpan, also her father,
Sent his royal messengers
To other states’ kings.

“We’ll have, from this day,
On the seventh auspicious day,
The Suyam-Varam ceremony
Of the Princess Dhamayanthi.”

Like this, he issued orders
Thro’ the tom-tom criers
To all the nooks and corners,
Also the towns and countries.

(Suyam-Varam = bridegroom
self-chosen by bride)

Great Kings Assembled

Great kings assembled,
For the ceremony held.
With all their royal pomp
And show they came up.

One with an umbrella, white,
Another, on a royal elephant,
The third, wore a big garland,
That, by bees, was swarmed.

One looked like a warrior,
Chandran Swarki, one more,
Also those, who praised him,
And, in Tamil poetry, adored him.

Like this, Kings in groups,
Of various, assorted types,
In Vidharba’s Capital arrived
And in the hall they assembled.

Royal Kings Arrived

To swallow the pollen grains,
Many bees swarmed the garlands,
Worn by the king Vimarasan,
The rich, broad chested man.


Elephants tied to posts,
Stood at his main gates.
Royal kings gathered in.
With their kith and kin.

Some of them stayed around
In tents laid on open ground,
Some in guest house or inn,
Awaiting the grand function.

Happiness everywhere

The Vidharpa’s King always held,
A spear of victory in his hand.
The red-lined-eyes of his daughter
Were pretty and crystal clear.

Like the Goddess Lakshmi
She represented beauty.
Like gold, shone her body.
Everyone was after this lady.

Inside the flower gardens,
Where birds stayed in,
And alongside lotus ponds
Some of them stayed in tents.

Came With Clouds

Nalan kept his eye vision
Right in the direction
By which the swan
Was likely to return.

He kept open his ears
To receive the news
From Dhamayanthi,
Whose face was lovely.

In the whirlpool of love,
He was immersed now,
That kept him very tired
In looking for swan that side.

In the sky, thro’ the cloud,
The flying swan hurried
Towards his direction,
That reduced his tension.

A Feast for the Ear

Nalan killed his enemies,
Who disobeyed his orders.
Such a great warrior
Stood like a beggar.

He was like a mendicant,
Who was a dependent
On rich men’s mercy,
To relive his poverty.

His posture was like this
When he heard the news
How she also loved him
And cared more for him.

He was so simple
And looked humble,
When the swan told
What all it heard.

No harm to her?

Nalan had a victorious spear,
That made his enemies fear.
He humbled his enemies,
Whose ego, he did suppress.

Immediately after he heard,
From the mouth of the bird,
He told, “Oh Swan, dear
The King of Swans, you’re.”

“It’s you, who got back,
My lost life for my sake,
Any harm did she face,
Let me know, in any case? ”

Told And Lost

At the command of Nalan,
There went the swan,
Met the lovely princess,
And conveyed the news.

It brought back the news
From the side of princess,
And passed the same on
To the victorious Nalan.

After hearing the news,
He lost his mental balance,
Could think nothing else,
And he became helpless.

Like an elephant in pit, he was

When he heard, she fell sick
Due to love, his heart broke.
Like an elephant in a pit
He fell into this love-pit.

He couldn’t come out
From this love-pit
That like fire burnt
His body and spirit.

Scene of Truth

The doors of Nalan
Were always kept open,
And never closed
During any period.

Bees slept with mates
In the beds of flowers
And it was fertile land
With greeneries around

The messengers who came
There to inform him,
Reached his palace
And gave him the news.

Get the Chariot

When they told Nalan
The news from Vimarasan,
He ordered his charioteer
To bring his chariot there.

First Man of the Town

Readily the chariot was kept.
At once Nalan took his seat.
He told the charioteer then
“Start the chariot soon.”

To the land of Vimarasan
Fast the chariot moved on
It was a land of plenty.
People lived there happily.

By the sea coastal side,
Vimarasan’s land spread.
From lotus flowed honey,
That made the land sticky.

Good lives lived in this land

Agriculture flourished there
Thick plants grew everywhere,
With gold like paddy grains
In his Nidathanadu plains.

Leaving this land behind,
His chariot went far ahead
In the land of Vimarasan
And reached the main town.

A sea of soldiers marched.
In alert, a bow-force stood,
As if it was scene of war
Ready to fight anywhere.

On this ceremonial occasion
The daughter of Vimarasan
Had a beautiful flower garland,
Adding colour to the back ground.

He saw beauty everywhere.
It was a great pleasure
For him to be there
In the land of his lover.