A Narration of the Battlefield in Jayamkondar’s Kalingattuparani

Abstract

Among the Parani texts studied in ancient times, the first one that comes to us is Jayamkondar’s Kalingattuparani. This book is a song in praise of Karunakara Tondaiman, the minister of Mudugalothungan, who went to war against Kalinga Vendan Anantavarman and defeated him. In the last part of the thirteen parts of the book, "Of the heroic deeds on the battlefield," the author has shown heroism while referring to the scenes of the battlefield in order to give pleasure to the readers and stimulate the imagination. The way such and such multi-flavored songs are sung together is an ominous reference to ghosts who may be in the field cooking gruel and adorning themselves with the bodies of fallen soldiers, elephants, and horses. The manner in which the events of the story have been described in many categories, such as location, scene, performance, character appearance, and nature, is admirable. The strategy employed by the author plays an important role in crafting a piece of literature in a refined manner. In this way, the purpose of this article is to explore the expressiveness of Kalingattupparani, which has been used by Jayamkondar to bring together various flavours and portray the events of the story.