Tamil Labs 2.0 Profile picture
Nov 5, 2022 15 tweets 9 min read Read on X
What did people eat during the Rajaraja Chola times?
What were their favorite snack?
Did they consume meat? Did they drink alcohol in celebration?

A thread!

Warning: Reading this thread could trigger the foodie in you!

#PonniyinSelvan1
Kalki has documented some (not ALL) of the Chola's eating habits.
Mostly through Vandhiyadhevan!

Vanthiyathevan is the hero we always wanted: he flirts well, sleeps better, and eats like a king!

He relishes the good food served by Sendhan Amudhan's mom.
He Starts with Idiyappam and Coconut Milk, a combination straight from heaven.

Then moves on to Puliyodarai, and Corn Flour Paniyaaram.

Finishes off with curd rice.

Sumptous!
Ponniyin Selvan &Poonguzhali eat the fiber rich Varagu Rice (Kodo Millet) as cooked by the mute queen Mandakini.

What about snacks?

Some of Chola snacks: Roasted peanuts with a sprinkling of fresh coconut, millet & jaggery toffee made with sea water, or spiced guava and jamun
Food had moved beyond sustenance & had become a luxury for Cholas.

Records show they cultivated paddy, sugarcane, banana, brinjal, black gram, cow peas (‘karamani’) & spinach.

The phrase "Chozha Naadu Soru Udaithu" shows how fertile the land was, and droughts were unheard of.
Their food was bereft of the current day masala.

It was healthy - with a good mix of protein, carbs, fat and vitamins.

They included ghee- good fat, as part of their food and ate all their veggies.

Some natural fruit sugar was fine too - banana, jackfruit and sugarcane.
They relished their time preparing food. Avarai beans, cooked in tamarind gravy & served with bamboo shoot curry, is a time-consuming dish to prepare.

This dish was prized for its flavour & health benefits, & the texture, once soaked &cooked, had a rich, melt-in-the-mouth feel.
Due to abundance of sugarcanes, they savored sugar -in the form of akkara adisal (Sugar Pongal).

Their favorite snack seems to be Adhirasam, a sweet delicacy.

Fermented foods like Dosas, Appam, were regular foods too.

Post food, they had the habit of chewing Betel leaves.
Of course, they did consume meat as well.

From fish fry to Tortoise/Rabbit To Roasted Peppery Goat, it was a feast.

Historians say non-vegetarian food such as ‘kari choru’ (rice & meat cooked together) was common.
Offering ‘chatti choru’ (pot rice) is still in practice in TN.
Both men and women seemed consumed alcohol - as a celebration.
But they were well aware of the ill effects of alcohol.

Go back 1000 years, and one could see the then TASMACs displaying warning boards in entrance: "Bali Aaveer!" (You'd d!ë)

This is documented in Pattinapaalai:
All in all, during peace times, the Cholas savored good food, dressed up, drank alcohol, sung and danced, paid 16.66% tax, prayed to god, celebrated their king and lived with responsibility.

Live and Let Live.

A lesson 21st century could learn from history.

#Cholas #TamilNadu
If you liked this thread, please follow @labstamil for more such content.

Tag your fellow foodie friends and let them know.

RT The first tweet in the thread:
Sources:
1. Rajaraja Chozhan by Kannan: amzn.to/3UpvIq3
2. Indian Food, a historical companion: amzn.to/3sYVYvA
@krishashok @kbalakumar you might be interested in this thread on Chola period foods!

• • •

Missing some Tweet in this thread? You can try to force a refresh
 

Keep Current with Tamil Labs 2.0

Tamil Labs 2.0 Profile picture

Stay in touch and get notified when new unrolls are available from this author!

Read all threads

This Thread may be Removed Anytime!

PDF

Twitter may remove this content at anytime! Save it as PDF for later use!

Try unrolling a thread yourself!

how to unroll video
  1. Follow @ThreadReaderApp to mention us!

  2. From a Twitter thread mention us with a keyword "unroll"
@threadreaderapp unroll

Practice here first or read more on our help page!

More from @labstamil

Apr 19
The Great Indian Democratic Festival starts today.

At its core lies Electronic Voting Machines designed by BEL.

Are EVMs tamper proof? Since when is it used?
Why should India use it even when Western superpowers don't?

Writer Sujatha, whose team at BEL designed it, answers:
Image
Image
EVMs were used for the first time in the general election in Kerala in 1982.

An LDF candidate filed a petition to stop EVM use. After Sujatha's demo in judge's chambers, EVM was permitted .
The same candidate who filed a complaint had won.

"Electronics won" wrote Sujatha! Image
Winner rejoices, but the losing INC candidate filed a case against EVM in HC, lost it & appealed to SC.

Supreme Court vouched that the machine was tamper proof but the prevailing laws in 1982 did not allow for EVMs to be used in elections and hence struck down the elections.
Read 12 tweets
Apr 9
On the subject of Kamalhassan, his hypocrisy and double standards and misinformation have been documented by Tamil Labs over the past 1.5 years.

A thread compiling all such posts for your reading pleasure, Kamal fans are welcome to give a factual rebuttal: Image
2020 Kamal criticizing ADMK for rain-flood mismanagement, and 2023 Kamal blaming the force of nature instead of DMK:

Kamal spreading misinformation among college students that Dravidian landmass was pan-India, and Sangam's Paalai land was actually Thar desert in Rajasthan:
Read 11 tweets
Apr 6
One of the most engaging but dishonest film is Jana Gana Mana, from Commiewood.

Infact the movie clearly states its political ideology and bigotry very clearly, including its emotional manipulation technique.

But alas, we were hooked to cinema and missed it all.

A thread. Image
Spoilers Ahead.

The film was good only no? Why are you calling it called dishonest, you ask? Good question.

The film states one thing and does exactly its opposite - isn't this dishonest?

Take this scene for example - it hates discriminating people by color. A school textbook that calls people fair and ugly is criticized. Valid point.

But what does the film do?Image
It casts a fair skinned Prithviraj as the virtuous hero who fights for the "oppressed" despite huge personal losses.

He fights against a evil dark skinned Tamil speaking politician, GM Sundar as the villain.

Okay this is just a casting choice, ignored. Mild example to start off the proceedings. More to come.Image
Read 14 tweets
Mar 25
The Srirangam Files:

In 1323 CE, just like today, crowds had thronged to Srirangam Temple for the Panguni festivities.

Mohammed Bin Thuqlaq was camping at what is Samayapuram today, near Trichy. He wasn't coronated as the "Mad Delhi Sultan" yet, and went by his real name Ulugh Khan.

It was a sacred temple festival for the locals, but for the Sultan-to-be, it was an expedition - a chance to loot and ransack the huge temple and strike fear at the hearts of idol worshipping Kh@firs.

Sensing that Khan might attack, the temple Archakar Vaduladesikar had made arrangements for the Murti to be saved.

Wrath had filled the Mad Tyrant Ulugh Khan and he screamed his orders. Trained army men behe*ded 12,000 unarmed devotees making the Kaveri river turn red with civilian blood.

It took weeks before all the bodies could be disposed. This bloody history, this "Srirangam files" won't be found in most history books.
But the Srirangam temple's own record book 'Koil Ozhugu' documents this incident as 'பன்னீராயிரம் திருமுடி திருத்திய கலகம்’.

We must consciously recall and respect the sacrifices of our ancestors. Otherwise, those who forget history are condemned to repeat it.Image
Image
Sri Vedanta Desika who played a crucial role in saving the Murthi, had composed a stotra 'Abeedhi Sthavam' asking Ranganathar to remove the fear instiled in people by Turks and Yavanas (Greeks). Image
As @saravin2 anna shares, Srirangam behe*dings happened on Day 8 of Panguni Uthsavam and not Panguni Uthiram.

Had missed posting it then (due to the whole TMK saga), so sharing it now.

Which is why the post is fuzzy on the details re exact date😊
Read 4 tweets
Mar 23
Compiling all threads and posts from the past few days, on the TM Krishna- Music Academy saga, EVR's problematic statements cited from primary sources, at a single place.

Bookmark this for quick reference. RT this to spread the word. (1/11)
Many were asking for sources on whether EVR really called for a genozide.

In this Srirangam speech, he himself takes credit for asking people to st@b any and all TB men and women, keeping fire to their agr@harams and it resulting in a policy change:

The Indian Express on 22 Oct 1957 reported EVR speech calling for B blood:

"Bs formed only 3% of the population and nothing would be lost if one out of 3 was k!lled.
Until the B blood was shed, there could be no salvation for Tamilians"

Link: books.google.co.in/books?id=jollA…

Image
Image
Read 13 tweets
Mar 21
Challenge Accepted. Thread (1/5)

Instances of EVR profanity against women

1: 1971 EVR (age 92) speech at a wedding at Madurai:

"Why do women spend so much time in makeup?

The only reason is to make others (men) take a look at them.

They dress provocatively such that their body parts are visible rousing emotions in men.

The makeup and the dress they wear is what arouses emotions (lust) in men"Image
2. EVR, of age 94 says in his Irudhi Perurai (Final Great Speech) in 1973:
"Why are temples still alive?

Because only in a temple's festive crowd, will a husband get the pleasure of seeing his wife being groped.

He is habituated to this because everyone else's wife is also subject to the same.

Women could also get such a chance to graze multiple men only within temple premises. If we make different arrangements for this, women would not go to temples"Image
3. On Genozide of Bs:
EVR directly compared TBs to Jews & suggested for their forced emigration out of India. This was in 1938, when atrocities against Jews were beginning to take root in Germany.

Its clear what was his intent behind the call for more research comparing Jews with Bs.

In another instance, he says "To eradicate caste in our country, we need to propagate the eradication of Gȯd, rėligion, Sastras and Br@hmins. Even if one of them remains, can we really consider c@ste to be truly ėradicatėd?" Is this not a call for genozide?Image
Image
Image
Read 5 tweets

Did Thread Reader help you today?

Support us! We are indie developers!


This site is made by just two indie developers on a laptop doing marketing, support and development! Read more about the story.

Become a Premium Member ($3/month or $30/year) and get exclusive features!

Become Premium

Don't want to be a Premium member but still want to support us?

Make a small donation by buying us coffee ($5) or help with server cost ($10)

Donate via Paypal

Or Donate anonymously using crypto!

Ethereum

0xfe58350B80634f60Fa6Dc149a72b4DFbc17D341E copy

Bitcoin

3ATGMxNzCUFzxpMCHL5sWSt4DVtS8UqXpi copy

Thank you for your support!

Follow Us!

:(