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.
@krishashok @kbalakumar you might be interested in this thread on Chola period foods!
Want to read a delightful retelling of Ponniyin Selvan in 300 pages?
Want to travel along the path of Vandhiyathevan covering 100 spots with helpful google map links to guide you?
Ponniyin Selvan Route Map is the book you need to read!
Amazon Link: amzn.to/3BG8zYW
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An asset can be at risk due to both internal vulnerabilities and external threats.
In this analogy, D is the threat - the bad actor who attacks the system.
The comm's flaws (giving up tradition, embracing liberalism/modernity, poor parenting etc.) are the vulnerabilities.
While no doubt both internal and external risks have to be addressed, is it really the right time to discuss vulnerabilities when the system is under attack?
Some say Ds shouldn't be blamed for a systemic flaw - this is such a self-flagellating view that also underestimates D.
Here's Bottom 10 Tamil movies from 2024 that pander to D ideology by either targeting a micro community, or by peddling anti-H, or anti-nationalistic communist dialogues.
These films will have to be named and shamed, for these are the Gems of Dravidawood:
1) Ayalaan - great care is taken for a 5 sec "comedy" clip making a random TB mama fall into the sewage drain.
To pick a junior artist, dress him up in a TB mama attire, do multiple retakes to get it right requires ideological passion.
In D-wood film, villain's company is named "Aaryan" industries.
2) Lal Salaam - imagine a director going out of the way in her audio launch to claim that superstar is not a Sanghi.
And then makes a substandard secular film with Rajini as Moideen Bhai giving lessons on haram and halal.
What's a secular film, u ask? Simple. One in which the do-gooder hero is a M and the villain is a H.
Thanks to the lost hard disk, otherwise LoL Salaam would have won all Acadummy awards only.
Movies are a powerful influential visual medium that Dharmics should never give up on!
The BO failures of Thangalaan, Viduthalai 2 and the success of Amaran must encourage us!
Here are my Top 10 Tamil films from 2024 that are D ideology free and make for excellent OTT watches:
1) Garudan: A rooted, raw and riveting film that explores an untouched area in Tamil cinema - of politicians trying to loot temple property.
The film is unapologetically H, down to its bones and its very soul. Don't fall for the VM credit gimmick. Garudan is D-free (Amzn Prime)
2) Barring the deliberate hiding of Major's comm, Amaran is a thoroughly well-made film that's a fitting tribute to the courageous sacrifice of our soldier. A tearjerker that'd make grown men cry.
Its BO success is a slap in the face of ideologues who detest nationalism(Ntflix)
Clean, Green, and (relatively) cheap, our neighboring nation Sri Lanka is a must visit this Dec-Feb season.
6 day SL itinerary peppered with places from Ramayana and Ponniyin Selvan trail.
Bookmark this thread to plan your next trip, with helpful tips and map links (1/8)
Day 1: Reach Colombo airport and go to Kandy, if you have time, you can visit Pinnawala Elephant Orphanage enroute.
Here, based on the timings, you can watch a herd of elephants eating/ bathing. You can also take a walk with, or feed the elephant for extra cost.
Entry fee is less for Indians than other foreigners, thanks to SAARC. Show your passport to get a 6$ discount.
Check-in at Kandy aka Senkadagalapura, the last seat of royal power in Lanka. Explore this ancient capital city of Sinhala kings which is a UNESCO World heritage site.
Temple of the Tooth Relic, which houses Buddha's tooth is famous and filled with pilgrims and tourists. Entry to the complex is 2000LKR for all foreigners.
They provide a cloth to cover your legs just in case. Pilgrims offer flowers to Buddha's relic, and some can be seen lighting lamps.
The complex also has many museums if you're interested. A cultural dance performance is also near Kandy lake, for those interested in recalling Perahera festival vibes from Ponniyin Selvan
You must have heard the word 'பன்னாடை' (Pannaadai) as a common insult.
This word is mentioned in 12th century Tamil grammar work 'Nannool' to illustrate the nature of a bad student.
The set of examples for top, mid & bottom tier of students has a life lesson for us all (1/6)
Bhavanandhi Munivar, writer of Nanool classifies students into 3 tiers.
The top tier students are like swan and cow.
The mid tier students are like mud and parrot.
The bottom tier students are like broken pot, goat, buffalo and Pannaadai.
What do these examples mean?
Mythical swans can separate out the water from milk - it has the ability to discern useful things even out of an adulterated product.
Good students can filter out what's unnecessary.
Cows eat fast but chew slowly. A good student must get a quick download of lessons when learning, but recall it at leisure, and absorb the lessons well.