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	"I am also a servitor of the servitors of Tiru-k-Kurippu-th-Tondar"

					- The Tiru-th-Tonda-th-Tokai.

1. 	Goodly Tondai-Nadu is great in its tapas pure,
	As it is here, She, poised in the Agamic way extolled
	By all the four Gospels of gnosis, wrought askesis rare
	And was blessed to embrace Her Lord unique.
	She is to all lives the Mother of infinite mercy
	And she protects them (in keeping with their Karma).		(1078)

2. 	For the flourishing of the great leading families
	Who love the impartial way linked to extensive weal,
	If fosters many a city of uberty, girt with
	Puissant forted walls; such is the great Tondai-Nadu
	Established in immeasurable and hoary loftiness.		(1079)

3. 	The lowly devotees of Pazhayanoor who solicit weal only,
	When stymied by evil flaw, weighed as it were
	In the scale their life against their plighted word
	To a merchant; it was in the great Tondai-Nadu
	The glorious honouring of the plighted word took place
	(Which cost them their very lives).				(1080)

4. 	When he beheld the holy ash -- the very form of Siva-Sakti --,
	(In fuller’s earth with which a washerman was smeared),
	The Chera king said: “I am Chera, your servitor.”
	His glory spread far and wide; in his hallowed Malai-Nadu
	Thrive victorious heroes who wear dazzling jewels;
	These claim the citizens of the great Tonda-Mandala
	To be their brothers-in-law, as of right.			(1081)

5. 	As the beauteously bejewelled Uma sought perfection
	Of her love for the blue-throated Lord, and here
	Performed dharma, the world proclaims ex cathedra
	That the great Tonai-Nadu in which is situate the city
	(Of Kanchi) whose lofty forted walls reach the crescent,
	Stands fast in virtue’s path.					(1082)

6. 	Cataracts and rivers of the Kurinji realm fall down
	And roll on with flawless gems; in the Mullai regions
	Variform honey-bees sip fresh nectar from flowers;
	In the Maruda realms carps leap and break the ridges;
	In the Neithal, women wash pearls and dry them.			(1083)

7. 	Kuravas winnow seeds of Karamani from gems
	And sow them in the Kurinji tracts; in the Mullai realms
	Milch-cows and antelopes graze together;
	In the Mardua fields birds perch on lotus flowers,
	Catch and eat (iral fish); in the regions of backwaters
	The sharp bones of sharks are objects of adoration.		(1084)

8. 	Over hills of Kurinjii clouds from sky pour down pearls;
	In Mullai tracts, cool bunches of konrai shower gold;
	On loam in fields, channels scatter pearls; vessels unload
	Elephants in harbours near which kandal grow.			(1085)

9. 	The montane hamlets are rich in red-millet flour
	Soaked in honey; the sylvan villages abundantly supply
	Pullarisi cooked in milk; in arable tracts endowed with
	Cool fords, goodly rice well-cooked, ghee, sugarcane
	And fruits are aplenty; in the littoral regions
	Schools of fishes serve for great food.				(1086)

10. 	In Kurinji where bees which hum like flute, sing
	Kurinji-p-pann; in Mullai, drums resound
	Like clouds, and mullai creepers blossom;
	In Marudam parakeets softly lisp and sleep
	On Maruda trees; Neithal thrives with shady screwpine,
	And neithal flowers bloom in backwaters.			(1087)



11. 	In that land of great fourfold regions
	In hilly Kurinji, its people rear millet grains;
	In all the vast fields where millet is grown
	Peacocks of spreading wings can be eyed;
	Women of curly hair who keep watch over those fields
	Are pretty like the very peafowls.				(1088)

12. 	The bees that lay embedded in the curly locks
	Of paradisal apsaras (who came to hail Kalatthi)
	Flew over and settled on the locks of Koticchiyar
	Of swelling breasts and fair adornments.
	Blessed is the land, for thither is the cloud-capped Hill
	Of Tiru-k-Kalatthi where is enshrined
	The Rider of the red-eyed Bull who is Vishnu.			(1089)

13. 	In that land of munificent Kurinji region
	Is Tiruvidaicchuram where the Supreme One
	Who sports the Ganga on His matted hair, is enshrined;
	Seeking a different and unique beatitude
	The celestial lords and ladies came to be born here
	As peerless hunters and huntresses to hail the Lord;
	Such indeed is the sublime loftiness of the land.		(1090)

14. 	This land is endowed with Tiru-k-Kazhu-k-kunram
	Where abides the God of gods; it has vast stretches
	Dight with flowery springs and spas, where Koticchiyar
	Who deck their full-grown hair
	With golden blooms beauteous,
	And celestial damozels plunge and bathe.
	Can any one ever say that this
	Kurinji land, where bees hum over twigs,
	Is anywise flawed in its ever-during askesis?			(1091)

15. 	Beyond beauteous Mullai and Kurinji, are
	A few patches of elevation full of broken bits of stones.
	Here are many pagodas for Neeli of ebon hue
	Who wields the sabre; these could be fittingly called
	Palai, known for its hot summer and fierce noon.		(1092)

16. 	The extensive stretch of Mullai begins at the end
	(Of Kurinji); into this gushes forth sweeping
	In its flood, flowers buzzed over by bees,
	The mighty jungle river, and spreads and rises
	To the top of soft-leaved Kuruntam on which
	Mullai creepers have woven a soft flowery bower,
	The habitat of hares which now flee from the flood.		(1093)

17. 	The Kala plants spread out the rumour that mullai buds
	Have purloined the teeth’s beauty of damsels
	Whose foreheads resemble the clipped moon;
	Sensing this they ope their petals in smile and say:
	“Thieving is common to the Kalas too; else how could
	They be as black as the dames’ koontals?”			(1094)

18. 	In that Mullai realm, herds of fawns vanquished
	By the sword-loke eyes of lasses, roam everywhere;
	Also are to be eyed everywhere mullai creepers
	Put to shame by the slender waists of women.
	Tamil grammar proclaims red-eyed Vishnu
	To be the ‘Lord of Mullai’; he adores Lord Siva
	Who is joyously enshrined in Tirumullaivasal.			(1095)

19. 	That it may perennially supply water
	For the divine ablutions of the Lord who wears
	The crescent and whose divine frame is
	With the Holy Ash besmeared, the Ganga manifests as a spring
	In bright flowery Kalikai, the megapolis;
	This is a great treasure of the Mullai region.			(1096)

20. 	In the Maruda land abutting the Mullai land
	Rich in mullai creepers of soft fragrant blooms,
	Runs many a billowy river near unto fields
	Where green-leaved lotuses huge burgeon
	And fills tanks and lakes of strong banks
	Where the loud chirp of water-fowls is heard.			(1097)

21. 	The milk that flowed from the divine udder of Surabi
	Of the glorious tapaswi, swelled and flooding
	Coursed down the Nandi-Hill, sweeping pearls,
	Sandal-wood, eagle-wood and the like besides gems;
	Thus ran the river Paii, filling many a lotus-tank.		(1098)

22. 	Like mother’s breasts whence issues milk abundant
	When her suckling child touches them, the dry river
	Gushes forth when farmers during summer dig
	Into its sand-dunes; the water is gathered into channels
	Through which it flows and then overflows on the banks
	Even smashing the weirs of the vast low-lying fields.		(1099)

23. 	Such rivers flow, and gushing fill
	The strong-banked tanks nigh the fields;
	When vents are flung open from the watched-over dams
	The waters rush into channels seeing which
	The farmers shout in sheer joy.					(1100)

24. 	He-buffaloes, the cause of peerless uberty,
	Are yoked to ploughs and plied to make the soil miry;
	Some broadcast seed-paddy of silver shoot;
	Some are busy plucking seedlings, while some others
	Engage themselves in transplanting them;
	Thus are pursued many acts in ways dinsome.			(1101)

25. 	Valai fish block the flow of water in channels;
	Water rising breaks the bunds and flows away;
	Kendai fish throng thick in the depressions
	Of the watery fields and thus raise the level of ridges;
	Varal fish leap into the small vents and stop the flow.		(1102)

26. 	In the Maruda realm richly endowed with water,
	On red-lotuses teeming in vast and ridged fields
	Sleep gravid chanks that are tired; all the area
	Dazzles with a greenery rare; the chanks there
	Look like the moon girt with a belt of light.			(1103)

27. 	Tall Kazhai-sugarcanes grow near crops of paddy
	That thrive well; near the canes are areca trees,
	Near which are coconut trees rich in bunches;
	Plantains of green fruit, rich jack-fruit trees
	And mango trees of dangling fruit delicious
	Are in gardens protected by a running fence.			(1104)

28. 	The wealthy towns hoary are girt with fields
	Vast and cool; paddy granaries mark the houses;
	In its streets dight with great mansions, dwell
	Glorious householders; tapers burn hospitably there.		(1105)

29. 	The prosperous towns where Brahmins dwell
	Foster the Vedas and the glorious arts; in their homes
	Are chanted the scriptures; from their homa-pits
	Where oblations are offered, rises aloft smoke
	That into throngs of nimbi, turns.				(1106)

30. 	Vallam thrives gloriously hailing the holy ash;
	Here thrives the race of Brahmins in whose families
	Women-devotees were born thanks to goodly Karma;
	It was here the Lord blessed the Asura Teekkali
	And graciously freed him from trouble.				(1107)

31. 	The Maruta realm is rich with rubies rolled down
	By the waterfalls of Kurinji; its streams are full
	Of flowers washed into them from the Mullai land;
	On the banks of Pali is TiruMalperu in which
	The peerless temple of the river-crested Lord
	Is situated and at which temple He abides in joy.		(1108)

32. 	What else should be said of its glory? It is rich
	In many temples of Siva on the banks of many rivers;
	Is not the Maruta realm blessed with Tiru-p-Pasoor
	Where the Lord who peeled off the hide of the long-trunked
	Pachydermatous behemoth, is enshrined.				(1109)

33. 	The minstrels who sing in the pann of Marutam
	On the flowery fields well-watered, deck themselves
	With soft flowers, gather under the shade of mango trees
	With their beloved kin and strum their maruta-yazh;
	Nearby are beauteous fields, beyond which
	Lies Neythal marked by its dark backwaters.			(1110)

34. 	Paratavas of white sandy fords weave fishing-nets;
	Their red-eyed women weave wreaths of serunti blooms;
	Alavas are busy measuring salt, in salt pans;
	By their women – Alatthiyar of swan’s own gait
	And lovely mien --, are pearls measured.			(1111)

35. 	Nulaiyas vend fat fishes; oh cruel is their calling!
	Nulaicchis vend coral gathered from the reef
	Near sandy shore; turaivas dive for pearls
	And gather chanks; their women whose eyes are like
	Symmetrically slit slices of tender mango,
	Bathe in joy in sandy wells.					(1112)

36. 	On the edge of sea runs an eddying stream
	Over which punnai spills its gold, the pollen;
	The bees that are cradled in fragrant neythal blooms
	Are fed with pollen by the long-leaved fragrant screwpines
	That grow on the banks of the backwaters.			(1113)

37. 	The defective breaches in the fertile banks
	Of the backwaters are filled with mullai plants
	Whose thorns are strong and whose rich buds are
	Red, cool and fragrant; the pollen of gnazhal
	From the gardens of Neytal rich in fords where swans play,
	Conceal the white and soft sands of the shore.			(1114)

38. 	In the habitation of the fishwives, near which
	The leaping billows dash and break
	The women whose shoulders are bamboo-like,
	Display for sale carp fish; their eyes which roll
	Like carp-fish aren’t however for sale;
	The words of these are sweet to hearken and they
	Match the melody of Sevvazhi-Yazh.				(1115)

39. 	Deluded, the King cut down cruelly the provision
	For temples; by an interlineations the Peerless One
	Caused the words, “Except Tiruvotriyoor”
	To appear in the document; the Neytal owns
	The divine area fronting that great temple.			(1116)

40. 	Tirumayilapuri flourishing in gloried truth,
	Tiruvanmiyoor girt with flowery gardens fragrant,
	And many a shrine where the Lord that wears
	The snake of venomous sacs is enshrined, are there,
	Can its full-fledged askesis be deemed small?			(1117)

41. 	From the sea whence roll waves enfolding chanks,
	The coral-creeper spreads and twines with its shoots
	The branches of sandal-tree; thus are there
	Many lands linking Neytal with Kurinji
	Where thrive great towns like Maa Mallai
	Rich in mansions of pennant-flaunting balconies.		(1118)

42. 	The carps from the fields leap on rocks and thither roll;
	It looks as though the hills are with eyes endowed;
	When the black stage leap and run, it is like into
	The movement in the ridged fields of buffaloes
	Yoked to ploughs; here are fields watered
	By little waves, linked to tracts of Kurinji.			(1119)

43. 	From Mullai land rich in kine, a hare eyes
	The hare in the moon on the mountain-top and rushes there;
	Over piles of Varaku in fragrant Mullai rest clouds
	Surcharged with water; thus is seen everywhere
	The marriage of Mullai and Kurinji.				(1120)

44. 	Seamen obtain from foresters partridges and quails
	In exchange for their heaps of fishes; the little girls
	There measure coral and pearls against country beans
	And millet, of the huntresses; there is seen the blending
	Of the ways of maritime Neytal with Mullai.			(1121)

45. 	To imitate the beauteous gait of the cow-herdess
	And emulate the mien of the farmwife --
	Dwellers in abutting Mullai fragrant
	And Marutam of long and vast fields --,
	The swan and the peacock there come, fronting each other,
	Thus are there the tracts of Marutam and Mullai.		(1122)

46. 	Rolling waves wash ashore pearls which get mixed
	With the flowers falling from areca spathes;
	Women of Neytal and farmwives of Marutam
	Whose shoulders are bamboo-like lay rival claims
	To these and bear them away; thus are Neytal tracts
	Linked close to those of Marutam.				(1123)

47. 	Thus in all the fourfold regions and their ways of life
	Many families thrive pursuing the callings of their clans;
	They are untouched by evil, aye, even in their dream;
	Pure are they; truly the glory of Tonda-Mandala is ineffable.(1124)

48. 	In this famous land of foison is the famous city,
	Kanchi of true uberty, the wonder of the whole world.
	It abides when even the cosmos comes to an end;
	Such is it that it is hailed by men of all faiths.		(1125)

49. 	In this hoary city, of yore, the Goddess hailed
	Her Lord by pooja, and performed dharma -- 
	Flawless and manifold --, for the redemption
	Of the world; let me sing that glory and greatness
	As I chance to know it.						(1126)

50. 	Lord Siva in whose matted hair flows the leaping Ganga
	Was throned in Kailas, the silver mountain;
	He clearly explicated to Her, the Ruler of the worlds,
	The true and great tenets of the Aagamas.			(1127)

51. 	When the Lord graced Her with the truth that it is Pooja
	Hailed by the innumerable Aagamas, which is endearing to Him,
	She, the greatest of women,
	The shoot as it were of great askesis,
	Desired to perform pooja for the Lord-God.			(1128)

52. 	Sensing Her inner desire, His boson was filled with joy;
	With a smile He asked Her: “What is it that your heart
	Is after?” “O my Lord, my desire swells; I should
	In the Aagamic way perform
	Your Pooja.” Thus spake she,
	Whose jeweled breasts are Siva-bhoga.				(1129)

53. 	The Lord-God approved it and said: “By reason
	Of the tapas wrought by the South, there came into being
	An ever-during city, called Kanchi, easy of access to all;
	There under a mango-tree are We enshrined.
	There adore Us in joy in abiding pooja.”
	When the Lord bade Her thus
	She took leave of Him reluctantly.				(1130)

54. 	The Lord fosters eighty four hundred thousand species
	Of life in great mercy; she desired to hail Him
	In pooja as is prescribed in the Aagamas
	Graciously explicated by Him;
	So She adored Him and took leave of Him;
	Her father Himavant too, came to her, borne in love
	With articles and attendants for pooja.				(1131)

55. 	The Mother fared forth circled by many beings, celestials
	And others; thus She came to Kanchi; thither a great snake
	By Name Patuman fell at Her feet, and wearing them as it were,
	On his crown, prayed to Her: “Thou art the Mother
	Of the Universe, be pleased to abide in my hole.”
	To this She graciously consented.				(1132)

56. 	There for the flourishing of all the lives on earth,
	Embosoming only grace which is nought but limitless joy
	She desired to perform pooja for Him that sports
	The crescent on His matted hair; He was sought everywhere;
	But the great Ens would not reveal Himself;
	The daughter of the auric mount, the One liana-like,
	Resolved to redouble her effort so that Her great askesis
	Should swell and soar beyond measure.				(1133)

57. 	Her heart was after the Lord, her lips
	Ever chanted the Panchakshara;
	Her hands like red lotuses, folded in adoration;
	She sought refuge in Him through tapas;
	Her unique Lord could keep away no more;
	Under the flawless mango-tree, He manifested
	For the daughter of the mountain, to behold Him.		(1134)

58. 	When She beheld Him, the fruit of Her great askesis,
	-- Her Lord who is enshrined in Ekampam --,
	She bowed low before Him and her bee-laden locks
	Dangled low; Her desire began to soar up;
	Her love grew limitless; Her goal was to hail Him
	In pooja; this the kovai-lipped Uma, now commenced.		(1135)

59. 	She stood poised in the truth of the Aagamas
	As explicated by the God of gods, to hail Him in pooja;
	Her natural companions who were like unto
	Flowery twigs, came with flower-baskets
	In soft and gentle gait, to Ambikavanam,
	The garden where they gathered blooms,
	Pure, fresh and fragrant, for the Lord.				(1136)

60. 	They gathered manifold flowers holy water
	For ablutions secured from the great kampai river,
	And fragrant paste for the Lord’s divine person;
	Lamps fed with ghee were secured;
	Holy fumigation was arranged.
	These were the articles of pooja sought by the mind
	Filled with abiding Love; these were to Her
	Handed over by Her attendants when she required them.
	Thus, Our Mother of all the worlds, wrought Her pooja true
	In strict conformity with the Aagamic injunctions.		(1137)

61. 	She who is the liana-like daughter of Himavant,
	She who can grant boons to lives, realized that the fruit
	Of the blessed endowment of hands is to perform Siva-pooja;
	Her heart swelled in love for the God of gods; Her great love
	Expanded and grew peerless; she caused all good to flourish;
	Every day she bowed Her head before Her Lord and performed
	Pooja which was, for sure, approved by Him.			(1138)

62. 	While thus She joyously and in love did pooja for the Lord,
	He desired to play a game divine and thus bless Her 
	Of the lovely ear-rings; it looked as though He caused
	All the seven seas to merge into one flood, overflowing
	Even the heavens; thus ran the flood in the river
	Kampai as He wished.						(1139)

63. 	She whose eyes were beauteous carps, beheld the flood
	Of the Lord’s grace and was scared; it came
	Raging and rushing, sweeping the very heavens;
	Knowing it to be devastating, in loving agitation, she tried
	To forfend it with her divine hands; as it was of no avail
	She who is equaled by Herself alone, closely embraced
	The Lord who wears the cool crescent in His crest.		(1140)

64. 	As She, the daughter of the King of Mountains, in love
	And fear, with Her hands that wore bangles, hugged close
	And with Her hill-like breasts hugged tight the Lord of gods
	Who manifested in the umbrage of the mango-tree,
	In growing desire, the Lord that liked this game divine
	Became soft and lithe in His frame, over which He had
	Of yore worn the hide of a tusker wild; She whose brow
	Was a bow peerless, with Her divine breasts and hands
	Felt the palpable softness.					(1141)

65. 	As He grew soft and lithe, hugged by His beloved,
	Beings -- mobile and immobile --, and all species of life
	Inclusive of the seven, beginning with the celestials, melted
	And with their lives and bodies fused together
	Began to pray thus:
	“Soft has our Lord Ekampar become for ever to our Lady!”
	Celestials rained fresh and fragrant Karpaka blooms;
	The Kampai the adored and stood denuded of its flood.		(1142)

66. 	Fully smearing His frame with the Holy Ash – wealth great --,
	With a top-knot on His matted hair where the Ganga flows,
	With chank-earrings and rudraksha wreath dangling, 
	The Lord presented a Yogi’s form; but who wrought askesis?
	The Primal Lord or the Universal Mother?
	She graced Him with Her body’s mark, and He on His body
	Wore it: the impress of Her bangles and breasts.		(1143)

67. 	The Lord showed His form of bridegroom to Her so that
	The flawless and nectarean Goddess might flourish
	For ever; Her breasts have softened Him sure;
	He now said: “Get all the boons You seek.” She bowed
	At the fragrant and lotus-like ruddy feet of the Lord
	-- The Originator of the Gospels --, and wanted to apprise
	Him that Her flawless pooja unto Him
	Had not yet met with termination.				(1144)

68. 	Folding Her hands and in awesome fear, She stood
	Before the God of gods and said: “You have approved
	My pooja so far; incomplete is this day’s pooja;
	May you graciously deem it as complete!” The Lord, the Wearer
	Of a flowery eye in His forehead where shine
	Triple stripes of the Holy Ash, beholding the lotus-visage
	Of Himavant’s daughter whose locks are sought by bees,
	Said: “Your pooja to us for ever knows no end!”			(1145)

69. 	“My Lord, may this pooja endless be performed for ever
	And be approved by Yourself in joy; grant me the boon
	That I may in this place eternal, do all dharmas
	Save the sin against Your divine feet; may all acts,
	In whatsoever way performed by the dwellers here,
	Be rated as great askesis and the doers, rewarded.”
	Thus spake She, the abolisher of embodiment.			(1146)

70. 	When the daughter of Himavant prayed thus
	To the Rider of the Bull, He came to be poised in Her pooja;
	He also granted Her two nazhis of seed-paddy
	That she could for all times do all dharma, therewith.
	‘What though they be – high or low --,
	Even the evil deeds of the dwellers of Kanchi
	Will be deemed to be tapas leading to the true goal.’
	Thus, even thus, the Lord blessed.				(1147)

71. 	Thus endowed with inconceivably rare boons great
	Our Lady there performed pooja to the Lord’s delight;
	The fruits thereof were to all entia conferred;
	Prompted by mercy to bless all householders, so that
	Lives linked in love may flourish well,
	She abides at the holy and hallowed Kamakkottam
	And fosters dharmas, two and thirty.				(1148)

72. 	The Goddess Ara-p-perum Selvi that performs
	Endless tapas, has for Her house divine which is
	Indeed the Cosmos, a lamp of three wicks
	Which attests the fruit of Her descent on earth.
	Every year from a stalk bloom three blue flowers;
	She abides as Kamakkottam that dharmas may thrive. 		(1149)

73. 	Amidst Tiru-k-Kamakkottam is a pool of cool water
	Hailed by the triple worlds; this is like unto the ladder
	Through the rungs of which Salvation can be reached
	By men on this sea-girdled earth; here is water
	Found at all times; sacred streams that wash away
	The sins of bathers hail the glory of this pool
	Known as Ulakani.						(1150)

74. 	To Tiru-k-Kamakkottam of the Goddess who fosters lives
	By Her endless performance of dharmas,
	The Moon and the Sun come; but when they depart
	They adhere not to their skyey way but move away
	Sideways deferentially as a result of which
	Directions grow contrariwise; shadows emerge
	And confusion of directions reigns; this can be witnessed
	By all the dwellers of this world; it is so even today.		(1151)

75. 	In the bournes of Kanchi-city protected by Kali
	Is Tiru-p-Perumpeyarirukkai near the bank
	Of the river Kanchi where the Lord, the wearer
	Of the crescent in His crest, abides in love; there is 
	Uberous Kanchitthanam whose shadow parts not
	From it whether the sun fiercely rises aloft
	Or sinks into the western main.					(1152)

76. 	The Vedas hail Him here; rare tapas is wrought here;
	Anchored in unalterable righteousness, here perform
	Munis, pooja; all beings beginning with the Devas
	In sheer love that overflows, adore Him in pooja;
	The Lord grants to each his heart-felt desire
	And here He abides in joy in shrines innumerable
	Within the limits of this beauteous Kanchi.			(1153)

77. 	In the precincts of the ever-abiding city divine
	By reason of the greatness of the soil, a hare that lives
	On shrub could chase away an elephant; such a spot
	Of unabating enthusiasm is sure here; besides this
	There is a place where the dead get resurrected;
	Also is there a place called “The Deathless Place”
	Not to be seen anywhere else on earth; such places
	Are a natural sight here.					(1154)

78. 	Here are Punya-Tirthas which do away
	With the sins of bathers and confer on them joy only,
	Ishta-Siddhi that grants the very thing wished-for,
	And Mangala-Tirtha which is a confluence
	Of all the holy waters of the triple worlds; in sooth
	There are innumerable Tirthas in that city
	Where for ever the celestials bathe.				(1155)

79. 	There is the golden spot where on a single stalk
	Three lotuses bloom; there is also the place where 
	The flooding river runs westward and sudden
	Disappears; there during the live-long day
	The red-lily blooms; fresh lotus blooms at night;
	At noon blossoms patiri; then again there is
	The sleepless, fruitless tamarind tree which is
	Of the hue of the divine Mother who is like a rain-cloud.(1156)

80. 	There is a well which conceals into itself
	The shadow of its beholder; there is a well
	Whose water is venomous: a little of it will end life;
	There is a subterranean passage which confers
	On any entrant a simian form; there is 
	Also a cenote which cancels this similitude;
	There is a place for the commingling in joy
	Of mortals with immortals; like these are
	Many marvels in this city of wonders.				(1157)

81. 	The city is guarded by Lord Vinayaka who has
	Five hands and from whom ichor floods,
	Bhairava the son who zealously watching wields
	The trident, whose beauteous body is like
	The extending cloud at mid-night and whose
	Flower-feet are decked with heroic anklets,
	And also Muruka who smote the Crowncha Hill
	Into two with His spear.					(1158)

82. 	Many Satthi-Yogis triumphant and many Siva-Yogis
	Who are unique pursuers of Siva’s way and many others
	Of ever-during life, abide here in many places;
	Also is here a great street where Lord Aiyanar comes
	In procession armed with centu, riding a tusker.
	Here abide Siddhas, Vidhyataras, Yakshas and Gandharvas.(1159)

83. 	In that city is a place where men can see unseen;
	There is a Yoga-Pita where gather Siva-Yogis
	And Yoginis; there is also the shrine Bhoga-Pita
	Where abides the Magna Mater willingly, and fosters
	All eternal dharmas; thus in Kanchi where
	Our Father abides in joy, are many marvels;
	Who can ever con them?						(1160)

84. 	There is Rudra Solai, a flowery garden frequented
	By the celestials where a flame rises at night and chases
	Murk away; there are men poised in the truly wise way
	That does away with embodiment; there is a stone
	Which will turn to gold potsherd and the like, 
	If they are touched by this; it is impossible
	To narrate the glories of all these that thrive
	In the city where the Cosmic Mother fosters
	All lives established in the sixfold religion.			(1161)

85. 	Of yore, during Kali-Age, a hunter apprised
	Karikal Chola of the greatness of this ever-during city,
	When the Chola was on an expedition to the Himalayas
	Thither to inscribe his tiger signum; it was he
	Who reclaimed the city to a distance of four katams;
	He built a mountain-like fortress and caused
	Many men and women dwell here.					(1162)

86. 	The tender twigs which are flowery branches
	Of cool Kanchi trees, dance in the wind;
	The nearby mango garden where bees hum
	Kanchi-p-pann, forms as it were, the fence
	For the fields of marutam; the city of Kanchi,
	Strong and fierce, is girt with mighty walls
	Around which runs a deep and strong moat.
	Himavant’s daughter wears on Her waist
	Kanchi, the grace-abounding jewel that tinkles
	With the sound of the Vedas; the city looks like the earth
	Girt with the ever-expansive and merciful sea. 			(1163)

87. 	In the most burgeon many water-blooms;
	Goddess Parvati wears on Her koontal bunches
	Of blooming flowers; to protect the places of pooja,
	-- Willingly approved by the Lord Himself --, mantras,
	Which are duly ordained by Ekampar in the Aagamas
	Are made to form the fort and the moat; the moat is like
	The sea which hath come there to cure itself
	Of its blackness and saltiness, even as men come
	To the flawless and glorious Kanchi to cure
	Themselves of their malas.					(1164)

88. 	The forted towers are lofty and enduring
	Like the minds of the great that dwell there;
	Through them can pass only the righteous way
	That is graced by the Lord for the redemption
	Of the world and nought that is evil;
	They for ever glow with the growing lustre
	Of the true and perfect and salvific way;
	It looks as though they scale the very sky.			(1165)

89. 	Here are the beauteous streets dight with rare mansions
	Auric and peerless, long streets and commercial streets
	Where manifold articles of merchandise are sold;
	The city decked with these and other splendours
	Is not merely this world divined by its nine continents
	With the eight mountains thrown in between,
	But an entirely new world of several continents;
	It is a megapolis that stands apart.				(1166)

90. 	On both sides of the streets are rows of mansions,
	Lofty and large and of great lustre. Here abide
	Women of soft koontal whence dangle
	Wreaths of pearls of purest ray serene; these wreaths are
	Like unto the heavenly Ganga and other streams
	That pour down on earth tearing the clouds of ski
	Studded with many a luminous star.				(1167)

91. 	Many indeed are the streets dight with great mansions,
	Bright with the lustre o ruddy gold; their steps
	Down below are paved with sapphires; their window
	Set on the high walls are wrought of pure diamonds;
	The blue steps down below are like dark Vishnu;
	The windows above that dazzle with diamonds are like
	The white Swan, Brahma; so it looks as though
	The search after the golden Siva
	By Vishnu and Brahma is still on.				(1168)

92. 	The many white mansions dazzling with gems galore
	Are inlaid with stones of Chandra-Kanta on their tops;
	When the crescent of the even, from the ruddy sky
	Throws its rays on them, they melt and flow streaming.
	These mansions therefore are like tear-bedewed devotees
	Who beholding Ekamparar of long matted hair
	Over which rises the crescent, and who is clad
	In tiger-skin, feel rapturous and melt in love.			(1169)

93. 	Over the cloud-capped marmoreal mansions
	Fly streamers; their outer surfaces mirror
	All that move and are stationary;
	So the city is like a treasured place where
	All species of life are preserved; it is like unto
	A gift of Eamparar who wears on His person
	The bangle-marks and the nipple-marks of Parvati
	-- The tapaswini perfect --,
	To Brahma for purposes of his creation.				(1170)

94. 	From the balconies of mansions painted with gold,
	Bow-browed belles who are like lianas,
	Play with soft kazhankus and beauteous balls,
	The while singing the glories of the Lord.
	Their ornaments of gold sway as the play;
	When women are enthralled by the embraces
	Of their husbands, they cast away their jewels in ecstasy;
	Such pieces of jewels are gathered by maids.
	Thus in this city on many days it rains gold
	And sometimes gems ninefold.					(1171)

95. 	In pavilions bathed in moonrays on the tops
	Of auric mansions, fit to be called the abode
	Of the Goddess of wealth, are many women
	Decked with fish-like ear-pendants; they spray
	The place with scented snow of kumkum
	From gemmy sprayers, before their husbands
	Would come thither; thus are encrimsoned
	The black clouds which abode near cornices.			(1172)

96. 	There are many mansions which are huge and lofty
	Like snow-clad mountains; these are painted white;
	Their tops are connected by flights of steps; they are
	Pure and indistinguishable from the heavenly world;
	Men, women and kin ascend and descend through
	These steps; Devas and Apsaras too use these steps
	For coming down; so it is hard to tell who
	The celestials are, and who the human beings are.		(1173)

97. 	In the noisy street where chariots ply, are
	Many mansions; nearby is a beauteous and gemmy tower;
	Near this, are emerald pials coruscating with green lustre.
	Damsels that wear kura blooms, ascend the flight
	Of steps thereto which turn roseate with the impress
	Of their feet dyed with red silk-cotton; these look
	Like the shoots of coral reef in a dark and billowy sea.(1174)

98. 	One can hear there the fierce trumpeting
	Of tuskers, the neighing of chargers, the din
	Of broad-wheeled chariots and the rhythm
	Of ankleted feet of damsels that dance in the theatres
	Of the golden streets of perpetual festivity.
	The city is celestial too, in that, the trumpeting
	Of Airavata, the neighing of the seven steeds
	Yokes to the car of the divine Sun, the din
	Of Brahma’s great chariot, and the dancing
	Movement of the ankleted feet of Apsaras
	Can eke be heard there.						(1175)

99. 	There are streets where Brahmins dwell;
	From their auric mansions, streams
	The sacrificial smoke through the vast streets;
	Here are offered oblations to the gods on high
	With chanted mantras which beckon them here
	From the entrance-tower of Ekamparar
	Where they had gathered to hail the Lord of gods.		(1176)

100. 	In the broad streets where Kshatriyas abide,
	On pials and courtyards and also in the vast yards
	Weaponry is practiced; in the streets where 
	Elephants fastened to ropes and horses are trained,
	Wondrous feats of fencing and archery, are done by Princes
	-- The wearers of fragrant wreaths and gemmy chains --;
	These are beheld by the ever-frequenting
	Celestial throngs of Vidhyataras
	From their vehicles on high and also from earth.		(1177)

101. 	Merchants wear many jewels of dazzling gems;
	Their places are full of wealth and grow in wealth;
	Their thresholds are all with gems inlaid;
	They are rich in beauteous gold, gems ninefold
	And other heaps of wealth; Kubera knows the glory
	Of the Lord of Kailas who abides in Ekamparam
	And several other shrines there; it looks as though
	The city emulates Alakapuri in many ways 
	So that Kubera can come here, have darshan
	Of the Lord, adore Him and sojourn too.				(1178)

102. 	In divine Kanchi, ever-festive, Velalas
	Of great opulence hail from pure families;
	Ekampar of dazzling matted hair and white crescent
	Gifted to Himavant’s daughter -- the auric liana --,
	Two nazhis of seed-paddy, the eternal source
	For all dharma; the devotee-Velalas received this
	From the Magna Mater after duly hailing Her;
	With this they commenced their husbandry, hailed by
	The Vedas true; the yield was million-fold;
	Thus they foster lives stablishing them in dharma.		(1179)

103. 	By reason of unapproved union betwixt
	The members of the four sublime varnas
	Arulomars, Pratilomars and Sankarars get born;
	These dwell in places set apart for them;
	There they thrive with their kin adhering
	To the calling of their race, unswervingly,
	Thus they thrive and thus their habitations.			(1180)

104. 	The streets of forted Kanchi hoary
	Of the Primal Lord, lit with gemmy lustre,
	Are full of censers and lamps
	Musical instruments and streamers;
	Each day is marked by a festival.				(1181)

105. 	All thresholds are decked with festoons;
	All the parts of the fortress are girt with clouds;
	All houses cooled by moon’s rays celebrate
	Auspicious functions; all temples sought by devotees
	Are thick with the celestial throngs.				(1182)

106. 	Only the sacrifice of Brahmins is fiery;
	Only flowers on koontals are knit together;
	Only lovable streets branch out in lanes;
	Only mangoes and kurukkatthis spread abroad.			(1183)

107. 	Waists of women alone languished;
	Streamers on mansions alone waved;
	Tuskers of decked foreheads alone felt nonplussed;
	Trees of garden alone shook in fear.				(1184)

108. 	Loud was the love of devotees;
	Powdery was the pollen of fresh flowers;
	Only gemmy chains dangled low;
	Paste of kumkum alone flowed slow.				(1185)

109. 	They sport like the victorious celestials;
	They eternally live like Siddha-Purushas;
	They live gaining their wish for weal;
	They city is such that it grants such boons.			(1186)

110. 	Kanchipuram presided over by the Lord who smote
	The triple skyey cities, is gloried in all
	The fourteen worlds; limitless is it foison;
	It is a vessel of uberty, a horn of plenty.			(1187)

111. 	He lived in a part of such divine city;
	By birth he was of the clan of washermen;
	His was a loving mind; he was poised in piety;
	He was a hereditary servitor of the blue-throated Lord.		(1188)

112. 	After his birth on earth, he dedicated the triad
	-- Mind, speech and body --, to the Lord’s feet;
	As he served the servitors truly divining their intent,
	He came to be known as the Divining Servitor.			(1189)

113. 	In far-famed Kanchi where chariots and steeds
	For ever run dinsome, he took to washing
	The garments of its citizens; yet he wasn’t deemed
	A mere washerman; he dwelt apart in unicity;
	He would cleanse the clothes of devotees who thaw in love
	When they hear the name of the Lord on whose matted hair
	The Ganga roars, serpents hiss and the moon shines.		(1190)

114. 	He would wash the dirt clean from the garments
	Of servitors dedicated to the Lord’s dazzling lotus feet;
	Even thus would he wash the triple malas that get
	Attached to the life of twofold deeds; as thus 
	He cleansed the very stain of life, one day...			(1191)

115. 	Our Lord who of jore manifested to assess the tapas
	Of auric Himavant’s daughter, the flowery liana,
	To grace the devotee of devotees for his peerless devotion,
	Deigned to walk the earth.					(1192)

116. 	On a wintry day when it was exceedingly chill
	As an old poor man he came to Tiru-k-Kurippu-th-Tondar
	In the soiled habit of a great tapaswi;
	His feet unknown to Vishnu plied in small little steps	
	Toward the devotee of flawless heart.				(1193)

117. 	On His divine frame besmeared with the Holy Ash
	Were dirty rags like black clouds; as He came thus,
	Tiru-k-Kurippu-th-Tondar beholding him felt thrilled
	And the hair on his body stood erect; he bowed
	Before Him and rose up.						(1194)

118. 	He divined the wish of Him who came there
	And spake to Him sweetly and said:
	“O great tapaswi, why is it you look so emaciated?”
	He folded his hands in adoration and added:
	“Be pleased to give me your cloth; I’ll wash it clean”
	To this, the Concealer of the blue (in His) neck, said:		(1195)

119. 	“Though this rag be irremovably dirty, I part not
	From it as my body constantly dreads chillness;
	If you can return it before the sun descends
	Into the western mount, you may take it and full it,
	And return it to me in all celerity.”				(1196)

120. 	“Be pleased to give it to me; I’ll without delay
	Full it and return it to you before sunset.”
	When he spake thus, He said: “If you do not
	Wash it, dry it and return it to me betimes this day
	You have sure harmed this, my body.”
	So saying He gave it and went away.				(1197)

121. 	He took it with him to cleanse it and return it
	Within the specified time; he washed it clean
	In the ghat rich in fragrant flowers; he then
	Applied the fuller’s earth to it and had it steamed;
	When he desired to wash it finally, the sun was
	Past meridian; then by the grace of the Lord
	Who sports a fawn in His hand, it rained sudden.		(1198)

122. 	Clouds gathered thick and filled the sky;
	All the directions were involved in darkness;
	The downpour was blinding; the servitor, thinking
	Of his promise to the tapaswi rare, grew sad
	And was truly bewildered. “What can I do?”
	He thought and stood dazed.					(1199)

123. 	The devotee of Kapali thought that the rain
	That poured ceaselessly might for a while stop,
	And stood apart; but the rain it  rained
	And would not cease; night came like a pack of foes;
	“Alas, alas! I’ve failed in my duty to the tapaswi,
	Great and pure, who suffers sore from chillness.”
	He fell down, (toppled by sorrow).				(1200)

124. 	“The rain would no cease; the time set
	By the tapaswi had passed; I ought to have fulled it
	Betimes, taken it to my house and thither
	Dried it in the wind; of this I hadn’t thought at all;
	I am now the cause for the harm done
	To the ripe old tapaswi; I am a base servant;
	So, this is what I should now do.” Thus resolved,
	He rose up ......						(1201)

125. 	“I’ll dash my head on the granite-stone
	Meant for washing and scouring clothes.”
	Thus he resolved and as he was about to dash
	His head against it, the flowery and roseate hand
	Of Ekamparar whose frame bears the impress
	Of the bangles, jutted out from its side and stayed his head.(1202)

126. 	The shower of rain gave place, now to a shower of flowers;
	The Lord that wears on His crown the honied chaplet
	Of konrai blooms, appeared on His mount, the Bull,
	With His Consort, in the heavens; the servitor true
	Melted in love and folded his hands in worship
	And stood apart.						(1203)

127. 	The triple-eyed Lord beheld him that stood
	Before Him and said: “We have, to the triple worlds,
	Demonstrated your state; may you henceforth
	Abide for ever in Our eternal world.”
	Thus He graced him and then from there
	He disappeared into the shrine of Ekamparam.			(1204)

128. 	Thus hailing the eternal glory of the service
	Of Tiru-k-Kurippu-th-Tondar, I now proceed
	To narrate the act of him who cut off the feet
	Of his father, that the world might thrive well.
	As true servitors hail the Lord as one demented,
	Who can ever unfold the truth of his mystique?			(1205)

----------------

Stanza 	Line

   4	 4-7	When of yore, mutiny broke out in Malai Nadu, many fled from 
		that country.  Of them was a young girl who took refuge in a Velala 
		family of Tondai Mandala.  The Velalas reared  her as they would, 
		their own daughter.  When peace was restored in Malai Nadu the kin 
		of that girl came to take back.  The Velalas then said that the girl had 
		become their own daughter and claimed the right to perform her 
		wedding.  They celebrated her marriage and sent her back with dowry 
		and all.  Since that time came to be established the relationship, hailed 
		in this stanza.

	  7	(Itai) is karamani which according to Winslow is “a kind of lentil or 
		pulse”.  Iral is a shrimp; a prawn; cancer serratus.

	  8	Kandal 		:	The fragrant screw-pine.

  10	  3	Mullai		:	Jasmine.

	  5	Maruda tree	:	Arjuna.

	  6	Neytal flower	:	1. White Indian water-lily.  2. Blue nelumbo.

  13	  4	The beatitude sought by the celestials is this.  As Devas, they could come 
		here only in an invisible form and hail the Lord.  This fugitive joy would 
		not do.   So they prayed for the boon of adoring the Lord in unicity, 
		embodied as human beings.

  15		Neeli		:	Durga.

	  5	Every region is endowed with a twyfold time, called the major and the 
		minor.  Major time refers to the season and minor to a division of the day.

  19		Tiruooral is Kalikai

  21		Surabi		:	The Cow of plenty also known as Kamadenu.

  89		Nine continents	:	Bharata, Kimpurusha, Harivarsha, Illavruta, Iramiya, 
					Hiranya, Guru, Ketumalaka and Bhathrasuva.

		Eight mountains	: 	Himalaya, Hema, Nishada, Neela, Sweta, Sringa 
					Ghandamana and Malyavan.

 106		Each line in this poem is a pun.

		Teeya = (1) fiery (2) evil; Pini = (1) knit (2) disease; Kavalai = (1) worry 
		(2) Lane; Puram soozha = (1) spread abroad (2) back-bite.

 107		The whole poem is woven with puns.  The first line says that in Kanchi, 
		nothing languishes save the woman’s waist.  A slender waist is always 
		described as languishing.  The second line says that in that city no one 
		is of a wavering type.  That which wave(r)s is the streamer only.  
		Thikaiappana in line 3 means: 1. are nonplussed; (2) are situate in the 
		direction.  Payam (bhaya) in line 4 means (1) fear and (2) fruit.

Sincere thanks to Sri. T N Ramachandran of thanjavur, for permitting his English rendering of the holy text periyapurANam be published here.