The President of the Sophia Hilton Foundation spoke in Prague (capital of the Czech Republic) yesterday. She was dressed to represent the night sky, wearing a crescent-shaped white necklace made from a pair of wild boar tusks sourced from South India. Furthermore, she balanced this remarkable crescent moon theme with a long white scarf that

The story now reaches a crisis point. Lord Vishnu himself is calling for a formal ritual confrontation between the two contestants in this major socio-economic dispute. Everyone has gathered at the ritual ground, right at the edge of the Kongu (Ponnivala artisan) territory. The location is next to the great Kaveri river. There is a

The Chola king is faced with a difficult political problem. He wants to send a group of his best plough-wielding farm workers to Ponnivala, an outlying area where he has little control. He wants them to settle there and bring the land under cultivation by cutting down trees and creating a wide open, fertile landscape.

This blog continues where my 1.13 post left off. Here we see that the artisans who have been called to the Chola king’s court have dutifully traveled all the way from Ponnivala to appear before him. The audience of onlookers fills the room. Representatives of those 56 powerful agricultural families mentioned in my last blog

This is a key clip because the Chola king’s associates clearly warn him, in advance, that his plan to give the lands of a place called Ponnivala to nine loyal farmer brothers may bring trouble. But, as we will later see, the king proceeds to execute his plan anyway. The king’s associates tell him that

Again, like the last few video clips (blog 3 1.11 and the several postings preceding it) thisLegend of Ponnivala excerpt is quite simple in its basic construction. This makes it a good “teaching clip” for younger students. This particular scene conveys just one key message: the king has had a very prosperous growing season. The

Here is another very simple Legend of Ponnivala video clip. Again I have inserted it into my blog for teachers to use. The scene does not need much comment. As the story unfolds, the Chola king’s attendant goes to find Kolatta. He then brings him into the king’s reception hall where his eight brothers are

This is a simple question based on one scene in the Legend of Ponnivala animated story. Again for this blog post, I have chosen something simple. Here too, my comments should be well-suited to classroom teaching for the early grades. My query has a simple answer. These men are asking the king if he has

This Legend of Ponnivala video clip is representative of the song refrains the bards used to lend extra emotional feeling to the story. You can hear the words of the original song (and tune) in the background. An English translation has been superimposed to aid a non-Tamil speaker in understanding what is being said. It

This is the first time in this long Legend of Ponnivala story where a question of social justice, a matter with extensive modern implications, appears. When Kolatta offers his wife’s labour, alongside his own, the king responds by raising the total payment he promises in return. He offers only 16 measures of grain a month