A War With No End

S. VENKATESAN | G. BALASHANMUGAM
 China

Delhi

Kakatiya Dyn
as
ty
Dwarasamudram

Hoysala
Dy
na
s ty

n Dynasty
ndya
Pa

Madurai

Kayal
Lanka
Sundarapandyan's
ship approaches
Lankas shoreline.

The Pandyan fleet that

had carried soldiers
to the battle front are
anchored along the
shore.
soldiers welcome
Sundarapandyan,
As he comes
ashore.
Sundarapandyan's
horse is swift as the
wind. He is flanked
on either side by
parading soldiers.

They journey,
fording brooks
and swirling
wild streams.
A section of the
Pandyan encampment.

The sentinel
division stands
watch night
and day.
The 'Abathuthavikal',
a special squadron of
bodyguards, stand watch
outside the emperor's tent.

Sundarapandyan
enters the tent.

Distracted by the
intrusion, the
emperor looks up.

Sundarapandyan
prostrates before
Emperor Kulasekara
Pandyan.

Greetings,
Father.
 You seem to have come in
some hurry, son?

Father, its
been a while
since the war
began.
I have my doubts
if our campaign is
going well.

Veerapandyan has
entered the war with
The ground reality just his regiment.
There is nothing to has changed, Father. does it He must And the reason No reinforcements
fear. Veerapandyan's The Sinhala kingdom matter how face the for your fear? have come from the
You underestimate
strategy is guiding the has gained in strength much power consequences capital city.
the might of the
war's course. since they brought the Parakramabahu of defying
Pandyans.
whole island under a has managed the Pandyan What if...
single umbrella. to scrap emperor.
together?
it does not work
out for us in the
end?

No,
father!
Launching a
campaign with such
I fear you place
a small force does
a little too
not speak well for
much trust in
an empires military
Veerapandyan.
prowess.
 The might of an
empire is not
determined by
the number of
soldiers in its
army, but by its
victories.

Father, Veerapandyan
hasn't brought a
single war elephant.
But our enemies have The fury of
an entire division of these ghastly
animals is
them. beyond measure.
a thousand
horses are no
match for a
single elephant.

The elephants
here are no war
elephants. They
are anjanam and
That applies only Up until now,
to elephants of kumudam breeds.
Veerapandyan His strategy
the supradeega They make for a
has not focused is to trap the
breed. fine spectacle,
on an all-out advancing enemy
thats about all!
battle. troops to a
They must Most probably...
know every terrain he has
nook and chosen. The real
cranny of assault will begin
Even so, this is
this jungle. tomorrow.
their terrain.
They might know
a lot about
this jungle, but
they don't know
a thing about
war.

Father, if they know

nothing about war,
why then is it taking itll all be over
us so long to Sundarapandyan tomorrow.
defeat them?! looks at him,
astonished.
With the first rays of the early
morning sun, the Pandyan troops
march through the jungle,
towards the battlefield.
This is the story of an unending war.
The pages and the images would take you
through the streets of Pandya land, which
had a glorious rule about 800 years ago. The
sons of Maravarman Kulasekara Pandyan -
Sundara Pandyan and Veera Pandyan - were
responsible for the rise and fall of the
empire. It has been the habit of empires to
victimize the nation in the process of sib-
ling rivalry. A practice that continues till
date. IT is hence a story of an unending war.

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