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New puzzle: What am I talking about? #8668



Answer to #8668: PONNIYIN SELVAN by Kalki Krishnamurthy

Image clues -

Images 1 - 5 excluding the bronze statue are words taken from the titles of the five volumes of the book. The titles differ slightly depending on the translator but these words are common to all translations.

Image 1 - Flood: from volume 1 'The Fresh Floods'
Image 2 - Whirlwind or Cyclone: from volume 2 'Whirlwind' or 'The Cyclone'
Image 3 - Sword: from volume 3 'The Sword of Slaughter'
Image 4 - Crown: from volume 4 'The Jeweled Crown'
Image 5 - Sacrifice: from volume 5 'The Pinnacle of Sacrifice'
Image 6 - Chola Bronze. A little investigation into ancient Indian sculptures would have brought up these world famous works of art created during the reign of the Cholas. The greenish patina is a hallmark of these types of bronzes.

Any combination of Chola with the other keywords brings up Ponniyin Selvan. Without the Chola keyword we would need at least 4 of the other keywords to get the answer.

Additional Clues -

Image of goddess - Thanjavur Painting. Thanjavur was the capital of the Chola empire. Either Thanjavur or Chola would have served as a keyword.

Bombay movie poster - Keyword was Mani Ratnam. After the actors and the movie name, that should have been the most obvious search term. Any combo of Mani Ratnam and Chola or Thanjavur would have given away the answer!

Brihadeeswarar Temple - Crown jewel of Chola architecture. Also called Rajarajeswara temple; Built by Arulmozhi Varman later known as Rajaraja Chola, who was the hero of our book! : ) Either Chola or Rajaraja would have worked as keywords.

Historical Fiction - The book Ponniyin Selvan belongs to the historical fiction genre. It tells a fictional story of the rise of Rajaraja Chola by weaving it into actual historical events. This was a pretty direct keyword!

IL connection: Mr Varalotti Rengaswamy who was a regular on IL has written one of the popular translations of the book. In fact he started the process here on IL and you can read his translation right here - Varalotti Rengasamy's Short & Serial Stories

Thank you everyone for engaging so enthusiastically. Really made the effort worthwhile! : ) I think everyone got it right in the end.

@Kohvachn @Viswamitra @deepthyanoop @Rihana @svpriya @Thyagarajan

@jskls You took it one step ahead than was asked so I'll give it to you. I didn't know about the sword. Another fascinating subject to read up on! : )

@Srama and @Laks09 Sorry I posted the answer before you ladies could come back with the answer. The puzzle had gone on for a bit. Thanks for joining in the fun!

 

As are many of the most intricate Chola bronzes. Western museums and private collectors are hoarding some of our most priceless heirlooms.

 

I was wondering how the sword came into the picture. Lol. I see now. : ) The story of the prince is the answer not his sword. The sword is a fascinating piece of trivia through!