The land of tamils - Kumari Kandam

Introduction

Tamizhan is the first race of Humans who originated on the hue enormous sunken land of Kumari Kandam.Kumari Kandam refers to the lost continent of Tamil civilization which is the oldest civilization in the world. An inscription says''Kal thondri mann thondraa kaalathe mun thondri mootha kudi thamizh kudi". This means the Tamil civilization existed in the world even before sand was born out of stone. It is also known as Lemuria. The concept of Lemuria was popularized by the English zoologist Phillip Sclater. Multiple ancient and medieval Tamil and Sanskrit works contain legendary accounts of lands in South India being lost to the ocean.
 There were three Tamil sangams which flourished here. First Sangam flourished in the city of Thenmadurai for 4,400 years, attended by 549 poets. The Second Sangam flourished in the city of kapatapuram for 3,700 years, attended by 59 poets. These both cities were"seized by the ocean", resulting in loss of all the works created during the first two sangams. The Third Sangam was established in Madurai, where it is said to have lasted for 1,850 years. The words "Kumari Kandam" first appeared in Kanda Puranam, a 15th-century Tamil version of the Skanda Purana, written by Kachiappa Sivacharya(1359-1420). The size of Kumari Kanadam is first mentioned in 15th-century commentary on sillapatikaram written by Adiyakarkunallar. It was located south of Kanyakumari which covered an area of 700 Kavatam(a unit of unknown Measurement). It was divided into 49 territories(natu) , classified in the following seven categories:

Elu tenku natu ("Seven coconut lands")
Elu Maturai natu ("Seven mango lands")
Elu munpalai natu ("Seven front sandy lands")
Elu pinpalai natu ("Seven back sandy lands")
Elu Kunra natu("Seven hilly lands")
Elu kunkarai natu ("Seven Costal lands")
Elu Kurumpanai natu ("Seven dwarf-palm lands")

Literary evidence for Kumari Kandam

1. The first eveidence of kumari kandam appears in Skanda Puranum
written by Kachiappa Sivachariya.A quote/translation from Skanda puranam where Kumani Kandam is mentioned Below.

"The Andakosappadalam section of Kanda Puranamdescribes the following cosmological model of the universe: There are many worlds, each having several continents, which in turn, have several kingdoms. Paratan, the ruler of one such kingdom, had eight sons and one daughter. He further divided his kingdom into nine parts, and the part ruled by his daughter Kumari came to be known as Kumari Kandam after her. Kumari Kandam is described as thekingdom of the Earth. "

2. IRAYANNAR AKKAPORUL 

In Iraniyanar akkaporul  there is a mention about kumari kandam ,it speaks about a lost ocean and specifically mentions a word 'Katalkol' which means 'seizure by ocean'.

3. KALLITHOGAI

In Kallithogai Kadal Vowval,Kadal Kol, Kadarperuku are the others used in various Tamil Sangams.

Underlined words in image

1. Kadal Vowval: fierce uprsing of the sea
2. Mel Sendru: people climed up (in the mountains)
3. Palhi Theerndha Velayum: the white waves that sought revenge
4. Ma Kadal Kalakua Ma Kondra Madanga Por: with the sea waging a huge war
{Poem 104, from Kalithogai, Chapter Mullaikili - describes how the land of Kumari was consumed by sea}

4. Silapadhigaram 

Silapadhigaram written by Ilangovadigal is the first evidence which has mentioned about the sq.feet area of the lost land Kumari Kandam.

5.Manimegalai

Manimegalai mentions that the ancient city of kaveripumpattinam was destroyed by floods sent bu lord Indra, because the king had forgot to celebrate a festival dedicated to him. 

Monumental evidence of kumari kandam :

1. There are lot of temples in South India which have paintings and inscriptions in their walls on the account of this drastic flood which destroyed the land mass(Kumari Kandam).These include prominent temples in kanyakumari , thiruvatriyour, sirkhazhi, kumbakonnam  and madurai etc

2. There is a temple called the seven pagodas of mahabalipuram which is submerged in the sea near ECR ,which is said to have lot of evidence about this flood.