Malai Nadu is the western refuge and military rallying ground of Udayaar, who is identified as its lord and guardian. In the account of the crisis following the Battle of Thakkolam, it becomes more than a territorial title: its concealed fort and mountain slopes offer a place to regroup after defeat and continue resistance when the Chozha forces are in retreat.

Domain and Dynastic Setting

Udayaar’s connection to Malai Nadu is established when he watches his grandson, Aditha Karikalan, amid the gathering at Thirukkovilur. The narrative identifies him as lord and guardian of the region, situating his authority within the broader network of Chozha Nadu and its neighboring powers. Malai Nadu is not described through a survey of its settlements or borders; its significance emerges through Udayaar’s rule and the refuge it provides in a moment of military danger.

Refuge After Thakkolam

Udayaar recounts how the assassination of Rajadithyar during the Battle of Thakkolam shattered the Chozha army’s composure. Grief overtook commanders and soldiers, the enemy gained the advantage, and the army was driven into retreat toward the banks of the Kedilam River. Udayaar includes himself among those who fled before the survivors recovered enough to make a desperate stand.

With the enemy pressing toward Thirukkovilur, Udayaar evacuated his family and led them west to a fort concealed in Malai Nadu. The move placed them beyond the immediate danger at Thirukkovilur while the military situation remained unsettled. The account does not name the fort or describe its defenses, but its concealment and position within the region make it a secure refuge in Udayaar’s telling.

A Base for Continued Resistance

The refuge was also a staging ground. On Malai Nadu’s slopes, Udayaar gathered an army and launched intermittent attacks against enemy forces that lingered in the area. Those forces remained for years around the Kedilam River, establishing themselves at several points and holding Kanchi. Malai Nadu therefore figures not as a site of a single decisive battle, but as the base from which Udayaar could sustain pressure while the enemy occupation endured.

The account places this resistance within a longer reversal of territorial fortunes: Kanchi returned to Chozha control only after Aditha Karikalan destroyed Veera Pandiyan, marched north, and recovered the city three years before the conversation. Udayaar’s refuge and hill-based attacks belong to the intervening period of retreat and protracted opposition, rather than to the later recovery itself.

Narrative Significance

Malai Nadu’s role is defined by contrast with the exposed battlefield and the vulnerable banks of the Kedilam River. After the sudden loss of Rajadithyar, Udayaar moves his family away from the advancing enemy, then turns the region’s slopes into a place from which resistance can continue. The region thus gives the narrative a concrete geography of survival: retreat does not end the struggle, but changes where and how it is fought.