Sundara Chozhar–Arulmozhi Varman

Sundara Chozhar–Arulmozhi Varman is a father-son relationship shaped by affection, fear of loss, and separation at a moment of political uncertainty. When Arulmozhi is believed to have drowned, the emperor’s grief turns the prince’s absence into a source of private terror; learning that he survived brings relief, but also anguish that he was kept from his father.

Paternal Fear and the Prince’s Disappearance

Sundara Chozhar’s failing health makes the uncertainty surrounding Arulmozhi especially painful. After learning that his son had reached shore and was safe in a Buddhist monastery at Nagapattinam, the emperor could not settle into simple happiness. He wondered why Arulmozhi had not come to see him and why no one had reported the prince’s survival and refuge. The news deepened his sense that events were unfolding around him without his knowledge.

That fear had already taken a more desperate form. In his distress, Sundara Chozhar imagined that the mute Mandhakini had drowned Arulmozhi in revenge for her supposed death, and feared that his elder son, Adithan, would be next. The belief was mistaken, but it reveals how the prince’s disappearance became entangled with the emperor’s guilt and apprehension. The thought of losing Arulmozhi was not an abstract political worry: it fed his conviction that misfortune was pursuing his family.

News of Survival and the Wish for Reunion

The revelation of Arulmozhi’s survival did not erase the pain of separation. Sundara Chozhar spoke of wanting to see his sons before he died, an appeal made while his health was precarious and his confidence in his own future was low. His longing was sharpened by the possibility that time might run out before father and son were together again.

The emperor’s distress also reflects how little control he feels he has over the news reaching him. He reproaches those around him for concealing both the prince’s safety and the circumstances of his care. Aniruddhar explains that some reports had been withheld to spare Sundara Chozhar needless distress, but the protection has a cost: it leaves the father isolated from the fate of his son at precisely the moment when he most wants contact.

The Prince’s Rescue and the Family’s Understanding

Arulmozhi’s survival is associated with Mandhakini’s earlier acts of rescue. Aniruddhar recalls learning that she had given birth to twins and suspects that she was the person who saved the young Arulmozhi when he fell into the Kaveri River. Sundara Chozhar’s wife, Vaanama Devi, later insists that Arulmozhi himself identified Mandhakini as the woman who rescued him from the river and from danger in Eelam. In the family’s account, the person Sundara Chozhar fears as a vengeful presence is instead connected to the protection of his son.

This history gives the emperor’s alarm an added emotional complication. His fear that Mandhakini has harmed Arulmozhi conflicts with the accounts of those who credit her with saving him. The contrast does not remove his anxiety about the prince’s current safety, particularly after another storm, but it shows how incomplete knowledge can turn a history of rescue into a source of dread.

Affection Amid the Succession Crisis

Sundara Chozhar’s attachment to Arulmozhi exists alongside a contested question of inheritance. The emperor declares his intention to name Madhuranthakan as successor, even if his sons were to stand in the way. Vaanama Devi answers that Arulmozhi has no desire for the throne, pointing to his refusal of the crown of Ilankai as evidence that he will not oppose his father over the throne at Thanjavur.

The exchange distinguishes political succession from personal attachment. Sundara Chozhar’s decision about the heir is firm, but the prospect of losing or being separated from his sons remains a source of profound distress. Arulmozhi’s presumed lack of royal ambition offers his mother reassurance about their loyalty; it does not lessen the emperor’s wish to see him again. Their bond is therefore presented through both private longing and public uncertainty: the throne can be assigned, but the absent son cannot be replaced.