Vallavarayan Vandhiyathevan

Vallavarayan Vandhiyathevan is a resourceful traveler whose improvised escapes and sharp political observations carry him through situations where his plans repeatedly fail. In this portion of the story, the loss of his letters and signet rings in the Kollidam River does not end his mission; instead, his encounters at Kadambur show how he turns danger into opportunity, and how his loyalty to a friend becomes entangled with a conflict over allegiance.

Identity and Political Position

Vandhiyathevan identifies himself to Manimekalai as the famed Vallavarayar, a scion of the Vaanar clan. He describes himself as retaining the royal title of Araiyan while possessing neither a palace nor a kingdom to rule. The contrast gives his rank a particular edge: he can invoke an inherited title, but it does not place him beyond risk or provide him with a secure domain. His status is further shaped by personal connections. He recalls serving on sentry duty with Adithan beside the Vada Pennai River, where Adithan often spoke of his sister, Manimekalai.

His activities also bring him close to political secrets. As he later explains in public, he knows of Kandamaaran’s return from an escort journey through Thanjavur Fort’s secret passage to Pazhuvettarayar Palace, and challenges him to account for his association with people in the vault. Vandhiyathevan further invokes what took place at Kadambur on the eighteenth day of Aadi, including the arrival of someone concealed in a closed palanquin. These details make him more than a fugitive passing through the political landscape: he has observed events that powerful people would prefer to keep hidden.

The River Crossing and the Journey to Kadambur

Vandhiyathevan and Azhwarkkadiyaan Nambi set out for Kadambur after a religious debate brings them money from their Vaishnavite hosts. Azhwarkkadiyaan Nambi exchanges most of his winnings for gold, setting aside one silk garment for Vandhiyathevan to keep. The funds are meant to help them obtain horses, but their preparations meet a more immediate obstacle at the Kollidam River. Its flood is too powerful for the horses to be ferried, and the overloaded boat capsizes before reaching the northern bank.

Vandhiyathevan swims ashore, but loses the waistcloth in which he had kept his signet rings and Kundhavai’s olai, as well as his gold coins. The losses matter because those objects had been guarded over the course of his journey and because the letter and rings are valuable to his mission. The debate has secured money, but the river strips away both the expected means of travel and important possessions. With horses unavailable in the surrounding rural and wooded areas, the companions consider whether Kadambur’s weekly market might provide a mount, or whether they must continue to Thiruppaathiripuliyur.

The choice is not simply practical. At Kadambur, they might learn whether Adithan has left Kanchi and what route he intends to take; they would also risk meeting Kandamaaran, old acquaintances, or the retinue of the Pazhuvettarayars. Vandhiyathevan responds to the prospect of danger with a sly suggestion that Azhwarkkadiyaan Nambi use his skill at climbing walls to steal horses from Sambuvaraiyar’s stable. The exchange presents his characteristic blend of strategic calculation and irreverence, without removing the real hazards they have just weighed.

Improvisation in the Hidden Passages

At one point Vandhiyathevan makes a rapid exit through a concealed opening. After answering that he will remain as long as he lives, while questioning whether the other person will return, he crosses the space in four bounds, drops into the hole, and disappears into its dark depths. The passage remains open until Idumbankaari notices it and turns a spear set by the shrine altar. The displaced elephant and horse move back into place, closing the opening as if it had never existed. The scene makes clear how quickly a hidden route can become both an escape and a trap: Vandhiyathevan gets away, but the entrance is concealed again behind him.

Later, he exploits another moment of confusion. Idumbankaari is distracted by a bat when Vandhiyathevan pushes a stuffed monkey down the passage, then shoves the servant so he cannot identify his assailant. He sends the monkey headfirst into the opening and shifts a crocodile before moving to the elephant head and twisting its tusks. The resulting breach is smaller and rounder than the opening Manimekalai used earlier. Vandhiyathevan has no time to work out how to open the larger entrance, because the conspirators may enter the chamber at any moment. His escape technique depends not on a single reliable route but on noticing objects, mechanisms, and brief distractions that can be turned to use.

Manimekalai, Kandamaaran, and the Charge of Betrayal

When Manimekalai recognizes Vandhiyathevan, she connects his identity to her brother’s account that he had stabbed Kandamaaran. Her brother, however, has not supplied a motive. She wonders whether the conflict arose from her own presence, and whether Vandhiyathevan’s past hopes and disappointments could have played a part; she turns the agitation of that possibility into anger. Vandhiyathevan does not confirm her conjecture. He acknowledges that he once cherished hopes and dreams, but says that he has forgotten them. The scene leaves the suspected motive unresolved while establishing the emotional charge Manimekalai brings to their meeting.

Kandamaaran later accuses Vandhiyathevan before an authority and demands either an investigation or the right to take matters into his own hands. Vandhiyathevan denies stabbing him in the manner alleged. Instead, he says he found Kandamaaran grievously wounded, carried him to Sendhan Amudhan’s home for treatment, and now regrets having done so. He presents that rescue as a choice of loyalty to a comrade over loyalty to his king, then reverses the accusation: in his account, Kandamaaran’s conduct amounts to betrayal of both friendship and fealty.

Vandhiyathevan presses for an examination of the precise circumstances, asking that Kandamaaran identify where and when the attack occurred and explain the people and events surrounding it. His knowledge of the secret passage, the vault, the closed palanquin, and the gathering at Kadambur turns the dispute from a simple denial into a challenge to Kandamaaran’s credibility. Kandamaaran reacts with anger and threatens him with a spear. The account ends with that confrontation unresolved, leaving Vandhiyathevan’s exposure of the political secrets—and the danger created by speaking them—hanging together.