Aṇṇaṇmār

This folk epic of the Tamil Nadu region of India has been sung by professional storytellers at festivals since the fifteenth century. The narrative tells of a grandfather who leaves his famine-stricken home in search of work. When the man succeeds in gaining farm work for a Chola king, the king rewards him and his brothers with gifts of land. The brothers become jealous of their older brother and try to cheat him of his land—especially as his oldest son is childless and therefore weakened in the eyes of his peers. Although Śiva (see Śiva) and Viṣṇu (see Viṣṇu) provide a son for the childless man to adopt, the evil uncles eventually deprive the boy of his grandfather and father's land. The boy spends time in the wilderness protected by Viṣṇu until he marries a woman named Tāmarai and returns to reclaim his land in spite of the antagonism of his cousins. After twenty-one years, Tāmarai gives birth magically to twin boys, under Viṣṇu's protection against the evil cousins, who try to prevent the birth. The twins are hidden from the evil uncles and fed on tiger's milk by the goddess Cellāttā. As the twins are hidden, Tāmarai and her husband, who also have a daughter, appear to be sonless. Once more, the cousins take away their land and send the old couple into exile. Eventually the twins join their parents and lead them in an epic battle to regain their land. After the death of their parents and the defeat of their cousins, the twins rule all of the land in question. When the twins become involved in wars with certain hunters, many of their followers are killed, and in despair they kill themselves, only to be briefly revived by their sister. When all three finally die they are carried off to the home of the gods by Śiva's representative.