Amarar Kalki's Sivagamiyin Sabadham
Kalki a.k.a R Krishnamurthy is an icon in Tamil literature. His Sivagamiyin Sabatham and Ponniyin selvan novels are revered as works of a genius.
Sivagamiyin Sabatham is set in the Pallava era, portraying the life and love of Sivagami, the dancer. Kalki paints the ancient landscape with vivid images of the Pallava times and soon we are on time travel going back to the 7th century. Kalki’s words paint a thousand pictures with the central themes of love, honor and friendship woven around the central character Sivagami.
The novel was written in 1944 and was originally serialized in the weekly Kalki for 12 years.
In this podcast I too aim to capture some of the magic of Kalki’s words and convey the emotions of the characters.
The novel is divided into 4 parts:
- Paranjothi's Journey
- The seige of Kanchi
- The monk's love
- The Shattered Dream
I hope you enjoy the podcast as much as I enjoyed creating it.
Let’s go back in time…
Episodes
In this chapter titled "Veshadhari" (In disguise), Naganadhi comes to meet Aayanar disguised as Pulikesi. He tells Aayanar that Sivagami is on her way to Vatapi. Aayanar requests him to resuce Sivagam...
In this chapter titled "Attoozhiyam" (Atrocity), Aayanar is beyond belief that a powerful king would order to mutilate artists. When he is about to be dismembered, he hears Pulikesi ordering his soldi...
In this chapter titled "Abaya Pradhanam", Sivagami meets Naganadhi and asks him to save her from the Vatapi forces. He tells her that he will do the needful and asks her to go with the Vatapi Commande...
In this chapter titled "Pulikesi Aagyai" (Pulikesi's order), Pulikesi tells his army to loot the villages surrounding the city of Kanchi and destroy all art and architecture around the city. Aayanar a...
In this chapter titled "Kobagni" ( The fire of anger), Pulikes erupts like a volcano on knowing that he was fooled by Mahendra Pallava. He orders his commanders to attack Kanchi to free Naganadhi. But...
In this chapter titled "Kabaligar Gugai" (Cave of the Kabalis), Aayanar and Sivagami escape from the city of Kanchi through the underground tunnel.
In this chapter titled "Suranga Vazhi" (Underground tunnel), Mahendra Pallavar tells Sivagami and Aayanar to stay in Kanchi until the gates of the city are reopened. However, both of them are restless...
In this chapter titled "Pulikesiku Theriyuma?" (Does Pulikesi know?), Kannabiran's father tells Sivagami and Aayanar that even though Pulikesi and his army have left, the gates to the Kanchi fort are ...
In this chapter titled "Chinna Kannan" (Young Kannan), Sivagami and Kamali meet after 1.5 years. Sivagami also meets Kamali's infant. Sivagami gets to know from Kamali that prince Mamalla is not in Ka...
In this Chapter titled "Pulikesiyin Purapaadu", Mahendra Pallavar tells Pulikesi that he is the one who came as Vajrabahu to meet Pulikesi with a message from Naganadhi. He also tells Pulikesi that he...






