The Famine of the Dhathu Year in the Works of Writers from the Southern Districts

Abstract

The southern district regions are revered as the ancient regions of Pandinadu. In these regions, literary figures have emerged from ancient times in the Nellai region and have rendered service to Tamil. In this regard, this region, which has also been an undeniable geographical area in the writing of Tamil Nadu’s history, is also renowned for having produced literature on the subject of the Dhathu Year famine that prevailed throughout the South Indian region. In this manner, this study explains the references to drought found in the two minor literary works, Panchalakshana Thirumuga Vilasam and Gandhimathiyammai Kalithurai Anthathi, which point to the Dhathu Year famine.