First Flood: Ponniyin Selvan 1

by Kalki, Gowri Ramnarayan (translator)

As the emperor of the Chozha kingdom, Sundara Chozha, lies unwell in Tanjavur fort, a sinister plot is being hatched—a plot to wrest the throne from Crown Prince Aditta Karikalan. Senior minister Periya Pazhuvettaraiyar is powerful and could well succeed in his plan to seat Madhurantakan, son of Sundara Chozha’s elder brother, on the throne, after Sundara Chozha’s death.
Aware of the rumblings, Aditta Karikalan entrusts his confidant Vallavaraiyan Vandiyatevan to deliver a message to the emperor and his beloved sister Kundavai Devi. Will the intrepid Vandiyatevan succeed? Or will he fall victim to the machinations? What role does the elder Pazhuvettaiyar’s wife have to play in all this? Will Kundavai Devi be able to protect her brothers’ interests?
Delving into politics, betrayal, desires and ambition in tenth-century Tamil Nadu, Ponniyin Selvan is Kalki’s magnum opus, a gripping tale that has remained popular and beloved for decades. Beautifully translated by Gowri Ramnarayan, Kalki’s granddaughter, Fresh Floods is the first in a series that is unputdownable.

Genres: Historical Fiction, Indian Literature

544 pages, Hardcover

Published June 24, 2025

About the author

Tamil language Novel Writer, Journalist, Poet & Critic late Ramaswamy Aiyer Krishnamurthy also known as ‘Kalki’. He derived his pen name from the suffixes of his wife name Kalyani and his name Krishnamurthy in Tamil form கல்யாணி and கிருஷ்ணமூர்த்தி as Kalki (கல்கி). His name also represents “Kalki avatar”, the tenth and last avatar of the Hindu God Vishnu.

His writings includes over 120 short stories, 10 novelettes, 5 novels, 3 historical romances, editorial and political writings and hundreds of film and music reviews. Krishnamurthy’s witty, incisive comments on politics, literature, music and other forms of art were looked forward to with unceasing interest by readers. He wrote under the pen names of ‘Kalki’, ‘Ra. Ki’, ‘Tamil Theni’, ‘Karnatakam’ and so on.

The success that Krishnamurthy attained in the realm of historical fiction is phenomenal. Sixty years ago, at a time when the literacy level was low and when the English-educated Tamils looked down on writings in Tamil, Kalki’s circulation touched 71,000 copies – the largest for any weekly in the county then – when it serialised his historical novels. Kalki had also the genius to classify the historical and non-historical events, historical and non-historical characters and how much the novel owes to history.

Reviews

[Preethi · Rating 5 out of 5]

Ever since I watched and loved the first movie and my periyamma told me that it was based on a book series she had read and enjoyed, I wanted to read this so badly. Of course, I'm a cover judger and it ended up taking me two and a half years to luck out and randomly find beautiful editions of the books during an unplanned Chennai bookstore visit (and with a new English translation by the author's granddaughter, no less, although I didn't find that out until later!), but it was so worth the wait.

Ponniyin Selvan is exciting, epic fiction with royal politics and romance, but it's also based on the real Chola dynasty, and it brings me so much joy to not only recognize Tamil phrases in the text and read about places I know and love like Kanyakumari, but I'm also thrilled to be learning more Tamil (and Indian) history, which is something I've gained increased exposure to in the past four years while visiting places like Padmanabhapuram Palace and Mysore Palace with my family.

Additionally, let me just say that reading this and having the movie cast in my head the entire time was delightful. Trisha, Vikram, and Jayam Ravi in my head as I read? Yes please!

[Shreeharsha · Rating 4 out of 5]

First floods is an introductory novel of Kalki’s magnum opus- Ponniyin Selvan. It is a historical novel set in 10th century Chozha kingdom. In this novel we follow our hero Vallavaraiyan Vandiyatevan, brave friend of Karikalan.. Aditta Karikalan has given a dangerous yet important task , that is to deliver missive to Sundara Chozha, emperor of Chozha kingdom & to his beautiful and brilliant sister Kundavai. In this adventurous journey Vandivatevan discovers many secrets and political conspiracies. The influential Pazhuvettaraiyar brothers are awaiting the death of Sundara Chozha so that they can crown Madhurantakan, Sundara Chozha’s nephew as new emperor. The novel explores Chozha realm politically,religiously, socially.

The writings style of the novel is poetic. This book also contains many poetry of great Tamil poets such as Andal, some poems present in Cilappatikaram and many more. The translation by Gowri Ramnarayan is extraordinary and it feels like reading original novel. The characters are too much complex and we can’t trust on anybody. There are some strong female characters such as Kundavi and Nandini. Although we don’t see Arulmozhi Varman (Ponniyin Selvan), we hear about him by other characters. Kalki has mixed historical characters with fictional character like Nandini and Vanathi. There is a secret revealed in end of novel and I loved it.

The difficulties that I faced while reading was the pronunciation of name of characters and cities. There are so many characters, at first you will get confused but with the flow you will be adjusted with it. The pacing is moderate, first it’s feels slow but after 40-50 pages it gets pace.

If you want to know more about Chozha realm or about culture & history of Tamis and you enjoy fiction more than non fiction then this book Is for you.

Highly Recommended

[Sookie · Rating 4 out of 5]

A highly entertaining first volume, filled with bits of history, drama and soap opera - it was a fun adventure.

I have avoided the movie so far, so that I could read this and enjoy the faces that fit on screen. Kinda excited!

Oh, definitely reading more. Absolutely!

[Hagrid's Book Club · Rating 4 out of 5]

It is a bit difficult to follow initially as you grasp all the characters and locations but once you get into the flow it is a master story, incredible work of historical fiction. Western historical fiction books could never come close.

[Chaitanya · Rating 4 out of 5]

I have read Shivakamis vow translated by Nandini Vijayaraghavan and that was my introduction to Kalki's work. This is a good translation but not as good as Nandini's.

Going to book two now.