Chiyaan Vikram’s mass speech on unparalleled glory of ancient Tamils floors Bollywood

Mani Ratnam’s epic dream project ‘Ponniyin Selvan’ aka ‘PS-1’ is all set to storm screens worldwide on September 30th in five languages namely Tamil, Telugu, Malayalam, Kannada and Hindi.  It also becomes the first film in the history of Tamil cinema to be released in an IMAX version.

The legendary filmmaker and his core cast members Chiyaan Vikram, Karthi, Jayam Ravi, Trisha and Aishwarya Rai Bachchan along with music maestro A.R. Rahman are touring the length and breadth of the country to promote this mammoth film.

Chiyaan Vikram took the stage in Mumbai in front of Bollywood fans and media and made a short speech about the unparalleled glory of ancient Tamils and their kings flooring those present there.  

The chameleon actor started his speech in English referring to the leaning tower of Pisa “We are actually appreciating a building that doesn’t stand and is falling, getting excited and taking pictures and selfies of it.  But we have to remember that our temples are standing tall and strong for thousands of years and our architects did not even use plaster.”

Referring to the famous dome weighing a ton on the rooftop of the Thanjai Periya Kovil he added “You know this particular stone, they had to use a ramp which was six kilometres long, and was pulled up right to the top by bulls, elephants and people. Six kilometres long to get it up there, without any machinery, without any cranes or equipment is in itself a miracle”

Vikram then revealed the wonderous science behind the architecture built by Raja Raja Cholan “The building that was erected without using plaster has withstood six earthquakes. You know what happens to plastered buildings when an earthquake comes.   What they have done is, they built an outer wall and inside that, a corridor of 6 feet and then another structure in the middle that goes all the way to the top which is why the temple has withstood all calamities for more than a thousand years and which is why it withstood earthquakes. We need to know about these things.”

Vikram also heaped praise on ancient king Raja Raja Cholan who built the Tanjore temple and on whom ‘Ponniyin Selvan’ is based on and played by Jayam Ravi in the film.  He gushed “This particular king built 5,000 dams in his time and he initiated a water management ministry in his rule.  He conducted elections to identify village leaders. He respected women so much that he named cities after them.  He provided free hospitals, He used to give loans to his people and just didn’t throw money at them which helped them to live with dignity.”

Chiyaan in a jocular tone added “This happened in the 9th century. At that time, America the so called super power nation had not been discovered by Columbus till 500 years later. Think about our culture, Think about how advanced we were. We need to be proud of it. It’s nothing to do with South India, East India, West India or the North, we are Indians. We need to feel proud about it. Don’t you think we should celebrate the history”.

The audience in the hall as well as the celebrities on the stage gave a thunderous response to Chiyaan Vikram’s fiery speech on prideful Tamil history.  The man himself was winded by the time he finished and asked for water to drink. 

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