Could Komban be wandering the forests of the USA?

Komban, felled by the heroes' great boar spear.

Komban, the giant boar who menaces the lands of Ponnivala, appears to have some descendants living in North America.

In North America, wild boar were introduced by European settlers as hunting quarry. Being the adaptable omnivores they are, these animals (known regionally as "razorbacks") quickly established themselves as an invasive, and quite destructive, species.

In addition to these animals, which are known to be aggressive and can grow to an appreciable size, domesticated pigs were introduced as livestock on farms. When some of these animals escaped into the wild, the formed a feral breeding population that became almost as invasive as the boars.

But what is especially interesting is that when these two species mixed in the wild, their offspring became enormous! Domestic pigs are bred for size, with larger hogs being an important commodity on both the food and breeding markets. When these two closely-related species met, the results were astounding.

Just as in Asia, where legends of giant-sized wild boar abound (as in The Legend of Ponnivala), rumours and tall tales of giant boar roaming the forests of North America began to spread. For the most part, these were thought of as campfire tales and the stuff of Hollywood movies.

But in the last decade, sightings and kills by hunters have brought to light conclusive evidence of enormous wild boar in North America. Perhaps not as enormous as King Komban; who the bards tell us was 60 feet high and 70 feet long; but still very impressive in size.

For instance, just this month in North Carolina, a hunter shot this giant:

Source: Daily News

...a 10-year old male, approximately 8 feet in length and weighing in at 500 lbs!

Yet this beast pales in comparison to the one dubbed "Hogzilla," shot in Alapaha, Georgia in 2004. That monster was 12 feet long and weighed over 1,000 lbs. It was assumed to be a hoax, but the remains were exhumed (dug up) in 2005 for examination, which determined its actual size was actually around 800 lbs (360 kg) and between 6.9 and 8.6 feet long. His tusks were 28 inches (71 cm) and 19 inches (48 cm) long! Hogzilla was confirmed to be a hybrid animal.

But the real prize in the USA goes to "Hogzilla II," another hybrid animal, this time from Alabama. Taken in 2007, this giant weighed an incredible 1,051 lbs and measured 9 feet, 4 inches long. The astonishing thing about this animal is that it was shot by 11-year-old Jamison Stone using a pistol!

Source: Fox News

It's important to note first of all that the last two animals mentioned were hybrids, which tend to grow much larger than natural wild boar. Second, wild boar and wild (feral) pigs are nuisance species in North America, and hunting is encouraged to help control the populations of these animals, which can cause serious damage to forest, wildlife habitat, and agricultural land.

The largest subspecies (non-hybrid) of wild boar is the Manchurian boar, which can weigh 400 lbs (180 kg), while specimens of other varieties have been found in France* and Romania weighing some 550 lbs (227 kg) and 661 lbs (300 kg) respectively. (source: Wikipedia)

*It's interesting to note that in a previous article we mentioned that the Celtic goddess Arduinna, protector of hunters and the forest, rode a great boar when hunting. Ardenne, which was named after Arduinna as the mythological place where she lived, is where this animal was shot in 1997.

Glass Gem Corn

In Episode 7, "A Thousand Beggars," King Kunnutaiya and Queen Tamarai have planted some seeds provided by their clansmen. The clansmen, not wanting the young king's field to prosper, give them seeds that have been roasted, certain not to grow.

To solve this problem, Lord Vishnu plants a single magical seed beside each roasted seed in the field. When the seeds grow, they take much longer than expected. However, on closer inspection, Queen Tamarai discovers that the ears of maize they've planted haven't brought forth a crop of food. Instead, the ears are filled with jewels!

This new bounty is enough for the couple to rebuild the family palace and reclaim their rightful lordship over the land of Ponnivala.

While this tale from The Legend of Ponnivala may seem very fanciful, we were surprised to make contact this month with a group from Arizon that specialises in native seed conservation. One of their most interesting products is called glass gem corn, and this corn looks remarkably like the magical corn depicted in this scene from Ponnivala!

Images from https://www.facebook.com/glassgemcorn

These seeds are specially grown for their beautiful, translucent quality. But they are completely edible, and make for good popcorn too! They can be ordered online by contacting Native Seeds through their website at http://www.nativeseeds.org/

ATN Signs "The Legend of Ponnivala" for Canadian Broadcast

ATN Signs "The Legend of Ponnivala" for Canadian Broadcast

- Animated epic series to air spring 2013 -

GORE'S LANDING, ON (March, 2013) - The Sophia Hilton Foundation of Canada and Soft Science Associates, Ltd., creators of the animated "Legend of Ponnivala" series, have signed on with the Asian Television Network for Canadian broadcast of the 26-episode series. The series is slated to launch in English on ATN in late April, with a Tamil-language broadcast planned for the summer.

"The Legend of Ponnivala" tells the story of the epic South Indian heroes Ponnar and Shankar. It also relates the origins of their family, back to the founding of the region two generations earlier. It is a surprisingly expansive tale for a local legend, and includes a wealth of historical and social insights into medieval Indian culture. It draws inspiration and characters from the great Indian epic, the Mahabharata, while keeping its focus on farming, the lifestyle central to its place of origin.

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Dr. Beck at UWO

Dr. Beck was invited by the English Department at London's University of Western Ontario to deliver four separate presentations. Three of these were given to classes, and a fourth was a general lecture open to faculty and students.

A number of people in attendance expressed considerable interest in the Ponnivala project. Several even picked up the complete series right on the spot!

Since returning from London, Dr. Beck has received a number of emails from her hosts detailing some of the positive feedback and response to the lectures, and several students have since written with additional questions and requests for supplemental materials.

 

To book Dr. Beck for speaking and lecturing engagements via the website, use our Contact form.

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Ponnivala Education Project Kicks Off in Scarborough

Dr. Beck and the Sophia Hilton Foundation experienced an excellent kick-off reception this morning for our new, semester-long program for grade six students at the Sathya Sai School in Scarborough, Ontario.

The Sathya Sai School is a private, non-denominational, co-educational day school of 160 students from Junior Kindergarten to Grade 6 that balances both academic excellence and character development. The teacher of the sixth grade class there, Mr. Parthi Kandavel, has taken up The Legend of Ponnivala as a full term class project. His 19 students will be watching one video episode a day for roughly seven weeks, with each Friday allocated to discussions, assignments related to the story including various supplemental research/exploration/creative-arts activities.

The kids were really responsive this morning as Dr. Beck ntroduced the project personally. They are to be our first "test group." The reception from the whole school was very warm and welcoming. The kids were mature, and they asked good, perceptive questions. We am really excited about this initiative and it will help us think about how to expand our effort to share various aspects of Indian culture and at the same time educate kids in a multi-disciplinary fashion by drawing them into this exceptionally deep, broad and engaging story.