It was customary in olden days for kings to claim descent from a heavenly body or a deity. Accordingly, the three dynasts of ancient Tamil Nadu claimed descent from the three luminaries, which were worshipped as deities in the primitive times. The Pƒ–diyan king claimed descent from the Moon, the Ch†‰ƒ from the Sun, and the Ch„rƒ from Fire.

     The Pƒndiyan king fixed his choice upon the Moon, because he enjoyed the coolness of the lunar rays best, his territory having been traversed by the equator and scorched by the tropical sun, though the other two Tamilian kings also had their royal umbrella made of white silk, and thus gave it a moon-like appearance.

     The Ch†‰ƒ king adopted the Sun as the progenitor of his line, because the Moon was already appropriated by the Pƒ-diyan king and the northern part of his territory which seems to have extended upto the Vindhyas or Himalayas in the early days, needed warmth during the chilly part of the year so much as to appreciate the Sun, which has also the dignity of being the principal heavenly body, without whose light and energy no life is possible on earth.

     The Ch„rƒ king regarded Fire as the original ancestor of his line, because that as the only luminary left to him, and the wild fire which broke out and spread very often during summer in his mountain forests, and evoked awe and reverence.

     The solar and lunar lines of kings of North India were but off-shoots of the Ch†‰ƒ and Pƒ–diyan lines of the South respectively, and this accounts for the remote ancestors having been common to the main and branch lines.

     The first Pƒ–diyan capital was called Madurai after the imaginary progenitor of that royal line. Madurai, lit. ‘the lunar city’, is derived from madi, ‘the moon’. Cf. kudirai, ‘horse’ from kudi, ‘to jump’. ‘Madirai’ later changed into ‘Madura’. Cf. edirkai-edukai, ‘rhyme’.

     The whole of pre-Aryan India was originally divided into three kingdoms, viz., Pƒ–diya, Ch†‰a and Ch„ra, and peopled mainly by the Tamilicans, the Tamils inhabiting the South and the Dravidians the North.