Poompuhar is extensively mentioned in
Sangam literature(circa 300 BCE to 300 CE), a collection of Tamil poetic works. Texts like
Silappathikaram and
Manimekalai provide vivid descriptions of the city's grandeur, its bustling markets, and its cultural life. The Silappathikaram, written by
Ilango Adigal, describes Poompuhar as a city of immense wealth and beauty, with well-planned streets, temples, and a thriving harbor. A
Purananuru poem (poem 30) says that big ships entered the port of Puhar without slacking sail, and poured out onto the beach precious merchandise brought from overseas. In the extensive markets of Puhar there were many tall mansions surrounded by platforms reached by high ladders. These mansions had many apartments and were provided with doorways, great and small, and with wide hallways and corridors (
Pattinappaalai – II –142-158). In all parts of the town there were flags flying of various kinds and shapes.
Pattinappaalai, a poem that describes the ancient Puhar very vividly, was written by the poet Kadiyalur Uruthirangannanaar is part of the
Ten Idylls anthology and was sung in praise of
Karikala Chola, a second-century
Chola king. Located at the mouth of the
Kaveri River, Poompuhar served as a major port city at the
Chola era, with archaeological excavations revealing submerged wharves and pier walls that confirm its historical significance. Poompuhar was a thriving center of trade, with merchandise arriving from overseas, supported by tall mansions and warehouses that underscored its commercial prosperity.
Merchants of Puhar Pattinappaalai In the lovely Kaveripattana crowded with hordes of men and women from pure families endowed with all the requisites of a town with crystal clear water flowing in the river, filled with all kinds of precious stones, possessed of many kinds of bazaars, beautified by many gardens, in a beautiful and pleasant vihara built by Kanhadasa, adorned with a mansion as high as the Kailasa, and having different kinds of beautiful entrance-towers on the outer wall, I lived in an old mansion there and wrote this work.. In the
Nigamanagātha of Vinayavinicchaya, Buddhatta describes how he wrote the work while staying at the monastery built by one
Venhudassa (Vishnudasa) on the banks of the Kaveri in a town called Bhootamangalam near Kaveripattinam.
City's destruction The ancient city of Puhar was destroyed by the sea around 300 BC. Marine archeologists from the National Institute of Oceanography have established that this could have been the effects of sediment erosion and periodic tsunamis. Such a tsunami is mentioned in the Tamil poem
Manimekhalai (see below), which relates that the town Kāveripattinam or Puhār was swallowed up by the sea. This event is supported by archeological finds of submerged ruins off the coast of modern Poompuhar. The town of Kāveripattinam is believed to have disappeared around 300 BC due to this tsunami Today, Poompuhar falls within the
Mayiladuthurai district and is part of the
Sirkazhi assembly constituency in
Tamil Nadu. ==City layout==