Which one of the following explains the practice of 'Vattakirutal' as mentioned in Sangam poems?

(a) Kings employing women bodyguards
(b) Learned persons assembling in royal courts to discuss religious and philosophical matters
(c) Young girls keeping watch over agricultural fields and driving away birds and animals
(d) A king defeated in a battle committing ritual suicide by starving himself to death ✓ UPSC's answer

Why the answer is (d)

• Vattakirutal (vadakkiruttal, 'facing north') was a heroic Sangam-age custom in which a king who suffered defeat or dishonour in battle sat facing north with his sword and fasted to death to preserve his honour — option (d).

• The Purananuru records the Chera king Cheraman Peruncheralathan doing so after being wounded in the back, and the Chola king Kopperuncholan similarly.

• Option (a) refers to the Sangam practice of women bodyguards, option (b) to learned assemblies (sangams) and option (c) to girls guarding millet fields — all attested, but none is vattakirutal.

• Hence option (d).

Why the other options are wrong

(a) Kings employing women bodyguards: Women bodyguards are a separate Sangam practice, not vattakirutal.
(b) Learned persons assembling in royal courts to discuss religious and philosophical matters: Learned assemblies were the 'sangams', not this ritual.
(c) Young girls keeping watch over agricultural fields and driving away birds and animals: Girls guarding fields is a pastoral image in Sangam poetry, not vattakirutal.

Asked in the GS Paper I of the UPSC Civil Services Preliminary Examination 2023, held on 28 May 2023. Question and answer key: Union Public Service Commission. Explanation: UPSC Answer Check.