Ponnar and Shankar, who became rulers of Ponni Valanadu in medieval Tamil Nadu, South India, were twin sons of a Kongu Vellalar couple, Nellian Kodan (or Kunru Udaiyaan) and his wife Thamarai. They are credited with saving their people from an invasion.
The legendary story of these brothers,known as Annamar Swamigal has been a folk tale carried out for many generations through village songs,known in Tamil as gramiya padalgal and traditional street theater, known as Therukkoothu. This story also become the foundation for poems, songs, a film,[1] .[2][3] (Although there is no official geographic area called Kongu Nadu at present, it covers the districts of Coimbatore, Salem, Tirupur, Erode, Namakkal, Karur, Dindigul, Dharmapuri, Krishnagiri and Nilgiris in Tamil Nadu, India[4] [5] [6]