‘Silappadhikaram’, the epic of the anklet (silambu in Tamil) is one of the five great epics of Tamil Sangam literature. Its author is Saint Elango known as Elango Adikal. He was a brother prince of Cherán senguttuvan but he renounced worldly life and embraced Jain sainthood to make way for his sister to occupy the throne, thus falsifying the saying that the younger brother would replace the elder in the throne. They were from the port capital, Vanchi, and the epic was written by the poet of the Chera kingdom (now part of modern Kerala).
Silappadhikaram’s plot is nothing short of a modern suspense thriller. This was the first of its kind to portray ordinary citizens as heroes and heroines compared to other epics that only had gods and kings as main characters. Its main female character, Kannagi, is celebrated as Goddess Durga throughout India and there is a temple known as Kannagi temple in Kerala. The story explains in detail the three kingdoms prevailing in South India, namely the Chola, Pandiya and Chera kingdoms occupying the then South India, their rulers, the life and practices of the people who lived in those times. The high moral values of people and the excellent sense of justice among kings are emphasized. Without a doubt, this is considered one of the masterpieces of universal literature.
The story in short:
Although the author Elango belonged to the Chera kingdom, the main characters belonged to the Chola kingdom. Kannagi, the female lead of the story, was the daughter of a flourishing businessman from Poompuhar, the coastal seat of the Chola kingdom. She was married to Kovalan, the son of another equally wealthy businessman. Their married life was very happy and peaceful until Kovalan met Madhavi, a beautiful dancer at a dance concert. Kovalan fell in love with Madhavi and started living with her, leaving Kannagi. Both had a very happy coexistence until the day of the ‘Indira’ festival. That day, along the Poompuhar beach, there used to be dancing, music and joy. During the merriment, Madhavi sang a poem that indirectly hinted that all men were womanizers (including Kovalan of course). Angered by this, Kovalan left her and again returned to Kannagi. (Madhavi gave birth to a beautiful Manimekalai girl, whose life was described in another Manimekalai epic. The two epics Silappadhikaram and Manimekalai are known as Tamil twin epics)
At that time, as is customary among those who live with concubines, Kovalan had lost all wealth and Kannagi was only in possession of two very valuable anklets. They did not wish to return to their parents, but instead decided to leave the Chola kingdom and come to Madurai, the then capital of the Pandya kingdom.
They get a co-passenger by the name of Kavundhi adikal, a Buddhist saint who guided them to Madurai.
Once they reached Madurai, Kannagi gave Kovalan an anklet to sell at the market and he went looking for a potential buyer. Unfortunately, just the day before, Queen Pandiya Kopperum Devi lost her anklet and spies were searching for the thief. The prospective buyer took it to the royal goldsmith for verification on him. Unfortunately, the goldsmith was the real culprit, who locked him in a cell and informed the king that he caught the thief.
The king, without giving an audience, ordered that he be headed immediately and his order was meticulously carried out.
What followed was the essence of the epic. Hearing the news, Ella’s wife Kannagi stormed into the king’s court with the remaining anklet in her hand. She powerfully questioned the wisdom behind the trial without investigating and giving the defendant a chance to defend himself. Both King Pandiyan Nedncheziyan and Kopperundvi were speechless. Finally, in feeble defense, the king asked, “Where is the proof that her husband was innocent?” Kannagi teased vehemently, “It might have been better if you had asked this question before beheading my husband” and she also pleaded her case by asking “What was the content of the queen’s anklet?” The queen replied that her anklets contained pearls. Kannagi demanded to retrieve Kovalan’s anklet and she powerfully threw it to the ground. To everyone’s utter disbelief, she contained ruby beads. Not completely satisfied with the test, Kannagi also broke her remaining anklet.
It! That also contained ruby beads that proved beyond a doubt that Kannagi’s anklets were totally different from the queen’s. Kovalan’s was not the queen’s and an innocent person was brutally murdered by misjudgment.
Unable to bear the impact, the king shouted “I am a king, I am the thief” (Naano Arasan? naane Kalvan). Saying this, he fell from the throne and died immediately. The queen also immediately followed her husband as she died instantly.
There was a great commotion at court. The real thief, the royal goldsmith, was immediately arrested.
But Kannagi was not satisfied. No one could control the fury of that absolutely chaste woman. Due to the proud look from her, the entire city of Madurai was burnt down. Everyone was burned alive except for the good people, the holy people, the women and the cattle who were allowed to survive.
Finally, the story ends by describing the event of the Gods descending from Heaven and carrying the Goddess of Virtue to her heavenly abode.
There is a temple for Goddess Kannaki built by the king of Cherán Senguttuvan, elder brother of Ilango Adikal, the author of Silappadhikaram. An annual festival to pray to Goddess Kannaki is also regularly held.
This is the story of Silappadhikaram and the merits are as follows:
The story is woven around the three capitals of ancient South India. Accordingly, the entire plot revolves around three acts, namely:
1. Puhar kandam, events in Poompuhar capital of the Chola kingdom (Central Tamilnadu)
2. Madurai kandam events in Madurai, capital of the Pandiya kingdom (South Tamilnadu)
3. Vanchi kandam: events in Vanchi, capital of the Chera kingdom (West Tamilnadu and Kerala)
Thus, the cultural and commercial practices that prevail throughout South India, from north to south and from east to west, are well described. Business contacts with foreign countries were also covered in detail.
The wars won by the Tamil kings were well described.
Poetic standards are of a very high literal value.
Three religions were given importance and their customs which are Hinduism, Buddhism and Jainism were well described.
Due importance was given to the chastity of women by making Kannaki the central character.
The first moral is “The chaste woman would be highly adored by superior people”
The Karma of the previous birth will decide the punishments of the current birth. Thus emphasizing the existence of various births, Karma and also the concept of destiny. The second moral is (“The karma of the previous birth will definitely give its judgments”)
The third moral is “if a king errs in judgment, the God of Dharma would surely put him to death.”
One can see that these morals are woven into all the episodes.
Several great scholars have contributed to the revival of the earlier classical epic. Among them, two scholars deserve a special mention.
Mahamahothpayaya (The Great Teacher) UV Swaminatha Iyer, a Tamil teacher who hunted down all the palm leaves and who made the printing of the book possible and Silampu selvar (Dean of anklet epic) Shri Ma.Po.Sivagnam who dedicated his life to writing, publishing and lecturing on this epic. In fact, there are dozens of Tamil scholars who have contributed to the great recognition of the epic.
Let us also have the pleasure of going through the epic in Tamil, English or both.
