‘Silappadhikaram’, the anklet epic (silambu in Tamil) is one of the five great epics in Tamil Sangam literature. Its author is San Elango known as Elango Adikal. He was a brother prince of Cherán senguttuvan, but he renounced worldly life and adopted Jain sainthood to make way for his brother to occupy the throne, thus falsifying a saying that the younger brother would replace the older in the occupation of the throne. 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 less than 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 that occupied the then South India, their rulers, the lives and practices of the people who lived in those times. The high moral values of the people and the excellent sense of justice among the kings are emphasized. Without a doubt, this is considered one of the masterpieces of universal literature.
The story in brief:
Although the author Elango belonged to the Chera kingdom, the main characters belonged to the Chola kingdom. Kannagi, the story’s female lead, 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, abandoning Kannagi. Both had a very happy coexistence until the day of the festival ‘Indira. On that day, along the Poompuhar beach, there used to be dancing, music and merriment. During the merriment, Madhavi sang a poem that indirectly hinted that all men were womanizers (including Kovalan, of course). Enraged at 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 Silappadhikaram and Manimekalai epics are known as twin Tamil epics)
By this time, as is usual 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 arrived in 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 the spies were looking for the thief. The prospective buyer took it to the royal goldsmith for verification. Unfortunately, the goldsmith was the real culprit, who locked him in a cell and reported to the king that he caught the thief.
The king, without giving an audience, ordered that he be led immediately, and his order was carried out meticulously.
What followed was the essence of the epic. Hearing the news, her wife Kannagi burst into the king’s court with the remaining anklet in her hand. She powerfully questioned the wisdom behind trial without investigating and giving the accused a chance to defend himself. Both King Pandiyan Nedncheziyan and Kopperundvi were speechless. Finally, in a 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 ordeal, Kannagi also broke her remaining anklet.
It! That also contained ruby beads that proved beyond a shadow of 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 withstand 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 by dying 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 her proud look, the entire city of Madurai was burned. Everyone was burned alive except 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 taking the Goddess of Virtue to her heavenly abode.
There is a temple for Goddess Kannaki built by the Cheran king Senguttuvan, older brother of Ilango Adikal, the author of Silappadhikaram. An annual festival to pray to the Goddess Kannaki is also held regularly.
This is the story of Silappadhikaram and the merits are as follows:
The story is woven around the three capitals of ancient South India. Consequently, 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 (Southern Tamilnadu)
3. Vanchi kandam: events in Vanchi, the 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 discussed in detail.
The wars won by the Tamil kings were well described.
Poetic standards are of very high literal value.
Three religions were given importance and their customs were well described which are Hinduism, Buddhism and Jainism.
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 judgements”)
The third moral is “if a king errs in his judgment, the God of Dharma would put him to death without fail.”
One can see that these morals are woven throughout 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 searched all the palm leaves and who made the printing of the book possible and Silampu selvar (Dean of epic anklet) 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 reviewing the epic in Tamil, English or both.
