The word Silappathikāram translates to “the lay of the ankle bracelet” or the “epic of the ankle bracelet”. It is a Tamil epic from 5th century credited to Ilangō Adigal, a Jain prince who later became a monk and the brother of the Chera King Senguttuvan. The story revolves around a gem merchant Kovalan, his wife Kannagi and his mistress Madhavi.
Silappathikāram is a journey in every sense of the term. As the story progresses, Kannagi travels across three cities of three neighboring kingdoms – Puhar (Chola kingdom), Madurai (Pandaya Kingdom) and Vanci (Chera kingdom). This journey transforms her from innocent and dutiful wife to a vengeful spirit to the one who repents. Furthermore, the epic chronicles the cultural and business practices, architecture and lifestyle of people in Southern India during that time.
Kovalan, Kannagi and Madhavi – Puhar
In the city of Puhar, live a gemstone merchant, Kovalan, and his wife Kannagi. One day, Kovalan sees the courtesan Madhavi dancing and is smitten by her beauty. He moves in with her, becoming her patron, and lavishes his wealth on her. She too, is passionately in love with him. To keep the passion in their love life alive, she beautifies herself with fragrance and jewellery to pleasure him. Read how elaborately she adorns herself in the descriptions of Madhavi’s jewelry.
Unfortunately for her, Kovalan slowly starts to lose interest in her. Once when Madhavi sings a love song, he suspects she has another lover. His growing suspicion and misgivings about abandoning his wife make him miserable, leading to a break-up with Madhavi.
The tale of the anklet – Silambu – Madurai
Embarrassed about squandering his time and money on a courtesan, Kovalan decides to leave town. The pious and benevolent Kannagi who has been waiting for her husband to return does not question his adulterous behavior when he comes to her. Instead, she offers him her silambu – anklet to sell so he can start a new business in the city of Madurai.
At Madurai, Kovalan approaches the royal jeweler to sell Kannagi’s anklet unaware that the queen’s anklet has been stolen by the same jeweler. Kovalan is arrested for theft and is beheaded under the order of the king Neduncheliyan, without a trial. When Kannagi learns about the ill-fate of her husband, she rushes to the scene and sees the beheaded body of Kovalan.
Kannagi breaks her bangles which she wears on her person at all times and therefore a part of her identity. She cries out to the Gods, soldiers, and the common folk for justice. At their silence, she runs to Neduncheliyan’s court—silambu in hand, her hair disheveled and eyes tearful to demand justice.
Silappathikāram – myth of recognition
She forces the king to break the queen’s anklets. One of them contains pearls and the other (retrieved from Kovalan) rubies. Kanangi breaks her remaining anklet revealing rubies inside. The king dies of guilt at having killed an innocent man. His wife too gives up her life. However, Kannagi is not satisfied.
She transitions from a benevolent wife into a vengeful spirit, and curses the entire city. The frustrated Kannagi plucks her left breast and flings it on the streets of Madurai, causing the city to burn. At the request of Goddess Meenakshi, Kannagi amends her curse, saving the children, elders, cows, and noble women of Madurai from the fire. In return, the Goddess blesses Kannagi by saying that she will re-unite with her husband in heaven.
Vanci
The grief ridden Kannagi journeys to the city of Vanci of the Chera Kingdom where she meditates for fourteen days ascending to heaven in a golden chariot on the fourteenth day. The Chera King Shenguttuvan, who hears of this incident, wishes to have a temple built for Kannagi using Himalayan stones. After several years of battle with kings of Northern India, he achieves dominion over the Himalayan land. He secures the stones, builds a temple glorifying the memory of Kannagi as the Goddess of chastity.
References and Further Reading
- Ilango Adigal. 1939. The Śilappadikāram. Translated by V.R. Ramachandra Dikshitar. London: Oxford University Press.
- Ilango Addigal. Shilappadikaram – the Ankle Bracelet. Translated by Alain Daniélou. New Delhi: Aleph Book Company, 2016.
Note
All stories have been collected from various sources, including oral histories and temple histories and compiled to form one narrative. Hence, there may be differences from the master narrative. The project hopes only to be a curator of stories and not an expert on history, religion and iconography.
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