For the past two years, I’ve been deeply engaged with the Silappadikaram, the tale of the anklet, an epic poem that centres on the journey of a heroic female character — Kannagi — who confronts the King of Madurai over his miscarriage of justice.
For me, it was a revelation to come across epics such as Silappadikaram and Manimekalai — we tend to think of epics as male narratives, a story that relates the journey and transformation of a male hero — the epics of the western canon, such as the Illiad and Odyssey. What is surprising and paradigm shifting for me, as a woman and a feminist, about the Tamil epics mentioned above is that these are female journeys —where the quest for justice and the transformation of the female heroines changes a society.
Poet of the Silappadikaram
What is even more intriguing is that these epics are written by men — Ilango Adigal, the poet of the Silappadikaram, is not merely a writer, he is also reputed to be a Jain ascetic. He is not just a man writing about men, he is also a Chera prince, brother of King Senguttuvan (who features in the Silappadikaram), writing an epic where, to quote his own words, “Dharma comes to Kings in the shape of death.”
One of the questions, as I’ve been studying this epic for the last two years, has been —who did he base Kannagi on? For his Kannagi, married to Kovalan, is the daughter of a merchant — but there is as well another Kannagi who features in the poetry of his time, in the poems of Ilango Adigal’s contemporaries — Kapilar and Paranar.
There are uncanny similarities between the two Kannagis. The Kannagi of Silappadikaram is a virtuous wife, whose husband abandons her to pursue the dancing girl, Madhavi. The Kannagi of Kapilar and Paranar’s poems is a beautiful, grieving wife, who is described as weeping copiously — but she is married to Vel Began, the ruler of the mountainous kingdom of Aykudi. Vel Began, much like Kovalan, has deserted his wife to pursue a dancing girl — provoking Kapilar and Paranar to write their poems, that describe his wife’s distress, beseeching him to return to her.
Did Ilango Adigal know of this Kannagi’s plight, and base the heroine of Silappadikaram on her? Or was he inspired by the poetry of his contemporaries — Kapilar and Paranar?
But it is fascinating to think that Kannagi — who has been such an influential cultural character, even today, who is worshipped as Goddess, and has shrines dedicated to her —may have, in fact, had her origins in the desperate, grief-filled situation of a real, flesh-and-blood woman.
The writer is the author of ‘The Mahabharatha — A Child’s View,’ ‘Sita’s Ramayana’ and ‘The Missing Queen’
Published - April 06, 2017 03:31 pm IST
