Kannagi
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Kannagi (Tamil: கண்ணகி), a legendary Tamil woman, is the central character of the South Indian epic Silapathikaram. Legend has it that Kannagi took revenge on the king of Madurai, for a mistaken death penalty imposed on her husband Kovalan, by cursing the city with Disaster.
[edit] The Story
Kovalan, the son of a wealthy merchant in Kavirippattinam, married Kannagi, a young woman of legendary beauty. They lived together happily in the city of Kaveripoompattinam, until Kovalan met the dancer Madhavi and fell in love with her. In his infatuation he forgot Kannagi and gradually spent all his wealth on the dancer. At last, penniless, Kovalan realised his mistake, and returned back to Kannagi. Their only asset was a precious pair of anklets (cilambu--- hence the name of the epic), filled with gems, which she gave to him willingly. With these as their capital they went to the great city of Madurai, where Kovalan hoped to recoup his fortunes by trade.
The city of Madurai was ruled by the Pandya king Neduncheziyan. Kovalan's objective was to sell the anklets in this kingdom so that he and his wife would be able to start their lives over. Unfortunately, around the time he set out to sell the anklets, one anklet (out of a pair) was stolen from the queen, by a greedy court member. This anklet looked very similar to Kannagi's. The only difference was that Kannagi's were filled with jewels and the queen's very filled with pearls, but this was not a visible fact. When Kovalan went to the market, he was accused of having stolen the anklket. He was immediately beheaded by the king's guards, without trial. When Kannagi was informed of this, she became furious, and set out to prove her husband's innocence to the king.
Kannagi came to the king's court, broke open the anklet seized from Kovalan and showed that it contained gems, as opposed to the queen's anklets which contained pearls. Realizing their fault, the King and the Queen die of shame. Unsatisfied, Kannagi tore out a breast and flung it on the city, uttering a curse that the entire city be burnt. Due to her utmost chastity, her curse became a reality.
The city was set ablaze resulting in huge human and economic losses. However, after the request from the goddess of the city, she withdrew her curse and later, attained salvation. This mythological story was composed by the poet Ilango Adigal. A fascinating, but ironic, fact about this epic is that it portrays Madhavi, Kovalan's amorous lover, as an equally chaste woman. Manimekalai, another epic, is written in praise of her.
[edit] Perceptions of Kannagi
Kannagi or Kannaki Amman is eulogized as the epitome of chastity and is still being worshiped as its goddess. She is praised for her extreme devotion to her husband, in spite of his adulterous behaviour.
She is worshiped as goddess Pathini in Sri Lanka by the Sinhalese Buddhists as well as, as Kannaki Amman by the Sri lanka Tamils Hindus. (See Hinduism in Sri Lanka.)
However, a section of the society does not approve her submissive attitude towards her husband's amorous activity and brand her as a symbol of female oppression. In fact, a statue of Kannagi, an important landmark in Chennai, was removed during the regim of the ex - chief minister of Tamilnadu, J Jayalalithaa in December 2001 during a mid night-the exact reason for the removal is not known.
The statue has been reinstalled by M. Karunanidhi on 03.06.2006
[edit] External links
- Digital Madurai Website
- Eric Miller on Kannagi's story being an inspiration to fight injustice
- Kannagi - Cilapathikaram
| Cilappatikaram by Ilango Adigal |
|---|
| Characters |
| Kannagi | Kovalan | Madhavi | Neduncheziyan | Manimekalai | Masattuvan | Vacavadattai | Kosigan |
Madalan | Kavunthi Adigal | Kopperundevi |
| Other |
| Puhar | Madurai | Vanchi |
| Hinduism | Hindu mythology | Itihasa |  |
|---|---|
| Female Deities: Saraswati | Bhuma Devi Lakshmi | Parvati | Durga | Kali | Sita | Mariamman|Radha |Gayatri | more... | |
| Male Deities: Vishnu | Shiva | Brahma| Rama | Krishna | Ganesha | Kartikeya | Hanuman | Ayyappan | more... | |
| Texts: Vedas | Upanishads | Puranas | Ramayana | Mahabharata | |
