Cilappatikaran

UNIT 2 CILAPPATIKARAN: A
TEXTUAL ANALYSIS
Structure
2.0 Objectives
2.1 Introduction
2.2 The Plot
2.3 Female Presence in Cilappatikaran
2.4 The Idea of Justice in Cilappatikaran
2.5 Destruction, Resurrection and the Ascendency of the City
2.6 Let Us Sum Up
2.7 Questions

2.0 OBJECTIVES
In this unit we will look at who the author of the epic Cilappatikaran is and
then look at the way the plot is structured. We will also examine the female
presence in the epic, the sense of justice, the destruction that is wreaked on
the city, and the resurrection of Kannaki. In short, we will be also be a doing
a textual analysis of Cilappatikaran.

2.1 INTRODUCTION
The authorship of the Cilappatikaran is attributed to Ilanko Atikal a
supposed and Atikal literally means a Jain saint or an ascetic and an interesting
legend is associated with Sattanar the author of the Manimekhalai that he
actually met Ilanko Atikal to seek his permission to bring out the Buddhist
version of the epic which within the politics of the period is quite acceptable
as there has never been a large scale violence between the Buddhists and
the Jain in history unlike the heterodox sects and the Hindu ones.
The setting of the epic is within the cities of Pukar and Kâñci within the
Tamil domains are significant as two Greek works The Periplus of the
Erythraean Sea dated at 1st CE and Ptolemy’s Geography dated at 2nd CE
mentions Pukar as the town Khaberis and Kaveris Emporium and the
flourishing Roman trade with the Tamil kingdoms and both the epics describe
at length the markets in the two towns providing a setting which is common
place and with common men within the larger urban setup unlike the larger
North Indian epics the Ramayana and the Mahabharata. Situated within the
larger Jain and the Buddhist themes are the mercantile communities and the
guilds and the role of trade and its contribution to urbanity with courtesans,
palaces, the common man and the religious institutions and individuals who
people the epics.
Situated in Pukar the epic Cilappatikaran develops a kernel of the
Kovalan and Kannaki story that was a part of the oral extant tradition and
presents it in epic form situated within the larger Jain tradition to be presented
before a largely Jain audience. It could have been as a result of the inroads
of Jainism into Tamil society or as a result of the epic being presented to
a Jain audience.
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 Cilappatikaran: A Textual
2.2 THE PLOT Analysis

The story begins in the city of Pukar a flourishing seaport and the capital of
the Chola kingdom. The town is festive as the people gather to celebrate the
marriage of Kovalan and Kannaki who belong to two prominent families in
the area. The couple live happily for a few years in Pukar as Kannaki settles
down to a life of domesticity and Kovalan begins to earn a living. What is
noted here is the deep love between them. In the town of Pukar lives a beautiful
courtesan named Matavi who is a very talented dancer. The Chola king in
recognition of her talent presents her with a garland and a thousand and eight
pieces of gold. Matavi decides to auction the garland to anybody who will
purchase it at the price decided by her and in the process she would also
marry the man who buys the garland. Accordingly she asks her servant
Vacantamalai to announce this to the people of Pukar. Kovalan hears the
announcement, purchases the garland and abandons his wife Kannaki and begins
to live with Matavi. Kannaki is extremely heartbroken as a result of her
husband’s actions. Kovalan meanwhile is so enamoured of Matavi that he
squanders a lot of his wealth away on her neglecting his wife Kannaki.
Soon it is spring and the city begins the celebration of the season with a special
festival to god Indra who is the king of the gods. Everybody heads to the
sea shore and Kovalan and Matavi set up a small pavilion there. Matavi hands
Kovalan a lute and requests Kovalan to play the lute. Kovalan begins to sing
a number of songs about a lovely woman who has hurt her lover. Hearing the
songs, Matavi assumes that Kovalan is not interested in her any more. She
takes the lute from his hands and begins to sing a song of a woman who has
been betrayed. Kovalan too begins to feel that Matavi probably does not love
him or care for him any longer and leaves her. Matavi is heartbroken and writes
a letter to Kovalan imploring him to come back. Kovalan refuses to do so
and tells Matavi’s servant Vacantamalai that at the end of the day Matavi
is only a dancer and not someone fit to be in a lifelong relationship. Matavi
is extremely unhappy about this and endures the loss silently. By the time
Kovalan ends his relationship with Matavi, he is thoroughly impoverished and
now at the mercy of his wife Kannaki.
Kannaki the ever dutiful wife has a nightmare about a misfortune that Kovalan
will face. She is obviously extremely worried about her wayward husband and
is overjoyed when Kovalan arrives home having deserted Matavi. Needless
to say, Kannaki welcomes him back and the couple reconcile as Kovalan admits
to his relationship with Matavi and apologises to Kannaki. The happy couple
decide to leave Pukar together and go to the city of Maturai the capital of
the Pandyan rulers to start afresh. They hope to begin a new life there by
selling an anklet that belongs to Kannaki in order to start a new business.
Kovalan has no money left to begin anew as he has spent all his money on
Matavi and is not inclined to ask either his or Kannaki’s parents for a loan.
Early one morning they leave for Maturai and on the way they meet a Jain
monk named Kavunti as they proceed to the town of Uraiyur. They pass
through the dense forests that form the boundary between the Chola and the
Pandyan kingdoms. Eventually, they arrive at the banks of the river Vaiyai and
they get a glimpse of the towers and the homes of Maturai on the opposite
bank. Kovalan leaves Kannaki in the care of the Jain monk Kavunti and
slips into the fort of Maturai unnoticed by everybody including the yavana
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Cilappatikaran guards that are posted there. He begins a tour of the city to get a sense of
the city that they intend making their home now. On his way back to the forest
grove where Kannaki and Kavunti await him, he meets a Brahmin named
Matalan who informs him of the birth of his daughter Manimekalai as Matavi
has given birth. Kovalan shares the ominous dream with the Brahmin wherein
he is riding a buffalo the mount of Yama the god of death, and we realise
that, that was the dream that made Kannaki and Kovalan leave the city of
Pukar. Kovalan explains to the Brahmin that the ominous dream was the
reason for them to leave Pukar as they feared that some harm would befall
him. Kavunti the Jain monk entrusts Kannaki in the care of a herdswoman
named Matari and both Kannaki and Kovalan begin to live with the herdsman’s
family and in their living quarters.
In a domestic scene in the epic, Kannaki collects some raw food from Matari
the herdswoman and cooks a delicious meal for Kovalan. Kovalan is deeply
disturbed by his act of infidelity and he begins to despise himself for all the
grief that he has caused Kannaki. Kannaki is deeply hurt by the memory of
Kovalan’s affair with the dancer Matavi and she expresses the pain and the
anguish his actions have caused her. The reformed Kovalan is ashamed of his
behaviour in the recent past and after listening to his wife, teary eyed he leaves
for the town of Maturai taking her anklet with him to sell and generate some
money to begin afresh. On the way he sees a humped bull which is considered
to be a very bad omen but distraught as he is, does not notice the humped
bull and continues on his journey to the market. He finds a goldsmith, shows
him the anklet and asks for an estimate for it. The goldsmith takes the anklet
asks Kovalan to wait and rushes to the palace of the Pandyan king to tell
him that he has apprehended the man who has stolen the Queen’s anklet.
Truth be told, the goldsmith is the one who has in fact stolen the Queen’s anklet
and is excited at the thought of putting the blame on Kovalan while he goes
free and undetected himself. The King and Queen are not on talking terms
due to a misunderstanding regarding the loss of her anklet and the King in an
effort to please her and gain her favours again, is delighted that the thief has
been located. Without ascertaining facts he orders that the thief be caught and
executed without a trial immediately. The fact that he had the Queen’s anklet
is proof of guilt. Note that today we would decide that that is circumstantial
evidence. The guards follow the goldsmith to his shop during which the goldsmith
lectures the guards on morality and deceitfulness of thieves and their community.
He asks the guards to execute Kovalan when they reach there. The guards
apprehend Kovalan and one of them cuts him down with his sword. Strangely
enough the guards are apprehensive about striking Kovalan initially as they
believe him to be innocent. Kovalan falls down once he is struck and lies on
the ground life ebbing away. The goldsmith is extremely relieved that the secret
of his theft remains a secret and having got an innocent killed is safe forever.
He is very happy to have the anklet back and returns it to the King. As the
reader/viewer of the play, we know that an innocent has been killed and that
the anklet that has been given back to the King actually belongs to Kannaki.
While the real thief the goldsmith is a free man.
Meanwhile Matari the herdswoman sees inauspicious signs in the herdsman’s
quarters and is worried that some tragedy is about to strike them. She and
the others arrange for a sacred dance in the praise of Krsna in which they
would enact his life story. After the dance is over Matari walks down to the
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river Vaiyai to bathe where she learns of Kovalan’s murder. She is shocked Cilappatikaran: A Textual
Analysis
and does not inform Kannaki about it as she feels that the news of Kovalan’s
execution will break the latter. Kannaki learns about the execution of Kovalan
through a stranger who informs her that Kovalan has been killed on the charges
of the theft of the Pandyan Queen’s anklet. Kannaki is distraught and angry
and denounces the Pandayan King Netunceliyan. The people of Maturai also
come together protesting the death of Kovalan and demand justice from a King
who they feel has moved away from the path of true justice. Kannaki proceeds
to the site of the goldsmith’s shop and finds the dead body of her beloved
Kovalan. In the process of embracing him he appears to stand before her and
console her wiping her tears away, and he begins the divine ascent to heaven.
He blesses her and asks her to live in peace.
Kannaki fighting for justice storms the court of the Pandayan King demanding
justice from him along with an explanation for the hideous murder. The
Pandayan Queen in the meantime has seen very inauspicious dreams and she
is woken up with the piercing cries of Kannaki demanding an explanation at
the palace. Kannaki holds the anklet in her hand and with her hair loose appears
as a wild aspect of justice to the Pandayan King as he listens to her demand
for justice and an explanation for the murder. The king protest as he claims
that he is innocent while Kovalan was a thief who had been caught with the
Queen’s anklet which was proof of guilt and that it was his duty to punish
the thief. Kannaki in a fit of anger breaks open her anklet and gems stream
and fall all over the floor. The gems that tumble out are rubies which prove
Kovalan’s innocence as the Queen’s anklet had pearls in it. The King is dismayed
after confronting the evidence in front of him. He admits his guilt and dies out
of remorse and his Queen follows him in death.
Kannaki deeply angered and in a rage, storms out of the palace and curses
the city that has brought her so much grief - Maturai. In a fit of superhuman
power that will later transform her into a goddess and an important part of
the Tamil consciousness, she tears her left breast away from her torso leaving
a deep wound in her body and hurls it over the city cursing it and the moment
her left breast falls on the ground the city of Maturai bursts into flames. In
a beautiful passage in the epic the presiding deity of Kannaki appears before
her explaining the Jain laws of Karma and the problem of causality. She informs
Kannaki that in a former birth Kovalan was called Bharata and that he was
in the service of King Vasu where he had mistaken one Cankaman who was
a just merchant to be a spy. Cakaman had been beheaded on Kovalan’s orders.
So an innocent life had been taken. Cankaman’s wife Nili is so deeply shocked
by this injustice that she curses Bharata (Bharata was Kovalan in an earlier
birth) and commits suicide by jumping off a cliff. Due to the effect of the Karmic
cycle the presiding deity mentions that, Kovalan had to suffer in this birth. Hence,
Kovalan had to suffer the same fate as Cankaman as atonement for his actions
in his previous life. The presiding deity informs Kannaki that she will rejoin
her husband in fourteen days.
Kannaki then leaves the city of Maturai and proceeds to the Chera kingdom
and arrives at the Netuvel hills eventually. She ascends to heaven on the chariot
that Lord Indra sends for her. This begins the transition of Kannaki to a goddess
as the dwellers of the hills witness her ascent to heaven. They inform the Chera
King Cenkuttuvan about this miracle. The King is camping on the banks of
the river Periyar and the poet Ilanko Atikal who is also present there tells
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Cilappatikaran the Chera King about all the unhappy events that occurred in Maturai. The
Chera queen Ilanko Venmal asks the King to build a temple for Kannaki
and to worship her as a goddess. The Chera king Cenkuttuvan decides to
have a statue of Kannaki sculpted and has the sacred stone brought from the
Himalayas. He begins the great march to the north of India where he seeks
to bring the Arya Kings to heel and to prove that the Tamil people are as
strong and brave as the Arya Kings. He defeats all the Arya Kings in a pitched
battle and finds the sacred stone where the image of Kannaki is engraved and
purified by the waters of the sacred Ganges.
Meanwhile back in Maturai, Matalan the Brahmin arrives with the information
that both Kavunti the Jain monk and Matari the herdswoman have ended their
lives as they failed to protect Kannaki. The Chera King Cenkuttuvan then
proceeds to head back to his kingdom where he installs the engraved image
of the goddess Pattini / the deified name for Kannaki. The process of the
daily worship of Kannaki begins at this temple. On the advice of Matalan
the Chera King Cenkuttuvan performs the Rajsuya sacrifice and proclaims
his lordship over the entire Tamil country. He begins the elaborate endowment
of the Pattani/Kannaki temple and slowly other Kings begin worshipping her
as the embodiment of virtuosity and chastity. The worship we are told begins
and is consolidated even in faraway Sri Lanka in the kingdom of King Gajabahu.
Eventually the goddess Pattani herself appears before them bestowing her
blessings. This is the summary of the epic Cilappatikaran. In the next section
we will look at the presence of female characters in the epic.

2.3 FEMALE PRESENCE IN CILAPPATIKARAN

India is a country that has traditionally been largely male dominated though,
every now and then there has been a strong feminine voice as well. A singular
case is the voice of Draupadi in the epic the Mahabharata who articulates
both at the level of the voice as well as that of the body. She comes across
as an articulate woman in the epic who voices her ideas on the injustice meted
out to-her and at the same time her open hair becomes a symbol of resistance
(articulation through the body). This is not so apparent in the other epic the
Ramayana where there is domesticity apparent with Sita becoming emblematic
of a new ideal of womanhood which, has been and is being questioned in most
discourses today. The two epics Cilappatikaran and Manimekalai (which is
the story of Matavi and Kovalan’s daughter Manimekalai and is a sequel)
are singular as they have women protagonists who bring out the voice of injustice
during the ancient period when these epics were written. They are also
domesticated voices as in the case with Kannaki who endures Kovalan’s
abandonment of her or the case of Matavi the courtesan who accepts the fact
that Kovalan has left her. Apart from this is the fact that the voice of Kannaki
as an example of an injured womanhood of a universal kind is very apparent.
She transforms from being the ideal daughter-in-law (taking care of her aged
in-laws even after being abandoned by her husband), ideal wife as she welcomes
the straying husband Kovalan back to, a symbolic figure fighting for justice
again for the same husband who left her for a dancer/ courtesan transforming
into an avenging goddess and is later canonised into a benevolent, protective
deity.
The presence of women as central characters in the Cilappatikaran and the
Manimekalai unlike in Sanskrit epics where the male protagonist is central
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to the plot is the influence of Buddhism and Jainism on the epical tradition of Cilappatikaran: A Textual
Analysis
Tamil Nadu. Egalitarianism was a big thing in Jainism and Buddhism and it is
largely these influences that have allowed women to function with their distinct
identities in the epic. The local context comes into play as well, when we see
Kannaki being transformed to the goddess Pattani. This transformation in
keeping with the local context, points to the creation of a newer imagination
which results in the formation of new cults and belief systems. Tradition is an
evolving process and this also points to the pluralism that was present in early
India which provided a space for different voices to be articulated. This leads
to the formation of a new goddess who is now imbued with a myth and a
discourse which originates in a tragedy that involves normal human beings bringing
out the synthesis between the human and the divine. Kannaki the woman
becomes the symbol of a vengeful woman and when her presence as a
transformed figure is accommodated in the Buddhist tradition, she becomes an
emblematic voice. Her demand for justice assumes the universal nature of
Dharma and finally there is the elaborate scene where she is absorbed into
the larger mainstream tradition of beliefs and thoughts and becomes a distinctive
goddess.
There are two kinds of women in the epic. One variety are the simple folk
be it the herdswoman or the domestic help or the women who have a distinct
public profile as in the figure of the courtesan Mathavi and the other variety
is of the divine. This is reflected in the figure of Kannaki who transforms from
a simple housewife to a canonised goddess.

2.4 THE IDEA OF JUSTICE IN CILAPPATIKARAN

The Cilappatikaran apart from the status as a ritual epic in Tamil Nadu is
also noteworthy for the representation of justice in the early eras of Indian history.
Woven around the mythological aspects of the epic is the idea of justice which
has been subverted. Justice in early India can be seen in some early texts like
the Arthashastra which brings out the early aspects of Maurayan rule and
the idea of a King administering it with elaborate penalties for crime. The idea
of a king as a divine figure administering justice is woven around the nature
of the judgement. The king had to be impartial so that the miscarriage of justice
did not take place.
This formulation is very different from the ideas of justices as seen in a modern
nation state where there are norms and rules not only in every country but
there is also a forum where justice can be administered for nation states through
agencies like the United Nations. The epic deals with early Indian social
conditions where the idea of monarchy prevailed and hence, the conception
of justice is based on the body of the king who is divinely appointed and imbued
with the wheels of administering justice. The King needs to be a “just and fair
King” who follows the Dharma as Dharma is important for administering justice.
The entire universe in the Jain and Buddhist tradition is governed by Dharma
and any subversion of this would obviously result in a physical catastrophe.
This physical disturbance of space is noted in many cultures and is reflected
in many national literatures. An example can be taken from Shakespeare’s King
Lear where Lear abdicates his responsibilities as the custodian of the kingdom
as he begins the process of dividing the Kingdom between his three daughters.
This is a violation of the idea of a moral code imbued in the body of the king.
Hence, any disturbance within this can lead to a physical catastrophe reflected 19
Cilappatikaran in the civil war in King Lear and the subsequent death of King Lear. Something
similar happens here in the Cilappatikaran when there is the miscarriage of
justice. As a result of the miscarriage of justice by the Pandyan King, the city
of Maturai burns.
The error made by the Pandyan king was in not examining facts in the case
of Kovalan. By ordering his death on the grounds that he was a thief he set
up the problem of the violation of Dharma and he pays a price for this action.
The violation of Dharma in ancient literature is not just an individual act but
the consequences affect a large number of people. This is apparent in early
Sanskrit epics like the Mahabharata where a single error by Drtharashtra
in not dividing the kingdom between the Kauravas and the Pandavas results
in the Mahabharata war leading to mass scale destruction of lives. In the next
section we shall deal with how the city of Maturai comes to be destroyed,
is resurrected and rises again.

2.5 DESTRUCTION, RESURRUCTION AND THE

ASCENDENCY OF THE CITY
Puhar the Khaberis (in the Egyptian records) of Tolemy and Maturai, are
the two cities that form the setting of the epics Cilappatikaran and Manimekalai.
Pukar known as Kaveri Poompattinam/ Poompuhar in old Tamil memory
and Maturai are the two cities that appear to have been destined for destruction
following the law of adharma that was committed by the King when he orders
the execution of Kovalan. Much of what remains of Puhar is now beneath
the sea; a part of the shifting coast lines and the geo tectonics of continental
plates. Modern day Madurai, is most likely where Maturai was situated. The
areas we are talking about (Puhar and Maturai) have a historical reference
to the sea eroding and reconstructing the coast line. Poompuhar was one of
the most prosperous port of the early Cholas and both the epics Cilapathikaram
and the Manimekalai mention the prosperity of the port. Cilappatikaran
mentions the general lay out of the plan of Poompuhar in Section five of the
epic when the festival of Indra is celebrated. It provides a fascinating glimpse
of the early Chola, Chera and Pandyan economy where the markets streets
are filled with traders from distant lands, where silks, grains, fur, cotton, coral,
sandalwood, pearls, gems and gold are traded and sold.
On the edge of the burnished waters lived
And mingled as one traders from the distant
Lands, come for goods carried
By ships. With paints, scented powders,
Incense and fragrant perfumes, hawkers
Went around the city streets.
Further the epic mentions an interesting lay out of the port city with the suburbs
being the residences of the princes and the landed gentry. There were separate
streets for the astrologers, charioteers, bards, panegyrists, farmers, physicians,
astronomers, dancers, harlots, flower sellers, betel leaf vendors, musicians and
drummers.
One saw the fine work of making
Cloth from silk, fur and cotton
In the weavers quarters. Silk, coral,
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 Sandalwood, agar, flawless pearls, Cilappatikaran: A Textual
Analysis
Gems, gold, and an endless profusion
Of rare ornaments were piled high
In the commodious streets.
The image painted of the city in the epic is almost like the land of plenty
where:
Heaped separately
Were grains in the streets of the grain merchants,
As also a variety of provisions distinct from one
Another.
The various trades practised by the people, the types of food and wines sold
are all described very vividly. It’s almost like the cataloguing that happens in
Greek Epics.
Peddlers of pastry, appam;
Women hawking wine; fishermen
Offering fish for sale; vendors
Of white salt; sellers of betel
Leaves; perfumers; butchers flogging
Different kinds of meat; oil mongers;
Overcrowded shops packed with food;
Braziers; coppersmiths; painters; sculptors;
Goldsmiths; jewellers; tailors; cobblers;
A host of artisans making various
Flawless objects with cloth and pith;
The homes of great musicians, expert
In the traditions of music, who could display
Impeccable skill on the flute and the lute by sounding
The first seven notes; and other workers
Who excelled in small crafts-
All had their homes in the suburbs of the city.
Apart from the description of trades plied, commodities bought and sold, types
of food, the dwelling spaces of different occupational holders are also mentioned.
In the city itself stood the Kingsway,
The flagged car street, the market square,
The boulevard where merchant princes dwelt
In tall mansions, the brahman homes,
The houses of landed families and their tenants
Farmers, of physicians, astrologers and those employed
In other tasks, the broad street
Of the homes of those who with skill bored
Holes into bright gems, and those who polished
Ornate conches. In separate houses
Lived charioteers, bards, panegyrists.
Astronomers, handsome dancers, harlots,
Actresses, flower and betel girls,
Maidservants, professional musicians.
Drummers of various sorts, and jesters.
Surrounding the fort were the spacious houses
Of cavalrymen with swift horses, riders
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Cilappatikaran Of male elephants, drivers of lofty chariots,
Fierce looking soldiers. Celebrated in song
Was this part of the town and well known
For the great and renowned men who lived there.
It was a part of the larger / popular imagination, of a big port city. Moreover
being the capital city it occupied a special place in the imagination of the poets
who received the impressions of the past through the glory sung within literature
and through collective memory/ folk songs. It had a resonance like the Sthala
Puranas/ the narrative of places. Both the epics being urban epics in the classical
sense celebrate the city and the various hues of the city. The impressions of
the city have been drawn long after the original sites have disappeared with
the passage of time, much like Krishna’s Dwarka that is celebrated in the
Mahabharata as a part of the collective unconscious that is handed down from
one generation to the next. It is important to note that simply because the physical
city itself is long gone, faced by the ravages of time and natural calamities like
tsunamis and earthquakes, the memories of the lost city are consequently rebuilt
- layer by layer of memory that cut across time as seen in Poompuhar of
Cilappatikaran.
Somewhere though in the stratigraphic layers of the soil on the land and at
the silt on the bottom of the ocean lie the physical remnants of the old imagination;
artefacts of daily use that have not biodegraded like bronze coins, terracotta,
sculptures in stone and beads. The land below holds within the layers of soil
entire cities with fort battlements, residences and streets now reduced to rubble
and mere foundations. This is also seen beneath the sea near the coasts as
the eroding coast lines tsunamis swallow entire cities leaving remnants for marine
archaeologists to discover and in the case of Poompuhar the old submerged
city has been found and the many Maturais of the creative and folk imagination
are connected with the lost lands swallowed up by the sea. Take for instance
the case of Kumari Kandam or the Tamil lost lands. Kumari stands for Cape
Camorin and it is now connected deeply within Tamil nationalism to the lost
submerged mythical continent of Lemuria.

2.6 LET US SUM UP

In this unit we have summarised the epic Cilappatikaran, we have examined
the presence of female characters in the epic, looked at the sense of justice,
the Jain influence on the epic and also at the collective consciousness/ memory
that contributes to the nation building/ myth making process.

2.7 QUESTIONS
1. Who is the author of Cilappatikaran? Why do you think authorship is
speculated?
2. Outline the plot of Cilappatikaran.
3. Comment on the female presence in Cilappatikaran.
4. Discuss the idea of justice in Cilappatikaran.

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