The Cillapatikaram: The Tale of an Anklet

Lesson: The Cillapatikaram: The Tale of an Anklet: Ilanko Atikal

Lesson Developer: Dr. Kinshuk Majumdar

College/ Department: Shyam Lal College, University of Delhi

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 The Cillapatikaram: The Tale of an Anklet

Table of Contents

What is an epic?

What is a Primary Epic and a Secondary Epic?

Epic Hero

The Heroine

Epic Similies

Catalogue

Epic versus Tragedy

The Author

The Cillapatikaram

Issues

Narrative Technique

The Cillapatikaram and the Jaina Tradition

Conclusion

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 The Cillapatikaram: The Tale of an Anklet

The Cilappatikaram: The Tale of an Anklet

Statue of Kannaki, Chennai

What is an Epic?

An epic is a long narrative poem which talks about the heroic past of a country or a race
or a tribe. It is one of the oldest forms of literature which was narrated by minstrels and
bards. Epic poetry is defined by Oxford Advanced English Dictionary as “a long poem,
typically one derived from ancient oral tradition, narrating the deeds and adventures of
heroic or legendary figures or the past history of a nation” (618). The text is loaded with
references to numerous poems, ballads, romances available at that particular point of
time, making it a representative of the national culture. Epics are of two types, primary
and secondary.

In ancient times, every nation or race glorified heroes like Arjun in The Mahabharata
(8th-9th century B.C.) or Achilles in The Iliad (1194–1184 BC) whose heroism became the
much discussed topic of the day. The canvas of the epic is vast, covering many nations,
the cosmos or the universe. The English epic Paradise Lost (1667), by John Milton
(1608-1674) is an example of this. Epic poetry always begins with an invocation to the
Muse, seeking inspiration of the Goddess of learning and culture. Epic poetry has got
fixed definitions of things called “epithets” like “rosy-fingered dawn” used by Homer in
The Odyssey. There are descriptions of things in the form of long lists, called an epic
catalogue. The hero/heroine generally participates in a cyclical journey or quest, faces
adversaries that try to defeat him/her in his/her journey and returns home significantly
transformed by his journey. The epic protagonist illustrates traits, performs deeds, and

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exemplifies certain morals that are valued by the society the epic originates from. Many
epic heroes are recurring characters in the legends of their native culture.

What is a Primary Epic and a Secondary Epic?

A primary epic stems from heroic deeds and is composed in the first instance, to record
historical events. It deals with a monumental incident of history which changed the
fortunes of a nation, or a tribe or a race forever. The Iliad is a primary epic. A secondary
epic deals with heroic legend or with more abstract themes than the type available to
primary epic, and which is composed, not as an historical record of the past, but as the
poet's artistic interpretation or recreation of legend or theme. Milton’s Paradise Lost is a
secondary epic presenting a reinterpretation of the Biblical story of Genesis written with
a view to “justify[ing] the ways of God to man.”

Epic Hero

An epic hero is a larger than life figure who represents the ethos and cultural ideals of
his time and on his fate the future of his race, country or tribe depends. He is a great
figure who stands for the cause of justice and sacrifices himself for a noble cause. He is
courageous and upright. Ram in The Ramayana sacrifices his kingdom for the sake of his
father’s promise. Arjun in The Mahabharata fights for the cause of justice, against his
great grandfather and teacher. His moral dilemmas are very well brought forward in The
Gita where Lord Krishna advices him to fight for the cause of justice. Both Ram and
Arjun represent uprightness, devotion and loyalty for a great cause. Therefore, it
becomes absolutely imperative that we understand that Indian epic heroes are
characterized by their following of ‘dharma.’ Dharma in Indian context means to lead a
religious and chaste life in accordance with established norms, rules and regulations.

Achilles is the hero of the Greek epic, The Iliad. He is the greatest warrior in the Greek
army. The Iliad is about the Trojan War, but it is also about Achilles as the war is
affected by his wrath, or anger. In his other epic, The Odyssey, Homer portrayed
Odysseus as a man of outstanding wisdom and shrewdness, eloquence, resourcefulness,
courage, and endurance. He used all his resources to overcome the hurdles on the way
to Ithaca after the Trojan War. Then, after he returned to Ithaca, he realized soon that
his kingdom has been invaded by shameless kings who have been pestering his faithful
wife, Penelope to marry one of them. The rest of the epic is all about how Odysseus uses

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his skill, diplomacy and prowess to defeat these kings and reestablish peace and order in
Ithaca.

Ludovico Ariosto’s Orlando furioso (1532), Torquato Tasso’s Jerusalem Delivered (1581)
and Edmund Spenser’s The Faerie Queene (1590, 1596)) are epics with female
protagonists. In Orlando furioso, an Italian epic-romance, Bradamante is a female
warrior who demonstrates women’s agency and self-assertion. Bradamante (often
alluded to as the Maid in the poem,) is the heroic and cross-dressed woman-knight who
is one of Charlemagne’s most worthy and active paladins. Our first impression of her is
one of awe and admiration, surrounded as the brave woman-hero is by dangers and
treachery both of a political and personal kind. As the text unfolds, traits of will, skill,
foresight, insight and imagination that usually belong to the male hero and his epic quest
are instead entrusted to Bradamante. While Orlando is a medieval chivalric hero whose
unrequited love reduces him to a savage madness and Ruggiero, the poem’s pagan hero,
remains largely inadequate and unimpressive, it is to Bradamante that Ariosto assigns
the central role of the hero as she loves, follows, protects and redeems the morally less
steadfast Ruggiero. As such, and in the context of a weakening masculine world of
chivalry, Bradamante is the woman-knight whose heroic stature seems to subvert
masculine identities.

Jerusalem Delivered is an epic poem by the Italian poet Torquato Tasso (1544-
1595) first published in 1581, which tells a largely mythical version of the First
Crusade in which Christian knights, led by Godfrey of Bouillon, fight against
the Muslims in order to take Jerusalem. The poem is composed of eight
line stanzas grouped into 20 cantos of varying length.

The poem, tells of the initial disunity and setbacks of the Christians and their ultimate
success in taking Jerusalem in 1099. The main historical leaders of the Crusade feature,
but much of the poem is concerned with romantic sub-plots involving fictional
characters, except for Tancredi, who is identified with the historical Tancred, Prince of
Galilee. The three main female characters begin as Muslims, have romantic
entanglements with Christian knights, and are eventually converted to Christianity. They
are all women of action: two of them fight in battles, and the third is a sorceress. There
are many magical elements, and the Saracen side often acts as though they were
classical pagans.

Tasso's choice of subject matter, was based on an actual historic conflict between
Christians and Muslims (with inclusion of fantasy elements), and created compositional
implications (the narrative subject matter had a fixed endpoint and could not be
endlessly spun out in multiple volumes) that are lacking in other Renaissance epics. Like

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other works of the period which portray conflicts between the Christians and the
Muslims, this subject matter had a topical resonance to readers of the period, as
the Ottoman Empire was advancing through Eastern Europe.

Faerie Queene by Edmund Spenser (1552-1599) has a protagonist for each of the six
complete books. Britomart, the protagonist of Book III which deals with chastity, is
female. She is demonstrated as being not just valorous and adept as her male
counterparts but also to have a steadfastness of vision and an unwillingness to be
diverted from her goal that is often lacking in the male protagonists. She has the agency
usually reserved for a knight in the romance tradition, of departing on a quest to find her
beloved, Artegall, rather than passively staying at home and waiting for him to discover
her. Through this figure Spenser explores the many faces of desire and what it means to
both men and women. While the valorization of marriage as the end of Britomart’s quest
might appear problematic and patriarchal, similar to Ariosto’s emphasis on Bradamante’s
function as wife and mother, it should not be forgotten that Book III is about the single
Britomart’s adventures in Faerieland- she does not meet Artegall in the space of this
narrative. And when they do meet, in Book V, it is to engage in martial combat and not
to embrace.

Epic Similes

An epic simile is a long tailed comparison where a series of objects are compared with a
particular person or a thing to bring out its significance and large dimensions. The
comparison is consciously created to show the cultural effect of the greatness of an
object. It is deliberately created in a grand style, using lofty language.

An epic simile is also called Homeric simile. The word "Homeric" is based on the Greek
author, Homer, who composed the two famous Greek epics, the Iliad and The Odyssey.
Many authors continue to use this type of simile in their writings. When Odysseus
returns from the battlefield, Penelope’s suitors are rendered helpless. Odysseus is a
great warrior who will pounce on them. As Homer says:
Weak as the doe that beds down her fawns in a mighty lion's den-her newborn
sucklings- then trails off to the mountain spurs and grassy bends to graze her fill, but
back the lion comes to his own lair and the master deals both fawns a ghastly, bloody
death, just what Odysseus will deal that mob-ghastly death.

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The condition for Penelope’s suitors is not favourable at all. Odysseus is the lion. The
fawns are the suitors. The suitors are about to learn an important lesson that they
should not work on assumption. Odysseus is alive and his wife and son are loyal to him.
As a result, they were tactless to pester her and will now have to pay with their lives.
In Paradise Lost (Book I) the first simile is the one in which Milton compares the huge
bulk of Satan with that of the monstrous size of the mythical Titans or giants who are
fabled to be the greatest in size ever born. Milton extends the simile into a comparison
of Satan with Leviathan. It serves to build up a sense of awe and mystery around the
figure of Satan. The suggestion of Satan’s huge dimensions is emphasized by another
simile in which Satan’s massive, round shield is compared to the moon:

The broad circumference

Hung on his shoulders like the moon (45).

Catalogue

Epic poetry is characterized by presentation of a series of objects in the form of a

catalogue. The catalogues are designed to bring out the strengths of a particular race or
a tribe. In Homer’s The Iliad we see that the Greek ships are presented in the form of a
catalogue which are all set to destroy the Trojan Army. The catalogue displays the
strength and the military prowess of the Greeks, indicating their success. The catalogue
gives the names of the leaders of each contingent. It is a detailed narrative of the
kingdom represented by the contingent, sometimes with a descriptive epithet that fills
out a half-verse or articulates the flow of names and parentage and place, and gives the
number of ships required to transport the men to Troy, offering further differentiations of
weightiness.

Epic versus Tragedy

There are similarities between epic and tragedy. Both talk of ‘grand theme’ and are
written in a ‘grand style’ using deliberately stylized and lofty style. Most epics have tragic
endings as we see in The Ramayana or The Iliad. However, as Aristotle says:

Epic poetry agrees with tragedy to the extent that it is a representation, in

dignified verse, of serious actions. They differ, however, in that epic keeps to a
single metre and is in narrative form. Another point of difference is their length:

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tragedy tries as far as possible to keep within a single revolution of the sun, or
only slightly to exceed it, whereas the epic observes no limits in its time of
action--although at first the practice in this respect was the same in tragedies as
in epics. (38)

Tragic overtones are certainly there in epics. The epics represent a heroic past where
wars fought by martial race are highlighted. Having discussed at length about what an
epic is, we will focus on the issues in The Cillapatikaram.

About the Author

Ilanko Atikal (5th-6th c.A.D.), the younger brother of Cenkuttuvan, is the author of the
epic. The Cillapatikaram is a synthesis of Cankam and Sanskrit poetic styles. It is a
documentation of the secular Tamil world--their religious beliefs, music and dance,
lifestyles, their interaction with foreigners such as Greeks and Arabs. This epic is divided
into three books, set in the capitals of the three Tamil kingdoms—Pukar (the Chola
capital), Maturai (i.e., Madurai, the Pantiya [Pandya] capital), and Vanci (the Chera
capital). It dates to the age of the Pallavas (c. 300–900 CE). Ilanko Atikal was an ascetic
who renounced the world. He embraced the principles of Jainism and lived outside the
city of Vanci. Inspired by Kavunti, a Jaina nun and Kovalan’s spiritual guide this epic
revolves around Jainism and its principles.

The Cillapatikaram

The Cillapatikaram by Ilanko Atikal in Tamil narrates the story of a chaste woman called
Kannaki. Unlike conventional epics, she and her husband Kovalan do not come from the
highest section of society. They belong to the merchant community. Kovalan cheats his
wife and falls in love with Matavi, a dancer. He leaves his wife and goes to stay with her.
A child is born but after sometime they have a quarrel and Kovalan leaves Matavi. He
goes back to his wife, overwhelmed by a sense of guilt.

Kannaki welcomes him without any question. But by that time Kovalan had exhausted
his money. This makes the couple move to Maturai. They are accompanied by Kavunti, a
Jaina ascetic. Kovalan is suspected of having stolen the queen’s jewels and falsely
accused of theft. A drunken soldier murders Kovalan. Hearing this, Kannaki comes and
demands justice. The king defends himself by saying that he had to kill a thief. But
Kannaki then breaks open her anklet and gems leap out. This proves Kovalan’s

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innocence. The king commits suicide and so does the queen. Kannaki then cuts her left
breast, hurls it in the city which goes up in flames. She is consoled by the tutelary deity
who tells her that she will join her husband soon.

The Heroine

The Cillapatikaram is about a chaste woman who takes revenge on the king of Pukar. It
is the murder of Kovalan that brings about a sea change in Kannaki. Instead of passively
accepting the judgement, Kannaki goes all out challenging it. This can be contrasted with
Shakuntala and Sita (in the Valmiki Ramayana) who were passive recipients of the
unjust verdict. She opened the anklets and showed to the king that her husband was
innocent. This left the king shattered. He admitted his defeat and said: “Am I a king? I
listened to the words of a goldsmith!/ I alone am the thief! Through my error/ I have
failed to protect the people/ Of the southern kingdom. Let my life crumble in the
dust”(189). The king commits suicide followed by his queen. Kannaki emerges as an
agency of justice and she becomes the Pattini or the revered Goddess. The Canto 24
begins with “people of small huts” honouring her. The “people of small huts” are
worshippers of Murugan, the son of Shiva and Parvati. The Kannaki legend spreads far
and wide in Tamil Nadu as well as in Sri Lanka. Critics have found similarities between
Kannaki and Antigone as both stand for justice and protect family virtue. As Rajeswari
Sunder Rajan says, “The brevity of the exchange between Kannaki and the king can be
compared with the tense confrontation and complex debate, unresolved to this day,
between Antigone and Creon about divine law versus human law” (189). The divine law
in both cases emerges stronger and destroys their respective opponents. Both Kannaki
and Antigone show familial ties and duty to be superior to any other obligations.
However, Antigone had to pay with her life but Kannaki didn’t.

Antigone: A tragedy by Greek playwright Sophocles written around 441B.C. It deals

with Antigone’s burial of her brother Polynices in defiance of the laws of the state and
the consequences of her decision.

It is worth noting that most of the epics have a male hero and the women are relegated
to the margins. Draupadi raises a question asking the Kurus to do justice. She is bold
enough to question patriarchy, and also desires revenge. She is assertive; unlike Sita
she does not passively accept the verdict of her husband. The pity is that even after Sita
accepts the verdict she is further relegated to the margins. However, Kannaki herself
becomes an agency of justice, transcends the human world and reaches the status of the

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divine. She asserts herself in a way that shows she is a supporter of justice and will do
anything to prove Kovalan’s innocence.

The Cillapatikaram emerges as a text where Kannaki, the heroine champions the cause
of human rights, and consciously seeks to avenge the unjust death of her husband.
While Draupadi wanted her husbands to fight for her, Kannaki decided to take the
revenge herself. Kannaki does not challenge patriarchy, but demands justice like
Draupadi. The public domain was not for the woman to assert themselves. But Kannaki
boldly questions the king and subsequently proves her husband’s innocence; tearing
apart the patriarchal set up. The commonality between Draupadi and Kannaki lie in the
questioning of the patriarchy which destroys the established order. Both Draupadi and
Kannaki are wronged women and they rebel; one challenges patriarchy and the other
fights for her husband.

Issues

One of the major themes of the epic is chastity of women. Kannaki is deified because
she stands for moral virtue and decides to fight for her husband’s unjust murder. At the
outset of Canto 24 it is said, “Let us honor this woman as our goddess, O people/ Of
small huts!” (211). The whole poem revolves around the value of chastity. It is to be
noted that Kannaki whose temple is situated in Tamil Nadu and Sri Lanka has been
synonymous with divine power mainly because she is chaste. Her victory over the king is
a moral one.

Therefore, Indian epics always depict the chaste women as holy figures who cannot be
antagonized. Whether it is Sita in The Ramayana or Draupadi in The Mahabharata or
Kannaki in The Cillapatikaram a woman’s chastity has to be honoured. Draupadi was
harassed and was publicly maligned and therefore it was necessary to take revenge.
However, Kannaki was wronged by the king of Madurai unwittingly. Therefore, her
sufferings are to be dealt at the spiritual level rather than the mundane level.

The cornerstone of all society is justice. We cannot abandon justice and expect to rule
and acquire fame. Every act of crime is met with heavy punishment. The unjust killing of
Kovalan sets Maturai on fire. Kannaki is revered as a Goddess because she stood for
justice. King Cenkuttuvan reacted strongly when he heard about the unjust killing of
Kovalan:

By crowned kings the Pantiyan lies condemned.

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And before the news reached our ears, it is well

He gave up his life. (222)

King Cenkuttuvan establishes an ideal society based on justice and finds the actions of
the Pantiya king to be morally reprehensible. As Rajeswari Sunder Rajan says:

Divine law works in conjunction with human law rather than in opposition to it as
in Antigone. While antagonism structures the (female) citizen’s challenge to the
ruler in the exercise of his sovereign power, it is defused in the recourse to divine
intercession. Kannaki’s example can empower the female subject to challenge the
highest power of the land in the name of an unquestioned justice, but only when
there are grounds for (or simply faith in) its existence (191).

Kannaki, like Antigone fights for justice but emerges victorious because divine laws are
in her favour. The question raised by Antigone--which is greater--human law or divine is
not pertinent here. What is important is that justice has to be established and divine
laws must work in conjunction with human laws. As Paula Richman says, “The epic builds
in intensity as Kannaki accuses the king of deviating from just rule, and then she uses
the power derived from her chastity to engulf the city in flames before ascending to
heaven.”

The anklets act as an agency of justice and become a means through which Kannaki
establishes her husband’s innocence. Kannaki opens the anklets and proves that her
husband was not a thief. Disaster follows as the king and the queen both commit suicide.
The anklets, like the ring in Kalidasa’s Abhijnanasakuntalam, become an almost active
character in the epic providing meaning to the text. As Chandra Rajan says:

As the play progresses, this Ring, an inanimate thing—‘a mindless thing’ as the
King describes it, becomes a character in the drama and plays a role. Its fall and
loss goes hand in hand with the fall of Sakuntala’s fortunes and the loss of
memory of the King and his fall into delusion and ‘deep dejection’; its finding
brings awakening and pain. The theme of knowing and re-cognition hinges on the
presence or absence of the Ring (96).

The similarities between the two cannot be missed. Just as the ring becomes an agency
to unite Dushyanta and Sakuntala, similarly the anklets act as an ‘objective correlative’
in the text. The anklets therefore act as a force uniting Kovalan and Kannaki eternally.
The jewels are hidden in the anklets and they would prove Kovalan’s innocence. The
anklets unify the public (puram) and the private (akam) domain of the epic, and make
the hero and heroine united forever in Heavens.

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Another central theme is the imperial agenda of King Cenkuttuvan. The Chera king has
expanded his kingdom and defeated the Aryan kings of the North. But he has fought for
justice and so he has been supported by Kannaki, the presiding Goddess. One must not
miss out the fact that his worshipping Kannaki has moral, but also political implications.
Kannaki would always support her devotee. His exploits are hailed by all, namely his
subjects, the tax-collector, the Brahmins as: ‘May the ruler of the entire world live
forever!’ (228). The above mentioned king is to be contrasted with the ruler of Maturai
whose act of injustice led to sufferings of the subjects. Cenkuttuvan routed the armies of
Konkanas, Kalingas, cruel Karutanas and a host of others and established his Empire.
The imperial agenda is seen as synonymous with the blessings of Pattini and therefore is
welcomed by everyone.

Narrative Technique

The narrative is clearly demarcated into two halves, namely akam and puram meaning
private and public respectively. The akam refers to the private which presents Kannaki
as a happy wife married to Kovalan leading a simple life. She is busy looking after her
household activities, taking care of her husband. She is an innocent woman who has a
carefree life till her husband goes to Matavi, the dancing girl. But she does not regret or
question her husband. When he comes back repentant, she welcomes and accepts him.
She is a chaste woman who has been co-opted by patriarchy and does not question her
husband. As David C. Buck says:

…; instead, its heroine, Kannaki, is a woman steadfast in virtue. She says

to her husband, “You have done things that good men/ Would have stayed
clear of.” “As for me, I have lived/ A blameless life. Therefore, I got up
and followed you.”...With this criticism, she begins a personal
transformation by the end of which she can be accommodated only by
apotheosis.

The unjust murder of her husband brings about a drastic change in her. She is no longer
the simple housewife ready to accept her husband’s murder. She challenges the Pantiya
king and is no longer the forgiving wife of the akam domain. She acts as an agency of
justice and openly challenges his verdict. She says in Canto 20:

O lord of Korkai who does not dispense justice

Impartially! You should know that my golden anklet
Screams with gems (189).

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Her motive is revenge and once she proves her husband’s innocence, the king and the
queen commit suicide. Kannaki’s breaking open of the anklets has ominous portents. R.
Parthasarathy says:

Kannaki’s breaking of her anklet in the presence of the king is perhaps the most
inauspicious omen of all. It is an acknowledgement of the end of her married life.
She releases her sexual energy that had so far been contained by the anklets on
her person. The anklet, a symbol of her stern chastity, turns into an instrument of
vengeance. (12)

She turns revengeful and destroys the city of Maturai. One can see a parallel between
her anger and the wrath of Achilles. Both have been denied justice; and they deserved
to be treated much better. However, the gravity of wrongs done to Achilles is much less
than the harms perpetrated on Kannaki. Achilles never suffered from loss of any kith and
kin; only his position as the most respectable warrior of the Greeks was undermined.

As in many other epics, the poem uses the flashback technique where most of the
incidents have happened and the poem begins after Kannaki has been established as a
deity. This is made clear in the Prologue to the above mentioned book, “A chaste woman
with only one breast/ Stood in the thick shade of the kino Tree, incandescent in its
golden flowers” (19). Our curiosity is immediately aroused because we wonder why this
woman is without a breast. The Prologue provides an insight into the whole epic and tells
us the major themes of the text. The epic revolves around the idea of justice which is
stressed upon at the outset, “We shall compose a poem, with songs,/ To explain these
truths; even kings, if they break/ The law, have their necks wrung by dharma” (21). So
the Prologue makes it very clear that the central theme of the epic is uprightness or
chastity like Milton’s Paradise Lost where the invocation makes it very clear that
disobedience to God will not be tolerated. Thus similarities are obvious. The invocations
of both the poets make it clear that virtue and justice are the founding principles of
everything. The transformation of Kannaki from an ordinary woman to a deified woman
is a contrast to the presentation of Ram and Krishna in The Ramayana and The
Mahabharata respectively. Says R. Parthasarathy:

Her [Kannaki’s] apotheosis invests her with power and dominion in heaven and
on earth. As the goddess Pattini, she can now perpetually intercede on behalf of
her followers. While the Sanskrit epics, The Mahabharata and The Ramayana,
deal with the descent of gods (Krsna, Rama) in human form, the Tamil poem
deals with the ascent of a human (Kannaki) to divinity (330).

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Epic poetry has always glorified heroes whether it is Arjuna in The Mahabharata or
Achilles in The Iliad. In The Cillapatikaram the Chera ruler, Cenkuttuvan, is eulogized
for his outright victory over the Aryan kings of the north and his establishment of Empire
in the South. He, with the blessings of Kannaki, the presiding deity, bases a society on
justice. His successive victories are hailed thus: “The title ‘Great King,’ the glorious
victory/ After setting fire to the enemy’s camp,/ The imperishable fame achieved by
feeding/ His soldiers, and the prowess of a king on the eve of battle” (224). The
narrative makes it very clear that Cenkuttuvan is a great ruler and the blessings of
Kannaki are responsible for that. Epic poetry presents heroes having blessings of certain
gods and goddesses who are responsible for their success. These gods bless these
respective heroes with courage, strength, and fortitude which lead to success. In The
Mahabharata Krishna is responsible for the success of Arjuna, in The Odyssey Pallas
Athene is responsible for the success of Odysseus and in The Cillapatikaram Kannaki is
responsible for King Cenkuttuvan’s success.

An oral epic narrates a story through wandering bards and minstrels and it is finally
written down many years later by one author or by many. However, it is attributed to
one author. The Cillapatikaram is no exception as it talks about the fifth century Tamil
society. The story is rooted in contemporary history like other epics such as The
Mahabharata or The Odyssey which reflect the heroic past of their respective times. As
R. Parthasarathy says, “The Cillapatikaram is thus a syncretic work that unites and
harmonizes elements drawn from various sources. These include Sanskrit kavya
literature that offered Ilanko examples of rhetorical conventions; Hindu myths; Jainism
and its heterodox traditions, notably karma, nonviolence, and renunciation; and
memories of Aryan invasions of southern India” (318).

Kavya refers to the Sanskrit literary style used by Indian court poets which was
extremely popular from the first half of the seventh century AD. This literary style is
characterised by abundant usage of figures of speech like metaphors, similes,
and hyperbole to create emotional effects. The result is a short lyrical work, court epic,
narrative or dramatic work. "Kavya" can refer to the style or the completed body of
literature. Asvaghosa (c. 80-150 AD), a philosopher and poet considered the father of
Sanskrit drama, coined this word for the first time.

The Cillapatikaram and the Jaina Tradition

We have already mentioned the link of karma or the Hindu tradition in The
Cillapatikaram. But Ilanko Atikal also adheres to the Jaina tradition. As R. Parthasarathy

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says, “An atikal is a Jaina ascetic or mendicant (camanacariyar) who combines monastic
life and outside religious activity” (335). The story tells about the married life of a
merchant and his wife which is far away from the life of a saint. The story of The
Cillapatikaram has a long history. In his previous birth Kovalan was cursed because of a
murder he unwittingly committed. Kovalan was punished and the Jaina tradition of jiva
(sentient) and ajiva (insentient) works its way out through his unjust punishment and
death. Jain reality comprises two components, jiva (“soul,” or “living substance”) and
ajiva (“nonsoul,” or “inanimate substance”). Ajiva is further divided into two categories:
nonsentient material entities and nonmaterial entities. The jiva and the ajiva are closely
connected through the cycle of birth, death and rebirth. This cycle of karma is a
coincidence with Hinduism where even in The Bhagwat Gita karma becomes the thrust of
all rewards we get in our lives.

The Jaina tradition becomes important particularly when we contextualize Kavunti’s

death through fasting upon hearing Kovalan and Kannaki’s fate. According to Jaina
tradition, fasting is a way to show penitence for one’s misdeeds. Kavunti was the
spiritual counselor of both and found their loss unbearable. She is deliberately introduced
to show how the spiritual impact of Kannaki and fasting in Jaina tradition is a way to
absolution for sinners. Repentance for any misdeed is a sure way to elevate oneself.

How is the Jaina tradition important in The Cilapattikaram? Numerous references are
made to elevated stone platforms built by the Jaina householders of Pukar, holy prayers
of the Jainas, whisked broom which the Jaina monks carry, tapas or the practice of
austerity, attainment of nirvana etc. all of which aim at spiritual rejuvenation. But apart
from that there is also an emphasis on Cenkuttuvan uniting the various elements of the
South and giving the epic a national colour which is very much in tune with the spirit of
genre.

The Cillapatikaram and Folklore

Folklore is an essential part of epic and The Cilapattikaram is rooted in Tamil folk-tales.
According to Oxford English Dictionary, folklore refers to, “the traditional beliefs,
customs, and stories of community, passed through the generations by word of mouth”
(713). Kannaki’s story has been an essential part of Sangam epic and the twin notions of
karpu (chastity) and ananku (female sexuality) get intertwined in it. The history of
ancient southern India (known as the Tamilakam) spanning from c. 300 BCE to 300 CE is
known as the Sangam period. It consists of 2381 poems composed by 473 poets, some
102 of whom remain anonymous. Sangam literature deals with emotional and material

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 The Cillapatikaram: The Tale of an Anklet

topics such as love, war, governance, trade and bereavement. The Tamil folklore had a
mystical, feminine tone, deliberately designed to create a sense of respectability for
women which is essential for performances. The Tamil culture saw the karpu as the
essential reason for female superiority. The power of the chaste women is celebrated
here. Folklore has been a part of oral narrative where many male narratives and
patriarchal assumptions have been challenged and subverted. Kannaki’s story is no
exception to the rule. The Cillapatikaram is very nicely synthesized into within the
Sangam folklore where female chastity, love, bereavement, war are all seen and
heterogeneously synthesized within the framework of the Jaina tradition.

Kannaki challenges the king with her hair disheveled which classical Tamil ethos presents
as an evil omen signifying disaster. It shatters the faith of the king leaving him petrified.
Kannaki’s power is spiritual and her entrance in the court has ominous portents as
Parthasarathy points out:

Wild, disheveled hair, sometimes interlaced with snakes, refers to fearsome

deities such as the Gorgon Medusa who had the power to turn into stone anyone
who looked at her. Kannaki exercised a similar power over the king: he ‘saw her,
and died of terror’ (14-15).

Kannaki’s hair is seen as a powerful device to challenge the death of Kovalan combining
supernatural and horrific power which is backed by Jaina tradition. There is a synthesis
of Jaina and Tamil ethos where hair of a woman has to be in proper way for maintaining
harmony.

Conclusion

The Cillapatikaram is an important epic which asserts the significance of virtue, honour
and justice in any society, particularly in India. It must be remembered that this epic
embraces a number of traditions, be it Jaina or the Hindu or the Buddhist, providing a
widening platform to assert the noble virtues. The unit focuses on a number of issues.
The first half of the unit deals with epic and its features, followed by a discussion on epic
hero and epic similes. Since epic has similarities with tragedy, an understanding of it
would be incomplete without a comparison of the two. The major issues and the way
they are presented take a major bulk of analysis and attention.

Glossary

Apotheosis: the elevation of someone to divine status.

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 The Cillapatikaram: The Tale of an Anklet

Ballad: A ballad is a form of verse, often a narrative set to music.

Invocation: An invocation is an appeal to a higher power for help, such as a prayer to

the God of learning and culture to write epic poems.

Kavya: refers to the Sanskrit literary style used by Indian court poets which was
extremely popular from the first half of the seventh century AD. This literary style is
characterised by abundant usage of figures of speech like metaphors, similes,
and hyperbole to create emotional effects. The result is a short lyrical work, court epic,
narrative or dramatic work. "Kavya" can refer to the style or the completed body of
literature. Asvaghosa (c. 80-150 AD), a philosopher and poet considered the father of
Sanskrit drama, coined this word for the first time.

Objective correlative: A term first used apparently by the American painter Washington
Allston in c. 1840, and subsequently revived and made famous by T.S. Eliot in an essay
on Hamlet (1919). …The only way of expressing emotion in the form of art is by finding
an 'objective correlative'; in other words, a set of objects, a situation, a chain of events
which shall be the formula of that particular emotion; such that when the external facts,
which must terminate in sensory experience, are given, the emotion is immediately
evoked. (qtd. in J. A. Cuddon's Dictionary of Literary Terms, pg. 605)

Petrified: Terrified

Works Cited

Aristotle. “On the Art of Poetry.” Classical Literary Criticism. Trans. and Intro. T.S.
Dorch. Harmondsworth, Middlesex: Penguin, 1965.

Atikal, Ilanko. The Cilappatikaram: The Tale of an Anklet. Trans. and Intro. R.
Parthasarathy. Strand, London: Penguin, 1993.

Buck, David C. “The Cilappatikaram of Ilanko Atikal: An Epic of South India.” The Journal
of Asian Studies. New York: CUP, 2015.

Kalidasa. Abhijnanasakuntalam. The Loom of Time: A Selection of His Plays and Poems.
Trans. and Intro. Chandra Rajan. Strand, London: Penguin, 1989.

Milton, John. Paradise Lost, Samson Agonistes, Lycidas. Harmondsworth, Middlesex:

Penguin Books, 1961.

Pearsall, Judy. The New Oxford Dictionary of English. Oxford: OUP, 1999.

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 The Cillapatikaram: The Tale of an Anklet

Rajeshwari, Sunder Rajan. “From Antagonism to Agonism: Shifting Paradigm of Women’s

Opposition to the State.” Trans. R. Parthasarathy. The Book of Vanci. Book III of The
Cilappatikaram. Ed. B. Mangalam. New Delhi: Wordlview, 2015.

Richman, Paula. “The Cillapatikaram of Ilanko Atikal: An Epic of South India.” History of
Religions, Vol. 38, No. 2 (Nov. 1998) pp 203-204.

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