[1] In Tamil folklore, Kannagi has been deified as the symbol – sometimes as a goddess – of chastity, with sculptures or reliefs in Hindu temples iconographically reminding the visitor of her breaking her anklet or tearing her bleeding breast and throwing it at the city.
Cilappatikāram tells about the Kannaki worship of another Pandyan King "Vetrivel Cheliyan", for relieving the land from the drought and curse of her on Pandya Nadu.
[12] Kannaki Amman's worship involves her identification with the Dravidian folk religion's rain goddess, Mariamman.
[15] The famous Bhagavati Temple at Kodungallur, which was the former capital of Cheras, remembers its ancient interaction with the Kannaki cult in its Sthala Puranam.
[18]According to folklore, after the burning of Madurai, Kannagi traveled to Kerala and eventually arrived at the island of Pungudutheevu, near the ancient Manipallavam, now known as Nainativu.
When the villagers arrived, Kannagi asked one of the boys to comb her hair, revealing a miraculous sight of 1,000 eyes in her head.
She then ascended to heaven, declaring herself as Kannagi of Poompuhar and instructed the villagers to perform the same ritual each year on the day of Vaikasi.
This tradition continues today, with both Sinhalese and Tamils participating in the festival by offering Pongal and lighting sea water lamps.
There are so many evidences in Yalpana Vaipava Malai, chronicle of Jaffna Kingdom confirms that Kannaki was also popular during the rule of the Aryacakravarti dynasty (1215–1624) in Northern Sri Lanka.
The Kannagi cult was especially popular among the coastal folk who considered her as their guardian deity since she was the daughter of a rich sea trader of Kaveripattinam.
[20] Kannaki is mainly praised once in a year during the Vaikasi month (May–June) of Tamil Calendar in Batticaloa and Ampara Districts.
The grant festival of Sri Lanka, the Esala Perahera, initially included only Kannaki, Vishnu, Kataragama, and Natha.
The holy tooth relic of Buddha was annexed in the procession during the period of Kirti Sri Rajasinha of Kandy Kingdom.
[23] Polkeliya "coconut fight", Gammaduwa "village rituals", and ankeliya "horn play" are the main three aspects of the Pattini cult.
A Malayalam film Kodungallooramma directed by Kunchacko starring Prem Nazir, K. R. Vijaya, Adoor Bhasi and Thikkurissy Sukumaran Nair was released in 1968.