Cilappatikaram
[6][7] The Cilappatikāram has more ancient roots in the Tamil bardic tradition, as Kannaki and other characters of the story are mentioned or alluded to in the Sangam literature such as in the Naṟṟiṇai and later texts such as the Kovalam Katai.
The palm-leaf manuscripts of the original epic poem, along with those of the Sangam literature, were rediscovered in monasteries in the second half of the 19th century by UV Swaminatha Aiyar – a pandit and Tamil scholar.
The King Cheran Chenkuttuvan and royal family of the Chera kingdom (Today Kerala) learn about her and resolve to build a temple with Kannagi as the featured goddess.
They go to the Himalayas, bring a stone, carve her image, call her goddess Pattini, dedicate a temple, order daily prayers, and perform a royal sacrifice.
[4] The Tamil tradition attributes Cilappatikaram to the Iḷaṅkō Aṭikaḷ ("the venerable ascetic prince"), also spelled Ilango Adigal.
[24] He is reputed to have been a Jain Monk and the brother of Chera king Chenkuttuvan, whose family and rule are described in the Fifth Ten of the Patiṟṟuppattu, a poem of the Sangam literature.
[24] According to Gananath Obeyesekere, the story of the purported Cilappadikaram author Ilango Adigal as the brother of a famous Chera king "must be later interpolations", something that was a characteristic feature of early literature.
[27] The mythical third section about gods meeting Kannaki after Kovalan's death, in the last Canto, mentions a legend about a prince turned into a monk.
[24] Given the fact that older Tamil texts mention and allude to the Kannaki's tragic love story, states Parthasarathy, the author was possibly just a redactor of the oral tradition and the epic poem was not a product of his creative genius.
[24] The epic's praise of the Vedas, Brahmins, inclusion of temples, Hindu gods and goddesses and ritual worship give the text a cosmopolitan character, and to some scholars' evidence to propose that author was not necessarily a Jaina ascetic.
[32] In the modern era, some Tamil scholars have linked the Ilango Adigal legend about he is being the brother of king Cenkuttuvan, as a means to date this text.
The Sangam era texts of the 100–250 CE period are strikingly different in style, language structure, the beliefs, the ideologies, and the customs portrayed in the Cilappatikāram, which makes the early dating implausible.
Further, states Zvelebil, the deification of Kaṇṇaki keeps her theme active and is consistent with the Tamil and the Indian tradition of merging a legend into its ideas of rebirth and endless existence.
[37] The language, and style of the third section is "perfectly homogeneous" with the first two, it does not seem to be the work of multiple authors, and therefore the entire epic should be considered a complete masterpiece.
[39] Iravatham Mahadevan states that the mention of a weekday (Friday) in the text and the negative portrayal of a Pandya king narrows the probable date of composition to between 450 and 550 CE.
The festivities begin at the temple of the white elephant [Airavata, the mount of Indra] and they continue in the temples of Unborn Shiva, of Murugan [beauteous god of Youth], of nacre white Valliyon [Balarama] brother of Krishna, of dark Vishnu called Nediyon, and of Indra himself with his string of pearls and his victorious parasol.
They go to the Himalayas, bring a stone, carve her image, call her goddess Pattini, dedicate a temple, order daily prayers, and perform a royal sacrifice.
[48] It, nevertheless, shows the literary value of the epic to later Tamil generations: We shall compose a poem, with songs,To explain these truths: even kings, if they breakThe law, have their necks wrung by dharma;Great men everywhere commendwife of renowned fame; and karma everManifests itself, and is fulfilled.
For example, it describes the fate of Poompuhar suffering the same agony as experienced by Ayodhya when Rama leaves for exile to the forest as instructed by his father.
[52] The Aycciyarkuravai section (canto 27), makes mention of the Lord who could measure the three worlds, going to the forest with his brother, waging a war against Lanka and destroying it with fire.
[53] According to Zvelebil, the Cilappatikaram mentions the Mahabharata and calls it the "great war", just like the story was familiar to the Sangam era poets too as evidenced in Puram 2 and Akam 233.
[54] To be recognized as an accomplished extraordinary poet, one must compose a great kavya has been the Tamil scholarly opinion prior to the modern era, states Zvelebil.
[54] The Tamil tradition and medieval commentators such as Mayilaintar have included the Cilappatikaram as one of the aimperunkappiyankal, which literally means "five great kavyas".
Such scenes where cowgirls imitate Krishna's life story are also found in Sanskrit poems of Harivamsa and Vishnu Purana, both generally dated to be older than Cilappatikaram.
[56] The Tamil epic calls portions of it as vāla caritai nāṭaṅkaḷ, which mirrors the phrase balacarita nataka – dramas about the story of the child [Krishna]" – in the more ancient Sanskrit kavyas.
[59] In early 20th-century, the Cilappadikaram became a rallying basis for some Tamil nationalists based in Sri Lanka and colonial-era Madras Presidency.
According to Norman Cutler, this theme runs in recent works such as the 1962 re-rendering of the Cilappadikaram into Kannakip Puratcikkappiyam by Paratitacan, and the 1967 play Cilappatikaram: Natakak Kappiyam by M. Karunanidhi – an influential politician and a former Chief Minister behind the Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam and Dravidian movement.
Yet, states Cutler, the same book places an "undeniable prestige" for a "rock from the Himalayas", the "river Ganges" and other symbols from the north to honor Kannaki.
[63] The Tamil kings are described in the epic as performing Vedic sacrifices and rituals, where Agni and Varuna are invoked, and the Vedas are chanted.
The novel having adapted the original plot and characters, it revolves around the ancient South Indian traditions, also trying to fill the gaps in the history using multiple narratives.
