The Illustrated Encyclopedia of Hinduism (2 Vol Set)

Shilappadigaram

(“the Jeweled Anklet”) The greatest epic

poem in classical Tamil literature. It is

traditionally ascribed to the poet

Ilangovadigal(2nd c.) but almost cer-

tainly was written several centuries

later. The poem is a symbolic theater for

several important themes that have per-

vaded Hindu culture, particularly the

need for a king to rule righteously and

the power gained by a wife through her

devotion to her husband. The story tells

the tale of a married couple, Kannaki

and her husband Kovalan. In his infatu-

ation with a dancer, Kovalan squanders

the family’s wealth, selling nearly all

their possessions. When he finally

returns to his wife, their only remaining

valuables are one pair of her jeweled

anklets. The couple decides to travel to

the town of Maduraito sell the anklets,

and use the proceeds to reestablish their

family as traders.

When they reach Madurai, however,

tragedy strikes. The night before the

couple’s arrival, a dishonest jeweler has

stolen an identical pair of anklets from

the queen of Madurai, and when

Kovalan goes to sell the anklets, the

same jeweler accuses him of being the

thief. Kovalan is executed, and when

Kannaki hears of this she comes into the

city, bearing the other anklet as a sign of

his innocence. She gains an audience

with the king, who falls dead with

remorse when he realizes the disaster he

has caused. Still furious, Kannaki rips off

her left breast, pronounces a curseon

the city, and hurls the breast onto the

street; the breast bursts into flames that

consume the city. In the end, Madurai’s

patron goddess persuades Kannaki to

withdraw her curse, and Kannaki dies a

few days later.

One of the forces assumed to be

operating here is the power of a woman’s

devotion to her husband. Even though

Kovalan squanders all their money

through unfaithfulness, Kannaki readily

takes him back when he returns, and is

willing to give up her last resource to

help him. The power of her devotion

gives her the ability to cause widespread

destruction through a single curse, and

the strength of this power is still an arti-

cle of faith among many Hindus even

today. For further discussion of the

themes in this play, and more general

consideration of images of Hindu

women, see Sarah Mitter, Dharma’s

Daughters, 1991. See also Tamil lan-

guageand Tamil epics.

Shilpa Shastra

General name for rules and standards

governing the mechanical arts and

handicrafts—traditionally numbered at

sixty-four—through which anything was

Shilappadigaram

Image of the god Vishnu. Crafted according to the
rules of shilpa shastra, the image’s proportions are
strictly defined and he holds identifying objects.