81-781: SLNS Gajabahu (named after Gajabahu , a former king of Sri Lanka) was a River-class frigate of the Sri Lanka Navy . She has since been converted to a training ship for the Naval & Maritime Academy, Trincomalee . She was originally HMCS Hallowell of the Royal Canadian Navy , built during the Second World War and then saw service as INS Miznak of the Israeli Navy . The Royal Ceylon Navy purchased her in 1958 from Israel. HMCS Hallowell
162-551: A Palestinian group in 1949 for conversion to a short-service ferry in the Mediterranean Sea . She was renamed Sharon and remained in service until 1952, when she was purchased by the Israeli Navy , rearmed and commissioned as INS Miznak and given the designation K-32. She remained in service until 1958. Purchased from the Israeli Navy in 1958–3 years after another River-class frigate, HMCyS Mahasena —she
243-563: A Shaiva Hindu and Tamil scholar, rediscovered palm-leaf manuscripts of the poem, along with those of the Sangam literature, in Hindu monasteries near Kumbakonam . These manuscripts were preserved and copied in temples and monasteries over the centuries, as palm-leaf manuscripts degrade in the tropical climate. This rediscovery in the second half of the 19th-century and the consequent publication brought Cilappatikaram to readers and scholars outside
324-698: A former Chief Minister behind the Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam and Dravidian movement . These versions, some by avowed atheists, have retold the Cilappadikaram epic "to propagate their ideas of [Tamil] cultural identity", along with a hostility to "the North, the racially different Aryans, the Brahmins", and the so-called "alien culture", according to Prabha Rani and Vaidyanathan Shivkumar. The Tamil nationalistic inspiration derived from
405-472: A function like the Vedic sacrifice, states Ramachandra Dikshitar. This, and the fact that the epic comfortably praises Shaiva and Vaishnava lifestyle, festivals, gods and goddesses, has led some scholars to propose that author of this epic was a Hindu. Ilango Adigal has been suggested to be a contemporary of Sattanar , the author of Maṇimēkalai . However, evidence for such suggestions has been lacking. In
486-518: A great kavya has been the Tamil scholarly opinion prior to the modern era, states Zvelebil. These were popular and episodes from such maha-kavya were performed as a form of dance-drama in public. The Cilappatikaram is a Tamil epic that belongs to the pan-India kavya epic tradition. The Tamil tradition and medieval commentators such as Mayilaintar have included the Cilappatikaram as one of
567-414: A part of the Tamil oral tradition. 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. After being preserved and copied in temples and monasteries in the form of palm-leaf manuscripts, Aiyar published its first partial edition on paper in 1872,
648-456: A poem of the Sangam literature . In it or elsewhere, however, there is no evidence that the famous king had a brother. V. Kanakasabhai opined that Ilango was a monk of a nirgrantha sect of Jain . The Sangam poems never mention Ilango Adigal, the epic or the name of any other author for the epic. The Ilango Adigal name appears in a much later dated patikam (prologue) attached to the poem, and
729-487: A prince turned into a monk. This has been conflated as the story of the attributed author as a witness. However, little factual details about the real author(s) or evidence exist. 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. The author
810-497: A program of downsizing the military. As a result, Gajabahu became the flagship of the fleet and only major warship of the Royal Ceylon Navy after Mahasena and Parakram were sold off and Vijaya was lost in a storm. During the 1971 Insurrection she could not be deployed to sea since her crew were dispatched for ground duty due to personnel shortages. "HMCyS Gajabahu " became "SLNS Gajabahu " when Sri Lanka became
891-705: A republic in 1972. In the 1980s she was taken out of active service to be converted to a training ship for the Naval and Maritime Academy , Trincomalee . Gajabahu Gajabahu I ( Sinhala : ගජබාහු , lit. 'Arm of an elephant', [ˈgadʒəba:ɦu] ), also known as Gajabahuka Gamani (c. 113 – 135 CE), was a Sinhalese king of Rajarata in Sri Lanka . He is renowned for his military prowess, religious benefactions, extensive involvement in South Indian politics, and for possibly introducing
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#1732791612233972-550: A stupa called Abhayuttara. Matuvihara was built according to the advice of his Queen mother at the thickest of Kadambha river for honoring her. As well as his Queen mother donated money for the plot of land to build a Vihara for the Great Vihara. He is also credited with making a mantle for Dutugemunu 's Mirisavetiya, and for building a reservoir to provide the Abhayagiri monastery with food. He also made improvements to
1053-641: 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. The Cilappatikāram is an ancient literary masterpiece. It is to the Tamil culture what the Iliad is to the Greek culture , states R. Parthasarathy . It blends the themes, mythologies and theological values found in
1134-456: A vision of a Tamil imperium, yet it also "emphatically is not exclusively Tamil", states Cutler. According to V R Ramachandra Dikshitar, the epic provides no evidence of sectarian conflict between the Indian religious traditions. In Cilappadikaram , the key characters pray and participate in both Shaiva and Vaishnava rituals, temples and festivals. In addition, they give help and get help from
1215-588: Is "indispensable" and more suited for scholarly studies due to its accuracy, while Daniélou's translation was more suited to those seeking the epic's spirit and an easier to enjoy poem. The Parthasarathy translation won the 1996 A.K. Ramanujan Book Prize for Translation. The epic has been translated into French by the same Alain Daniélou and RN Desikan in 1961 (before his English translation), into Czech by Kamil Zvelebil in 1965, and into Russian by JJ Glazov in 1966. Veteran Tamil writer Jeyamohan rewrote
1296-533: Is a tragic love story of an ordinary couple, Kaṇṇaki and her husband Kōvalaṉ . 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 . It is attributed to a prince-turned-monk Iḷaṅkō Aṭikaḷ , and was probably composed in
1377-445: Is consistent with the Tamil and the Indian tradition of merging a legend into its ideas of rebirth and endless existence. 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. Fred Hardy, in contrast, states that some sections have clearly and cleverly been interpolated into
1458-621: Is elaborate, with Atiyarkkunallar describing it as an epic story told with poetry, music, and drama. The Tamil tradition attributes Cilappatikaram to the Iḷaṅkō Aṭikaḷ ("the venerable ascetic prince"), also spelled Ilango Adigal. 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 ,
1539-442: Is penniless and destitute. He confesses his mistakes to Kannaki. She forgives him and tells him the pain his unfaithfulness gave her. Then she encourages her husband to rebuild their life together and gives him one of her jeweled anklets to sell to raise starting capital. Kovalan sells it to a merchant, but the merchant falsely frames him as having stolen the anklet from the queen. The king arrests Kovalan and then executes him, without
1620-418: Is set in a flourishing seaport city of the early Chola kingdom. Kannaki and Kovalan are a newly married couple, in love, and living in bliss. Over time, Kovalan meets Matavi (Madhavi) – a courtesan. He falls for her, leaves Kannaki and moves in with Matavi. He spends lavishly on her. Kannaki is heartbroken, but as the chaste woman, she waits despite her husband's unfaithfulness. During the festival for Indra ,
1701-626: Is to Tamil what the Iliad and Odyssey are to Greek — its importance would be difficult to overstate." The first English translation of Cilappadikaram was published in 1939 by V R Ramachandra Dikshitar ( Oxford University Press ). In 1965, an English translation of the epic was published by Alain Daniélou. R. Parthasarathy 's English translation was published in 1993 by Columbia University Press and reprinted in 2004 by Penguin Books. Paula Saffire of Butler University state that Parthasarathy's translation
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#17327916122331782-490: The Cilappadikaram is a selective reading and appropriation of the great epic, according to Cutler. It cherrypicks and brackets some rhetorical and ideological elements from the epic but ignores the rest that make the epic into a complete masterpiece. In the third book of the epic, the Tamil king Cenkuttuvan defeats his fellow Tamil kings and then invades and conquers the Deccan and the north Indian kingdoms. Yet, states Cutler,
1863-633: The Cilappadikaram is the "first literary expression and the first ripe fruit of the Aryan-Dravidian synthesis in Tamilnadu". In early 20th-century, the Cilappadikaram became a rallying basis for some Tamil nationalists based in Sri Lanka and colonial-era Madras Presidency. The epic is considered as the "first consciously national work" and evidence of the fact that the "Tamils had by that time [mid 1st-millennium CE] attained nationhood", or
1944-674: The Ramayana was known to the Cilappatikaram audience many centuries before the Kamba Ramayanam of the 12th century CE. The 17th cannot of the epic explains the Beauty and greatness of Lord Vishnu with respect to his forms and Various incarnations. Vishnu was the deity most mentioned in Tamil Sangam literature and is said to be one of the favourite gods of the people who lived in the Sangam time. The epic states that "Vain are
2025-453: The aimperunkappiyankal , which literally means "five great kavyas". According to D. Dennis Hudson – a World Religions and Tamil literature scholar, the Cilappatikaram is the earliest and first complete Tamil reference to Pillai (Nila, Nappinnai, Radha), who is described in the epic as the cowherd lover of Krishna. The epic includes abundant stories and allusions to Krishna and his stories, which are also found in ancient Sanskrit Puranas. In
2106-610: 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. Vedic rituals are performed and stories from the Puranas are told, while temples of the Jains and their charitable institutions can be seen about the city. — Elizabeth Rosen , Review of Alain Daniélou's translation of Silappatikaram The Cilappatikaram
2187-637: The "great war", just like the story was familiar to the Sangam era poets too as evidenced in Puram 2 and Akam 233. One of the poets is nicknamed as "The Peruntevanar who sang the Bharatam [Mahabharatam]", once again confirming that the Tamil poets by the time Cilappatikaram was composed were intimately aware of the Sanskrit epics, the literary structure and significance of Mahakavyas genre. To be recognized as an accomplished extraordinary poet, one must compose
2268-441: The 2nd century CE. The Cilappatikāram is set in a flourishing seaport city of the early Chola kingdom. Kaṇṇaki and Kōvalaṉ are a newly married couple, in love, and living in bliss. Over time, Kōvalaṉ meets Mātavi (Mādhavi) – a courtesan. He falls for her, leaves Kaṇṇaki and moves in with Mātavi. He spends lavishly on her. Kaṇṇaki is heartbroken, but as the chaste woman, she waits despite her husband's unfaithfulness. During
2349-522: The Chera king Senguvuttan. Returning from India he brought back not only the alms bowl of the Buddha but Pattini's sacred anklet, and constructed a temple to the goddess 'at a place called Vattapalli near Mullaitivu'. However, there is an alternative view that the cult actually arrived in Sri Lanka in the 13th century, and the legend of Gajabahu's patronage was retrospectively created to generate legitimacy for
2430-401: The Chera kingdom learns about her, resolves to build a temple with Kannaki 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. The manuscripts of the epic include a prologue called patikam . This is likely a later addition to the older epic. It, nevertheless, shows
2511-523: The Cholas and took the sporadically fought wars between Rajarata and Chola to Indian soil. The Sri Lanka Army has an infantry regiment, Gajaba Regiment , named after the warrior king, and the Sri Lanka Navy had named a ship named after the king, the SLNS Gajabahu . To students of Indian history his reign is important as it provides the ' Gajabahu syncretism ' which is used to date many rulers of
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2592-489: The Cilappatikaram are set in the akaval meter, a meter found in the more ancient Tamil Sangam literature . It has verses in other meters and contains five songs also in a different meter. These features suggest that the epic was performed in the form of stage drama that mixed recitation of cantos with the singing of songs. The 30 cantos were reciting as monologues. The Tamil epic has many references and allusions to
2673-542: The Jain, Buddhist and Hindu religious traditions. It is a Tamil story of love and rejection, happiness and pain, good and evil like all classic epics of the world. Yet unlike other epics that deal with kings and armies caught up with universal questions and existential wars, the Cilappatikāram is an epic about an ordinary couple caught up with universal questions and internal, emotional war. The Cilappatikaram legend has been
2754-547: The Jains and the Ajivikas. There are Buddhist references too in the Cilappadikaram such as about Mahabodhi, but these are very few – unlike the other Tamil epic Maṇimēkalai . Yet, all these references are embedded in a cordial community, where all share the same ideas and belief in karma and related premises. The major festivals described in the epic are pan-Indian and these festivals are also found in ancient Sanskrit literature. U. V. Swaminatha Iyer (1855-1942 CE),
2835-494: The Sanskrit epics and puranic legends. 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. 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. These references indicate that
2916-513: The Senior Officer's Ship. From late November 1944 until June 1945, she was continuously employed as a convoy escort on North Atlantic convoys. In June 1945 she returned to Canada and from July to August transported troops from St. John's to Canada . She was paid off at Sydney, Nova Scotia on 7 November 1945 and placed in reserve at Shelburne, Nova Scotia . After the war she was sold to Uruguayan interests in 1946 before being re-sold to
2997-471: The actual events of his reign and the reality of the situation remains somewhat obscure. Rajavaliya, the 17th-century chronicle of Sri Lanka describes the events thus: In contrast the mentions of Gajabahu in the Tamil sources represent a much more cordial visit by the Sri Lankan king. The Silapathikaram mentions him twice. On the first occasion he is with the Chera king Senguvuttan, offering sacrifices to
3078-622: The ancient Chola and Chera. There have been a series of archaeological excavations in recent years at the ancient port Godavaya (= Godawaya, Gothapabbata), situated around a huge rock overlooking the Indian Ocean, close to the gem mining area of the Lower Sitracala Wewa and the inland shipping route of the Walawe Ganga. The archaeologists have found that Godavaya's was an important stop on the maritime Silk Route , in
3159-531: The ascetic-prince legend about Ilango Adigal as included in the last canto of Cilappadikaram is odd. In the epic, Ilango Adigal attends a Vedic sacrifice with the Chera king Cenkuttuvan after the king brings back the Himalayan stone to make a statue of Kannaki. If the author Ilango Adigal was a Jain ascetic and given our understanding of Jainism's historic view on the Vedas and Vedic sacrifices, why would he attend
3240-408: The authenticity of this attribution is doubtful. 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. The mythical third section about gods meeting Kannaki after Kovalan's death, in the last Canto, mentions a legend about
3321-459: The beliefs, the ideologies, and the customs portrayed in the Cilappatikāram , which makes the early dating implausible. Further, the epic's style, structure and other details are quite similar to the texts composed centuries later. These point to a much later date. According to Zvelebil, the Cilappatikāram that has survived into the modern era "cannot have been composed before the 5th- to 6th-century". According to other scholars, such as Iyengar,
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3402-685: The canto where Kannaki is waiting for Kovalan to return after selling her anklet to a Madurai merchant, she is in a village with cowgirls. These cowherd girls enact a dance, where one plays Mayavan (Krishna), another girl plays Tammunon (Balarama), while a third plays Pinnai (Radha). The dance begins with a song listing Krishna's heroic deeds and his fondness for Radha, then they dance where sage Narada plays music. 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 . The Tamil epic calls portions of it as vāla caritai nāṭaṅkaḷ , which mirrors
3483-466: The capital of the Pandya kingdom . Kōvalaṉ is penniless and destitute. He confesses his deceit to Kannagi. She forgives him and tells him the hurt his adultery caused her. Then she encourages her husband to rebuild their life together and gives him one of her jeweled anklets to sell to raise starting capital. Kōvalaṉ sells it to a merchant, but the merchant falsely frames him as having stolen the anklet from
3564-417: The capitals of the three major early Tamil kingdoms: The katais range between 53 and 272 lines each. In addition to the 25 cantos, the epic has 5 song cycles: Canto V of Silappadikaram The entire Canto V is devoted to the festival of Indra , which takes place in the ancient city of Puhar . The festivities begin at the temple of the white elephant [Airavata, the mount of Indra] and they continue in
3645-608: The cult of the goddess Pattini to Sri Lanka. The primary source for his reign is the Mahavamsa , though he is also the only early Sri Lankan king (along with Elara ) to be extensively mentioned in the Chera Cilappatikaram (also spelled Silapathikaram). Next to nothing is known about Gajabahu's youth, except that he was the son of Vankanasika Tissa (reigned 110–113 CE), king of Rajarata from Anuradhapura , and his consort Mahamatta. As such he might have witnessed
3726-427: The due checks and processes of justice. When Kovalan does not return home, Kannaki goes searching for him. She learns what has happened. She protests the injustice and then proves Kovalan's innocence by throwing in the court the other jeweled anklet of the pair. The king accepts his mistake. Kannaki curses the king and curses the people of Madurai, tearing off her breast and throwing it at the gathered public, triggering
3807-713: The early centuries of the Common era with excavations and research revealing connections from China to the Red Sea and the Mediterranean. A stone inscription in Brahmi , dating to Gajabahu I's reign, orders that part of the customs collections at the Godavaya Port at Ambalanthota be donated to the nearby Godapawath Temple. There have been three inscriptions and some 75,000 late Roman coins found in earthen vessels in
3888-500: The early verses of the third section. This part adds nothing to the story, is independent, is likely to be of a much later century. Other scholars, including Zvelebil, state that this need not necessarily be so. The third section covers the third of three major kingdoms of the ancient Tamil region, the first section covered the Cholas and the second the Pandya. Further, states Zvelebil, the deification of Kaṇṇaki keeps her theme active and
3969-529: The ears which do not hear the glory of Rama who is Vishnu, Vain are the eyes which do not see the dark hued Lord, the great God, the Mayavan Vishnu, Vain is the tongue that will not praise him who triumphed over the deceit of the foolish schemer Kamsa ( Krishna ), Vain is the tongue which does not say ‘ Narayana ’. According to Zvelebil, the Cilappatikaram mentions the Mahabharata and calls it
4050-464: The epic as performing Vedic sacrifices and rituals, where Agni and Varuna are invoked, and the Vedas are chanted. These and numerous other details in the epic were neither of Dravidian roots nor icons, rather they reflect an acceptance of and reverence for certain shared pan-Indian cultural rituals, symbols and values, what Himalayas and Ganges signify to the Indic culture. The epic rhetorically does present
4131-415: The festival for Indra , the rain god, there is a singing competition. Kōvalaṉ sings a poem about a woman who hurt her lover. Mātavi then sings a song about a man who betrayed his lover. Each interprets the song as a message to the other. Kōvalaṉ feels Mātavi is unfaithful to him and leaves her. Kaṇṇaki is still waiting for him. She takes him back. Kannagi and Kōvalaṉ leave the city and travel to Madurai ,
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#17327916122334212-442: The first expression of a sense of Tamil cultural integrity and Tamil dominance. This view is shared by some modernist Tamil playwrights, movie makers, and politicians. 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
4293-412: The first two sections of the epic were likely the original epic, and third mythical section after the destruction of Madurai is likely a later extrapolation, an addendum that introduces a mix of Jaina, Hindu and Buddhist stories and practices, including the legend about the ascetic prince. The hero (Kōvalaṉ) is long dead, and the heroine (Kaṇṇaki) follows him shortly thereafter into heaven, as represented in
4374-514: The flames of a citywide inferno. The remorseful king dies in shock. Madurai is burnt to the ground because of her curse. The violence of the Kannaki fire kills everyone, except "only Brahmins, good men, cows, truthful women, cripples, old men and children", states Zvelebil. Kannaki leaves Madurai and heads into the mountainous region of the Chera kingdom. Gods and goddesses meet Kannaki, the king of gods Indra himself comes with his chariot, and Kannaki goes to heaven with Indra . The royal family of
4455-522: The form of a song or a dance, which does not go well with western audience as they are assessed to be inspired on the spur of the moment. According to a Calcutta review, the three-epic works on a whole have no plot and no characterization to qualify for an epic genre. A review by George L. Hart , a professor of Tamil language at the University of California, Berkeley , "the Silappatikaram
4536-402: The four entrance ways of the Abhayagiri stupa. He also made tank called Gamanitissa for these Vihara. Apart from that he was to build a hall called Mahejasansala in city. Gajabahu is also credited with the introduction of the cult of the goddess Pattini to Sri Lanka. The Silapathikaram mentions Gajabahu's presence at the consecration of a temple to Kannagi (identified as Pattini in this case) by
4617-415: The full edition in 1892. Since then the epic poem has been translated into many languages including English. According to V R Ramachandra Dikshitar, the title Silappatikāram – also spelled Silappadikaram – is a combination of two words, "silambu" ( anklet ) and "adikaram" (the story about). It therefore connotes a "story that centers around an anklet". The content and context around that center
4698-466: The gathered public. The king dies. The society that had made her suffer, suffers in retribution as the city of Madurai is burnt to the ground because of her curse. In the third section of the epic, gods and goddesses meet Kannagi at Cheranadu and she goes to heaven with the god Indra . The King Cheran Chenkuttuvan and royal family of the Chera kingdom (Today Kerala) learn about her and resolve to build
4779-534: The goddess Kannagi in an introductory passage. Later he is in the Chera king's company again, and on very good terms. It has been suggested that this mention does not necessarily preclude a military campaign; after all it is entirely possible that Gajabahu and Senguvuttan offered joint sacrifices as a way of securing a freshly concluded peace. On the other hand, the versions presented in the Mahavamsa and Silapathikaram do not mention any violence at all, despite being
4860-586: The goddess. The annual Perahara held in Kandy is also thought to have its roots in Gajabahu's reign. Following the successful completion of a campaign into Chola territories the temple of Vishnu in Anuradhapura is said to have staged a procession in thanks, which eventually developed into today's festival. Gajabahu was succeeded by his father-in-law Mahallaka Naga. However the sources contrast deeply on
4941-402: The legends in the epic itself are a weak foundation for dating the text. A stronger foundation is the linguistics, events and other sociological details in the text when compared to those in other Tamil literature, new words and grammatical forms, and the number of non-Tamil loan words in the text. The Sangam era texts of the 100–250 CE period are strikingly different in style, language structure,
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#17327916122335022-449: 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 break The law, have their necks wrung by dharma; Great men everywhere commend wife of renowned fame; and karma ever Manifests itself, and is fulfilled. We shall call the poem The Cilappatikāram , the epic of the anklet, Since the anklet brings these truths to light. Twenty-five cantos of
5103-399: The main epic, and these additions may be of 7th- to 8th century. Daniélou concurs that the epic may have been "slightly" reshaped and enlarged in the centuries after the original epic was composed, but the epic as it has survived into the modern age is quite homogeneous and lacks evidence of additions by multiple authors. Iravatham Mahadevan states that the mention of a weekday (Friday) in
5184-464: The major sources for this period. Furthermore, the reliability of the entries in the Silapathikaram has been questioned, and it has been suggested that the meeting between Gajabahu and Senguvttan is the result of a certain amount of 'poetic licence' on the part of the compiler Gajabahu is regarded in modern Sri Lanka as an archetype of the mighty Sinhalese monarch, who avenged humiliation by
5265-474: 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. A Chera king Cenkuttuvan is tentatively placed in the 100–250 CE, and the traditionalists, therefore, place the text to the same period. In 1939, for example, the Tamil literature scholar Ramachandra Dikshitar presented a number of events mentioned within
5346-494: The most dramatic event of Tissa's reign, the invasion of Rajarata by the Chola king Karikalan. The Mahavamsa mentions Gajabahu's accession and reign of twenty-two years and mentions neither Karikalan's invasion nor the military campaigns to south India that Gajabahu became famous for. Instead he is presented as a great patron of religion; the chronicle credits him with the construction of two viharas - Matuvihara and Rumika - and
5427-500: The phrase balacarita nataka – dramas about the story of the child [Krishna]" – in the more ancient Sanskrit kavyas . According to the Indologist Friedhelm Hardy, this canto and others in the Tamil epic reflect a culture where "Dravidian, Tamil, Sanskrit, Brahmin, Buddhist, Jain and many other influences" had already fused into a composite whole in the South Indian social consciousness. According to Zvelebil,
5508-453: The queen. The king arrests Kōvalaṉ and then executes him, without the due checks and processes of justice. When Kōvalaṉ does not return home, Kannagi goes searching for him. She learns what has happened. She protests the injustice and then proves Kōvalaṉ's innocence by throwing in the court the other jeweled anklet of the pair. The king accepts his folly. Kannagi curses the king and the people of Madurai, tearing off her breast and throwing it at
5589-417: The rain god, there is a singing competition. Kovalan sings a poem about a woman who hurt her lover. Matavi then sings a song about a man who betrayed his lover. Each interprets the song as a message to the other. Kovalan feels Matavi is unfaithful to him and leaves her. Kannaki is still waiting for him. She takes him back. Kannaki and Kovalan leave the city and travel to Madurai of the Pandya kingdom. Kovalan
5670-417: The real date of composition, states Alain Daniélou – a French Indologist who translated the Cilappadikaram in 1965. Daniélou states that the epic – along with the other four Tamil epics – were all composed sometime between the last part of the Sangam and the subsequent centuries, that is "3rd to 7th-century". Other scholars, such as Kamil Zvelebil – a Tamil literature and history scholar, state that
5751-506: The region. Sri Lanka, Past and Present. Weikersheim: Margraf Verlag, 12–37. ISBN 3-8236-1289-1 . Cilappatikaram Cilappatikāram ( Tamil : சிலப்பதிகாரம் , Malayalam : ചിലപ്പതികാരം , IPA : ʧiləppət̪ikɑːrəm, lit. "the Tale of an Anklet"), also referred to as Silappathikaram or Silappatikaram , is the earliest Tamil epic. It is a poem of 5,730 lines in almost entirely akaval ( aciriyam ) meter. The epic
5832-559: 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. Similarly, the Pandyan and the Chera king in various katais , as well as the three key characters of the epic (Kannaki, Kovalan and Madhavi) in other katais of the Cilappadikaram pray in Hindu temples dedicated to Shiva, Murugan, Vishnu, Krishna, Balarama, Indra, Korravai (Parvati), Saraswati, Lakshmi, and others. The Tamil kings are described in
5913-584: The temples. This helped trigger an interest in ancient Tamil literature. Aiyar published its first partial edition in 1872, the full edition in 1892. Since then, the epic poem has been translated into many languages. S Ramanathan (1917-1988 CE) has published articles on the musical aspects of the Silappadikaram . To some critics, Maṇimēkalai is more interesting than Cilappadikaram , but in terms of literary evaluation, it seems inferior. According to Panicker, there are effusions in Cilappadikaram in
5994-588: The text and the negative portrayal of a Pandya king narrows the probable date of composition to between 450 and 550 CE. This is because the concept of weekdays did not exist in India until the 5th century CE, and the Pandya dynasty only regained power in 550 CE, thus meaning that Jains could freely criticise them without any threat to their lives. The Cilappatikaram is divided into three kantams (book, Skt: khanda ), which are further subdivided into katais (cantos, Skt: katha ). The three kantams are named after
6075-528: The text and thereby derived that the text was composed about 171 CE. According to Dhandayudham, the epic should be dated to between the 3rd and 5th century. Ramachandra Dikshitar analysis that the epic was composed before the Pallava dynasty emerged as a major power in the 6th-century is accepted by most scholars, because there is no mention of the highly influential Pallavas in the epic. His chronological estimate of 171 CE for Cilappadikaram cannot be far from
6156-583: The whole epic into a novel as Kotravai in 2005. 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. H. S. Shivaprakash a leading poet and playwright in Kannada has also re-narrated a part from the epic namely Madurekanda . It has also been re-narrated in Hindi by famous Hindi writer Amritlal Nagar in his novel Suhag Ke Nupur which
6237-425: Was a hit when it was released. The movie Poompuhar , penned by M. Karunanidhi is also based on Cilapathikaram. There are multiple dance dramas as well by some of the great exponents of Bharatanatyam in Tamil as most of the verses of Cilappathikaram can be set to music. Cilappatikaram also occupies much of the screen time in the 15th and 16th episodes of the television series Bharat Ek Khoj . Pallavi Joshi played
6318-590: Was commissioned as HMCyS Gajabahu into the Royal Ceylon Navy . She participated in many flag-showing missions in various countries, including a cruise to Japan . Gajabahu also took part in many international naval exercises. Following the failed military coups d'état in 1962 in which the former Captain of the Navy (as the Commander of the Navy was known then) was implicated, the government undertook
6399-529: Was ordered on 1 February 1943 as part of the 1943-44 River-class building program by the Royal Canadian Navy (RCN). She was laid down by Canadian Vickers Ltd. aT Montreal on 22 November 1943 and launched 28 March 1944. She was commissioned into the RCN on 8 August 1944 at Montreal. After working up at Bermuda , Hallowell was assigned to the Mid-Ocean Escort Force (MOEF) escort group C-1 as
6480-400: Was possibly a Jaina scholar, as in several parts of the epic, the key characters of the epic meet a Jaina monk or nun. 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. According to Ramachandra Dikshitar,
6561-399: Was published in 1960. He had also written a 1.25-hour radio-play on the story which was broadcast on Aakashvani in 1952. There have been multiple movies based on the story of Cilappathikaram and the most famous is the portrayal of Kannagi by actress Kannamba in the 1942 movie Kannagi . P. U. Chinnappa played the lead as Kovalan. The movie faithfully follows the story of Cilappathikaram and
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