Cilappatikāram

Cilappatikāram, the epic of the anklet is the first known epic of the Tamils, and the first of the five great epics is the quintessential work of the Tamil mind and culture representing the final phase of the classical age in Tamil poetry. Whereas Tolkāppiyam does not mention Kāppiyam, Taṇṭiyalaṅkāram is based on the Sanskrit Kavya tradition and even though T.P. Meenakshisundaran has called it the epic of the common man, he also tries to relate Cilappatikāram to the theory of Taṇṭiyalaṅkāram particularly the four Purushartas of the Kāvya tradition. We can see the marvel of the story of the common people becoming an epic only in Tamil. Eminent Jains and others have said that human beings can attain divinity through their own effort. Cilappatikāram only shows the possibility of even a woman evolving into such a sublime height as to make the entire world worship her. Whereas the Sanskrit epics speak of the descent of gods, Cilappatikāram speaks of the ascent of humanity and that too, a woman belonging to a merchant family. In another sense, Cilappatikāram is the Tamil counterpart to the Sanskrit tradition as it is based on an extension of the Akam-Puram tradition and the three cantos focus on the three cities of the Three Kingdoms of Tamilnadu. Here the old five geographical divisions become three political units. But they are absorbed in these divisions-we have Marutam (field) and Neytal (seaside) in Pukār, Mullai (forest), and Pālai (desert) in Maturai and Kuriñci hills inVañci. The epic has a new vision of united Tamilnadu and Kaṇṇaki becomes the symbol of this new consciousness as she is worshipped by all. Cēran Ceṅkuṭṭuvan who goes to North on behalf of all the Tamil Kings is the masculine/political counterpart to the values symbolized by Kaṇṇaki who is the feminine domestic counterpart to the heroism of the king. Hence, we may call Cilappatikāram, the epic of Tamil consciousness and culture combining the Akam and Puram tiṇais.