S is for the Silappadikaram (Women's Epics A to Z)

This year my theme for the A to Z Blogging Challenge is Women's Epics. My goal was to read 26 traditional epics from around the world that have women as their heroes. Because epics like this do exist, and they are fascinating! Read the intoduction post here.

Silappadikaram
Tamil

Cilappatikaram (also spelled Silappadikaram) is the earliest and one of the most famous Tamil epics, consisting of almost 6,000 lines. It is part of the Tamil Sangam literature tradition, and it has been living in the oral tradition for centuries, incorporating historical, religious and cultural elements as well as folksongs. 

Tradition holds that it was composed by a monk named Ilanko Atikal sometime in the 2nd century CE. This monk has his own story: he was a prince foretold to become king, but he rejected the throne in favor of his beloved older brother. The brothers agreed to write an epic each - Ilanko wrote the Cilappatikaram, and Sattanar wrote its sequel, the Manimekalai (see earlier this month). The first full written edition, based on palm-leaf manuscripts, was published in the late 19th century.

The epic consists of three books, symbolizing the three Tamil kingdoms where the plot takes place - the Chola Kingdom (where the main couple is born and married), the Pandya Kingdom (where their tragedy unfolds), and the Chera Kingdom (where Kannaki becomes a goddess).

I read this one in a Hungarian translation, which was based on this book. This is a prose rendering of the story, rather than a full verse translation. For a fuller English version, read this book.

What is it about?

TL;DR: Kannaki is a faithful woman whose husband cheats on her but later repents. They go on a journey together, the husband is innocently killed for theft, and Kannaki takes revenge for his death before she turns into a goddess.

Kannaki and Kovalan are both children of merchants, and their fathers decide to marry them. They are quite happy with the arrengement, since they grew up as friends, and they get married when Kovalan is sixteen and Kannahi is twelve. Kannahi receives a pair of gorgeous gold and ruby anklets from her mother as wedding gifts. (These anklets are what the epic is named after.)

Three years later the young couple moves into their own home and Kannaki becomes mistress of her own household. However, Kovalan falls in love with a dancer girl named Madhavi. He abandons his shared home with Kannaki and spends all his time with his lover; eventually they have a daughter, Manimekalai (the protagonist of the other epic I'll talk about later!). However, Kovalan is slowly consumed by guilt as he spends all his fortune on his new family and on whims, until he is selling Kannaki's dowry too. Eventually he falls out of love with Madhavi, and after they have a - very poetic - fight, he returns home to his wife.

Meanwhile, Kannaki faithfully waits for her husband with her own life on hold. She is comforted by her in-laws and her best friend Devandi. Suddenly, Kovalan returns home and repents. He wants to start fresh, and suggests they should leave town and go to the rich city of Madurai in the neighboring kingdom. Husband and wife leave immediately, traveling on foot.

On their journey they meet a Jain nun, Kavunthi. She feels empathy towards the young couple, especially the wife, and agrees to accompany them on their journey, sort-of adopting them as her children. They have various adventures along the way, until they finally make it to Madurai. There, the nun arranges for a cowherd woman (Madari) and her daughter (Aiyai) to take in Kannaki, while her husband looks for a new job and a fresh start.

However, things take a dark turn. Kovalan takes one of Kannaki's precious anklets (the only possessions they have left) to sell it and get some money to start their new life. He doesn't realize that the goldsmith he offers the anklet to is secretly a thief. He had stolen the queen's identical anklets, and now he takes the chance to blame Kovalan for the theft. The king oders Kovalan to be arrested - and in the process of the arrest, one of the guards kills him.

When Kannaki finds out her husband has been killed for theft, she falls into grief and righteous anger. She sets out to the king's court to demand justice. Holding her other anklet above her head as proof, she walks to the palace (only stopping to cry over her husband's body). She accuses the king of injustice, the gravest of any sin for a ruler. She reveals the truth and breaks her anklet to show the unique rubies inside, proving it is not the queen's.

Then, she walks around the city three times, tears off one of her breasts, throws it over the walls, and curses Madurai to be consumed by fire.

Since Kannaki is right in her anger, and the Sun God likes her, her curse comes true, and Madurai is destroyed in a blaze. (However, she makes sure all innocents are unharmed). After, there is nothing left but Kannaki walking amongst the ashes. There she meets the goddess of the city, the only one still present. The goddess reveals Kovalan's story from his previous life: he had born false witness in trial, and had an innocent man executed; Kannaki herself was that man's wife in her previous life. Therefore their tragedy crossed lives and came to a fated conclusion.

Kannaki leaves the ashes of Madurai, and two weeks later she ascends into the heavens, becoming a goddess of chastity.

The third part of the epic deals with the Chera king Senguttuvan, who decides to build a temple to Kannaki and create a statue from a sacred rock from the Himalayas. He goes on a war campaign to fulfil his plan. We also find out the fates of all the other characters (most of whom either died or became monks).

The highlights

Honestly, Madhavi was a fascinating character for me. The story describes her childhood and education by her mother, a master dancer herself who trained her own daughter to be the best. (As they were descended from the heavenly dancer Urvashi). After her premiere performance, it is Madhavi herself who sends out her servant saying "whoever pays a thousand gold for this wreath can have me." She is, apparently, a talented singer and poet, and intelligent conversationalist and - later - a considerate mother.

Another character I grew to love was the nun Kavunthi. She was devout and ascetic, but at the same time she couldn't keep herself from caring for the young couple, and helping them in many ways. There is a scene where a bunch of young people stop and make fun of the travelers - Kavunthi turns them into jackals with one angry word. (Kovalan manages to convince her to mitigate the curse to one year, and not make them suffer forever for a youthful mistake.) When they cross dense forests full of terrifying animals, Kavunthi even walks beside the couple (instead of in front, as custom), distracting and entertaining them with stories from her life. When they reach Madurai, she convinces the community of Jain ascetics there to give shelter to the couple on their first night (again, breaking custom). When she finds out about the couple's tragic fate, she decides to die by starvation, not being able to accept that she failed to protect them.

I also loved the minor characters who helped along the way: Kannaki's best friend Devandi, the cowherd woman Madari and her daughter Aiyai. Madari is an amazing host to Kannaki: she is not only universally friendly and loved by her community, but she also runs into the burning city later to save the young woman (and perishes herself). Devandi and Aiyai meet by accident and become friends; united by their grief and their love for Kannaki they build a temple to her.

The process of Kovalan slowly falling out of love with Madhavi was very psychologically rich. It involved him spending all his fortune on whims of helping people who had made mistakes and tried to atone for them. He even adopted an old woman as his second mother after her son was executed for bearing false witness (a sin he himself had committed in his previous life). Even along the journey to Madurai he is torn by guilt; a forest nymph at one point tempts him to go back by taking on the shape of Madhavi's servant. Later on, he receives an actual letter from his lover; she asks him to forgive her. At this point, Kovalan again refuses to return to her, but admits to himself that his fate is his own fault, and not hers.

The scene of Kannaki demanding justice, the narrative high point of the story, is amazing. The moment she breaks the bracelet and the rubies cascade out of it, hitting the king's face like blood, is literally epic. There is also a scene where the four gods of Madurai gather to see the city burn - and, realizing Kannaki's anger was justified, they walk out of the city.

THIS EPIC, TWO MILLENNIA OLD, IS STILL VERY RELATABLE IN MANY WAYS.

What speaks more to you in the story? Mistakes and forgiveness? Anger and grief? Friendship and community?

M is for the Manimekalai (Women's Epics A to Z)

This year my theme for the A to Z Blogging Challenge is Women's Epics. My goal was to read 26 traditional epics from around the world that have women as their heroes. Because epics like this do exist, and they are fascinating! Read the intoduction post here.

Manimekalai
Tamil

This is one of the five great Tamil epics, consisting of almost 5000 lines. It is a sequel (or parallel story) to the Silappadikaram, which will be featured later this month.

Tradition holds that it was composed sometime in the 2nd century. The story goes that a prince named Ilanko Atikal was foretold to become king, but he rejected the throne in favor of his beloved older brother. The brothers agreed to write an epic each - Ilanko wrote the Silappadikaram, and Sattanar wrote the Manimekalai. 

I read this translation. It is a free rendering of the original verse text by famous Tamil novelist A. Madhavaiah, with some parts that are closely translated. The original thirty chapters of the epic were combined into twenty, leaving out some lengthy parts about religious debates.

What is it about?

TL;DR: Manimekalai, raised to be the best dancer-actress in the world, abandonds wordly desires and becomes a devout follower of the Buddha.

Our story begins in the Chola kingdom, in the flourishing capital city of Poompukar at the mouth of the river Kaveri. A rich merchant's son named Kovalan marries his sweetheart Kannaki. (I'm not going to repeat their story here because that's what the S post will be about). Kovalan falls in love with a courtesan named Madhavi on the side, and has a daughter with her. They name the baby Manimekalai, after the sea goddess who is patroness of the city.

Manimekalai is trained as a dancer-courtesan from an early age, by her grandmother Chitrapathi, who wants a great career for her. Kovalan in the meantime abandons this family and returns to his original wife. Stuff happens, and Kovalan dies an unjust death. When news of his demise reach the family, Manimekalai and Madhavi are devastated. The mother puts on a widow's dress and joins a Buddhist monastery. Manimekalai, now a great and accomplished dancer, has no taste for her profession, so instead she joins her mother at the monastery too.

Some time later, a great festival in honor of Indra is proclaimed in the city. Madhavi's mother sends a friend to beg the famous dancer to return to her work along with her daughter. Madhavi refuses, calling herself a widow in grief, and calling Manimekalai daughter of the now-deified, perfect Kannaki. Then she sends out Manimekalai to bring fresh flowers, to make garlands for the festivities.

A woman named Suthamathi advises Manimekalai to go to a special garden for flowers. She claims many of the city's gardens are dangerous for a beautiful young woman, so she accompanies her to a place named Upavanam. While they are picking flowers, the prince Udhaya-kumaran, who has long had his sight set on Manimekalai, shows up to court her. She locks herself in a sacred crystal chamber, while Suthamathi tries to talk the prince out of his intentions, citing Buddhist teachings of the impermanence of beauty and desire. The prince eventually leaves, but doesn't give up.

In that moment, Manimekala-Devi, guardian goddess of Manimekalai, makes an appearance. She warns the two women that the prince is still loitering nearby, and tells them to flee through a back alley to a burning-ground (which is a terrifying place full of demons). While sleeping there in hiding, Manimekalai is lifted by the goddess and transported to the sacred island of Manipallavam, where she is destined to learn about her past life.

On the island, Manimekalai sees the crystal throne of the Buddha, and its magic powers allow her to remember her past life. She learns that she used to be a princess, married to a prince. When he died of snakebite, she followed him into the funeral pyre. Her good deeds in her past will help her achieve enlightenment and abandon the cycle of rebirths. Her husband was reborn as the current prince, but she can't return to him because that would distract her from her fate. Her sisters were reborn as Madhavi and Suthamathi. The goddess then teaches Manimekalai how to fly, change her shape, and conquer hunger, so she can go out into the world and spread the message of the Buddha.

Manimekalai also receives a magical bowl on the island, one that has never-ending supplies of rice, if held in the hands of a compassionate person. With that, she returns home to her mother and Suthamathi, and tells them about their past lives. Dressing up in the garb of a Buddhist nun, she sets out to beg alms for the bowl. The first gift comes from a woman named Athirai (who has her own story about how faithful she is). After that, Manimekalai starts feeding the poor from the magic vessel.

Chitrapathi, Manimekalai's grandmother, is outraged at the girl's behavior. She thinks it is unbefitting for a trained dancer-courtesan to mourn one lover, or abandon her profession for religion. She decides that she will make Manimekalai abandon the foolish quest of purity, and choose the prince instead. She goes to see the prince and tells him where Manimekalai is, encouraging him to pursue her. The prince does, but Manimekalai tells him she is bound for a life of chastity, and then, magically changing her shape, manages to escape him. She continues her work disguised as the gandharva woman Kayachandika.

Manimekalai visits a prison and feeds the prisoners. It is reported to the King who summons her, in awe of her work, and offers her a boon. Manimekalai asks him to abolish the prison, and transform it into a Home of Mercy, where people can be fed and cared for.

The prince doesn't give up. Suspecting who she really is, he keeps visiting, and she keeps trying to explain to him the vanity of mortal life. Meanwhile, Kayachandika's husband comes seeking his wife, and when he sees "her" talking to the prince, becomes jealous, and kills the prince. The queen, furious at Manimekalai for her son's death, tries to get rid of her in multiple ways, but Manimekalai always survives due to her magic powers. Eventually, the queen apologizes. Manimekalai teaches the court about Buddhism, then  decides to leave the city, because she doesn't want to be looked at as the woman who caused the death of the prince.

Manimekalai returns to the sacred island, along with a king who is a reincarnation of the man who first owned the magic bowl. She there finds out that her home city has been devoured by the sea on Manimekala-Devi's command, because the king (due to an elabroate prelude of karma) neglected Indra's festival. Aravana, Madhevi and Suthamathi all survived.

Manimekalai heads to the kingdom of Vanji, where she visits the temple of the deified Kannaki, whom she regards as her mother. Kannaki tells her about the fate of her father. Manimekalai then visits ten different religious schools, hearing their teachings, but she is not satisfied with any of them. She travels on to the city of Kanchi, which is devastated by famine, and feeds all the people. The sage Aravana and her mother and friend find her there, and she can finally learn more about Buddhism from the sage.

Manimekalai lives the rest of her life in peace, serving people in need. It is foretold that eventually she will be reborn as the foremost discipline of the Buddha, and attain enlightenment.

The highlights

This epic is a master class in evocative descriptions. It was fascinating to read of what being a "dancer-actress" entailed, listed by Madhavi's friend. Apart from the arts, etiquette, and beauty, it also included learning and sciences. I also enjoyed Suthamathi's description of the city's various luscious gardens and their magical properties; Manimekala-Devi's description of the horrifying burial grounds, or the narrator detailing the sounds and activities of the capital city at night.

A story within a story, Suthamathi's own tale of adventures and conversion to Buddhism was very interesting. She was kidnapped by a gandharva and became his lover for a while. After, even though she was tainted, her Brahman father sought her out and supported her, until he became the victim of an accident. While others turned from them, a Buddhist teacher cared for them, and taught Suthamathi his beliefs.

Another story within a story was the tale of the burning-ground told by Manimekala-Devi. It was rich in detail and very dark and scary in descriptions. It also had a message of "no one can avoid their fate", telling of a mother who summoned all the gods and powers of the universe to bring her son back to life, just to be told by all of them that they had no power over death.

The story of Aputhra, the first owner of the magic bowl, was also memorable. He was an abandoned baby fed by a cow and adopted by a Brahman; when he later defended a cow from sacrifice, he got into a heated religious debate about animal sacrifices, and ended up expelled as a beggar. However, he was so kind and selfless, feeding people ever poorer than him, that the Goddess of Learning blessed him with the magic bowl. He later placed it in a lake, hoping it would find a new owner worthy of it - which is how the bowl came to Manimekalai.

Among the poor fed from the magic vessel was a gandharva woman named Kayachandika, who was cursed with eternal hunger. She told her own story of making a mistake, losing her magic powers, and being abandoned by her husband; the food from the bowl cured her condition. Later, Manimekalai wore her likeness when she wanted to disguise herself.

I also like the moment where someone asked Manimekalai who she was, and she answered "depends on which birth you are talking about." The sage Aravana who educated her also had a good line about reincarnation: "Like actors appearing on stage in a different costume." He was also the one who noted one of the key thoughts of the epic: "To relieve hunger is the highest charity."

THIS EPIC IS OFTEN DESCRIBED AS AN ANTI-LOVE STORY.

At the same time, it revolves around a kind, compassionate, and determined young woman who follows her own path. It it also an elaborate tapestry of interwoven stories.

What resonates with you the most?

M is for Magic Mango (A to Z Challenge 2019: Fruit Folktales)

Mangoes are relatively popular in folklore and legends. The Tamil story (part of a longer series of tales) I picked for today belongs to one of my favorite folktale types, ATU 567, The Magic Bird Heart. Except in this case, the magic bird heart is a mango.

The story begins with a king who wishes for a child for a long time. One day a hermit foretells that he will lose his kingdom for seven years, and in the first year of his exile his wife will give birth to twins. The prophecy is fulfilled: The exiled king and queen become servants, and they have twin sons a year later. When the boys grow up, they decide to set out and seek their fortune.

In a forest nearby, a hermit is patiently waiting under a mango tree. The magic tree only bears one fruit every hundred years; the one magic mango is ripening, ready to fall. The hermit decides to go and bathe, so that he can be clean to receive the holy fruit. While he is away, the mango drops, and the princes find it and share it. What they don't know (unless, in some versions, the hermit tells them) is that the mango has a special power: Whoever eats the peel will become a king, and whoever eats the seed will drop gemstones from his mouth every time he laughs.

Soon after, the king of a nearby kingdom dies. According to custom, his advisers give a flower garland to his favorite elephant, and set it free; whoever the elephant puts the garland on will be the next king. The elephant runs into the forest, puts the garland on one of the princes' head, then picks him up and carries him home. He is crowned immediately.

The other brother is left alone in the woods. After some wandering, he comes across a house where an old woman lives with her daughter, a dancing-girl. They invite the prince in, entertain him, and soon find out about the gemstones he laughs. They decide to get the magic mango seed, so they feed him a potion that makes him vomit and then faint. While he is passed out, they throw him out into the woods again, and the girl swallows the seed.

The prince eventually comes across another magic mango tree in the woods that bears four kinds of mangoes, and tastes them all. One turns him into an ape, another into a kite, the third into an old woman, and the fourth returns him to his original form. He collects some of all four kinds, and returns to the house of the women. Disguised as an old woman, he sells them some fruit, and lo and behold, the old woman turns into an ape, and the girl into a kite. The prince sets out, touring the towns and villages, showing off the magical animals. Eventually, he ends up in the royal city where his brother is king. The two brothers are reunited; they feed a potion to the girl, regain the magic mango seed, gather an army, and take back their father's kingdom. All is well if it ends well.

(You can read this story here or here. I also included a Mongolian version, The Gold-spitting Prince in my book, Tales of Superhuman Powers.)

Which part of the magic mango would you rather eat?

More importantly, would you be willing to eat it after someone else has thrown it up?...

C is for the Civakacintamani (Epics from A to Z)

(Because it is a lot more fun to pronounce than El Cid)
(Also, warning: The original text contains explicit adult content. In very, very elaborate language)

Origins
The Civakacintamani is one of the five great Tamil epics, and it is also a religious poem of Jainism. It is known as the Book of Marriages. It was composed in the 10th century by a Jain monk named Tiruttakkatevar. It consists of 3145 verses, of which two-thirds have been meticulously translated and published in English. I read the first volume (verses 1-1165) in full, and the rest in summary.

The Hero
The hero of the epic is called Civakan; he is the son of King Caccantan who is so lost in the pleasures of loving his beautiful wife that he neglects his royal duties, and is killed by a traitor minister who takes over the kingdom. The pregnant queen escapes in a flying peacock machine (yes you read that right) and gives birth to Civakan on a burial ground. The prince is found and raised by a wealthy man who has no children of his own, and finds out about his origins later.
There is one thing you need to know about Civakan: Women love him. As in, they throw themselves at him. As in, they wail when he walks by. As in, their boobs literally pop out of their blouses when they see him. Yeah. He's popular. So much so that a lot of the headings in the translation read as "Women," "Other Women," "Still More Women," and, finally, "All the Women."
(He's also smart and strong and all of those other things)
The story of the epic pretty much sums up like this: Civakan travels the realm planning his vengeance against the traitor-king, does heroic things, fights heroic fights, and marries a lot of women. Eight, to be precise. After he gets all of them pregnant, he renounces the world, accepts the Jain teachings, and marries himself to omniscience.

The Highlights
Some of this epic is very steamy... Well, all right. A lot of it is very steamy (good to read epics from cultures where pleasure was not something to be ashamed of). The descriptions are long, elaborate, luxurious, and full of fruit and flower metaphors. The best one, however, goes like this:
The queen was like a ripened fruit for desire. 
The king was like a beautiful winged bat.
...
Hello, ladies.

Apart from the glorious language, the epic has some other great things as well. For example, the aforementioned flying mechanical peacock that is made specifically for the queen, and she practices flying it for several verses before it becomes her escape vehicle.
Also great is the scene where King Caccantan, to let his pregnant wife fly away, puts up an epic fight against the traitor and his army, and holds the upper hand until his last breath. He goes down with a fight for the ages. The closing lines of the verse are:
"... manly Caccantan sank down
so the desirable breasts of the Goddess
of the Earth pressed against him and
he waned away like the sinking sun."

There is also a brief mention of female sword troops protecting a princess. But I think they had me at "beautiful winged bat."