The Cilappatikāram, or The Tale of the Anklet, starts with a prologue whose grandeur even the English translation cannot mask:
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
Pattin̪i 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
One of the five great epics of Tamil literature, the prose-poem goes on to do exactly that, namely tell the story of the anklet in three sections. Considered the greatest of the five, it is, in the words of UCLA professor George Hart, “to Tamil what the Iliad and Odyssey are to Greek ‒ its importance would be difficult to overstate…This is an extraordinary accomplishment.”
Composed at the end of the Sangam period, from 300 BC to 400 AD, by a poet called Ilangoadikal, the epic retains its hold on the modern Tamil imagination. Kannagi, the heroine of the Cilappatikāram, is still evoked as the image of the pure, chaste and faithful Tamil woman. Angered at her husband’s wrongful beheading by the Pandya king of Madurai, she burns down the Pandyan capital, appeased only when the goddess of Madurai, Meenakshi Amman herself requests her to stop.
It is in this image, anklet in hand, that she can be seen as a statue on Chennai’s Marina beach. The statue is a prized symbol, and its presence in one of the major public areas of the city is a matter of pride and a constant reminder of Tamil literary heritage.
But what will surprise most Tamils is that their beloved epic was, in fact, used as evidence to influence the demarcation of Tamil and Telugu territory during the linguistic separation of states in the 1950s, a remarkable story in itself.
Linguistic states
1952 was an eventful year in the Madras Presidency. In the preceding decade, there had been several voices in favour of the formation of a separate state for the Telugu-speaking population of the presidency. During the independence movement, however, linguistic concerns were always on the back-burner, and nothing more came of this until the 1950s.
After the drafting of the constitution in 1950, the Madras Presidency was declared to be a Part A state, with a governor and a state legislature. This was when the discussion about Telugu statehood resumed, mainly under the leadership of respected freedom fighter Potti Sreeramulu. To put pressure on the Nehru government, Sreeramulu went on a hunger strike in 1952, only to stop when the prime minister promised to support the formation of the new state.
However, after seeing no progress on the issue, Sreeramulu resumed his fast in October 1952, resulting in his death. As violence broke out and tensions ran high, the prime minister announced plans for the creation of the first linguistically defined state since independence, Andhra Pradesh.
Following these events, as the centre mulled over technicalities, confusion arose as to how exactly the division would occur. This was when the famous slogan ‘Madras manade’ (Madras is ours, in Telugu) was coined by the Telugu-speaking population of what was by then Madras state. They demanded that Madras, along with the holy sites of Thirupathi and Thiruthani, be ceded to the new state. This was met by fierce resistance from the Tamils, who countered with the slogan ‘Madras Namade’ (Madras is ours, in Tamil).
Tamil movement
The leader of the Tamil movement was freedom fighter Mylapore Ponnuswamy Sivagnanam, or Ma. Po. Si. as he was popularly known. Recipient of both the Padma Shri and the Sahitya Akademi awards in later years, he was then the leader of the Tamil Arasu Kazhagam, a party he founded with the aim of propagating Tamil in administration and education. His reputation stemmed from the fact that he was a scholar of classical Tamil, and an expert in the Cilappatikāram. His expertise was so that he was called Silambu Chelvar (one whose speech is like the sweet sound of the anklet) and he wrote several books on the subject.
His most famous slogan of this time was Thalai koduthenum thalainagarai kaapom, vengadathai vidamaatom (We will protect the capital even if we have to part with our heads; we won’t let Thirupathi go). Under his leadership, the movement to retain Madras gained momentum enough for the Jawaharlal Nehru government to initiate a joint parliamentary committee on the matter. This committee included the prime minister himself, the chief minister of Madras state, C Rajagopolachari, and Bhogaraju Pattabhi Sitaramayya. As the committee debated the issue, Ma. Po. Si. came up with some unique evidence.
Ma. Po. Si. cited passages from the Cilappatikāram, in which there are references to the northern borders of the Tamil lands. This proved, he argued, that these parts have been historically home to the Tamil people, and passing them on to a Telugu state would be a travesty of justice. The JPC took these points into consideration, and in time, a committee headed by KN Wanchoo of the Rajasthan High Court, recommended that though Andhra Pradesh had to be formed, the city of Madras should remain with Madras state.
Since chief minister C Rajagopalachari was not in favour of allowing Andhra Pradesh to use Madras as a temporary capital, even that request was denied. In the end, Kurnool was made the temporary capital of Andhra Pradesh, and Madras remained the capital of the Madras state.
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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
Pattin̪i 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
One of the five great epics of Tamil literature, the prose-poem goes on to do exactly that, namely tell the story of the anklet in three sections. Considered the greatest of the five, it is, in the words of UCLA professor George Hart, “to Tamil what the Iliad and Odyssey are to Greek ‒ its importance would be difficult to overstate…This is an extraordinary accomplishment.”
Composed at the end of the Sangam period, from 300 BC to 400 AD, by a poet called Ilangoadikal, the epic retains its hold on the modern Tamil imagination. Kannagi, the heroine of the Cilappatikāram, is still evoked as the image of the pure, chaste and faithful Tamil woman. Angered at her husband’s wrongful beheading by the Pandya king of Madurai, she burns down the Pandyan capital, appeased only when the goddess of Madurai, Meenakshi Amman herself requests her to stop.
It is in this image, anklet in hand, that she can be seen as a statue on Chennai’s Marina beach. The statue is a prized symbol, and its presence in one of the major public areas of the city is a matter of pride and a constant reminder of Tamil literary heritage.
But what will surprise most Tamils is that their beloved epic was, in fact, used as evidence to influence the demarcation of Tamil and Telugu territory during the linguistic separation of states in the 1950s, a remarkable story in itself.
Linguistic states
1952 was an eventful year in the Madras Presidency. In the preceding decade, there had been several voices in favour of the formation of a separate state for the Telugu-speaking population of the presidency. During the independence movement, however, linguistic concerns were always on the back-burner, and nothing more came of this until the 1950s.
After the drafting of the constitution in 1950, the Madras Presidency was declared to be a Part A state, with a governor and a state legislature. This was when the discussion about Telugu statehood resumed, mainly under the leadership of respected freedom fighter Potti Sreeramulu. To put pressure on the Nehru government, Sreeramulu went on a hunger strike in 1952, only to stop when the prime minister promised to support the formation of the new state.
However, after seeing no progress on the issue, Sreeramulu resumed his fast in October 1952, resulting in his death. As violence broke out and tensions ran high, the prime minister announced plans for the creation of the first linguistically defined state since independence, Andhra Pradesh.
Following these events, as the centre mulled over technicalities, confusion arose as to how exactly the division would occur. This was when the famous slogan ‘Madras manade’ (Madras is ours, in Telugu) was coined by the Telugu-speaking population of what was by then Madras state. They demanded that Madras, along with the holy sites of Thirupathi and Thiruthani, be ceded to the new state. This was met by fierce resistance from the Tamils, who countered with the slogan ‘Madras Namade’ (Madras is ours, in Tamil).
Tamil movement
The leader of the Tamil movement was freedom fighter Mylapore Ponnuswamy Sivagnanam, or Ma. Po. Si. as he was popularly known. Recipient of both the Padma Shri and the Sahitya Akademi awards in later years, he was then the leader of the Tamil Arasu Kazhagam, a party he founded with the aim of propagating Tamil in administration and education. His reputation stemmed from the fact that he was a scholar of classical Tamil, and an expert in the Cilappatikāram. His expertise was so that he was called Silambu Chelvar (one whose speech is like the sweet sound of the anklet) and he wrote several books on the subject.
His most famous slogan of this time was Thalai koduthenum thalainagarai kaapom, vengadathai vidamaatom (We will protect the capital even if we have to part with our heads; we won’t let Thirupathi go). Under his leadership, the movement to retain Madras gained momentum enough for the Jawaharlal Nehru government to initiate a joint parliamentary committee on the matter. This committee included the prime minister himself, the chief minister of Madras state, C Rajagopolachari, and Bhogaraju Pattabhi Sitaramayya. As the committee debated the issue, Ma. Po. Si. came up with some unique evidence.
Ma. Po. Si. cited passages from the Cilappatikāram, in which there are references to the northern borders of the Tamil lands. This proved, he argued, that these parts have been historically home to the Tamil people, and passing them on to a Telugu state would be a travesty of justice. The JPC took these points into consideration, and in time, a committee headed by KN Wanchoo of the Rajasthan High Court, recommended that though Andhra Pradesh had to be formed, the city of Madras should remain with Madras state.
Since chief minister C Rajagopalachari was not in favour of allowing Andhra Pradesh to use Madras as a temporary capital, even that request was denied. In the end, Kurnool was made the temporary capital of Andhra Pradesh, and Madras remained the capital of the Madras state.