Madhavi (Silappatikaram)

Madhavi is a central character in the Silapathikaram, one of the epics in Tamil literature. Silapathikaram is the first Kappiyam (epic) among the five in Tamil literature.^[1][2] Madhavi was born in a lineage of courtesans, and was an accomplished classical bharatha natya dancer. Madhavi is one of the three main characters in Silappatikaram, along with Kannagi and Kovalan.^[3]

Madhavi
Madhavi with Kovalan
In-universe information
Occupation	Dancer
Children	Manimegalai

Plot

Madhavi was the daughter of a dancer, Chitrapahti.^[4] Madhavi was rigorously trained in music, dance and composition of poems. Kovalan, the son of a wealthy merchant and the husband of Kannagi, met Madhavi in a performance in Chola king Karikalan's court.^[5][6] Enamoured of her beauty, he fell in love with her. Eventually, Kovalan left his wife and moved in with Madhavi, with whom he stayed for a year. Madhavi bore him a daughter Manimekalai.^[7][8] However, after spending all his money on Madhavi, he realised his mistakes and returned to his wife Kannagi.^[9]

Love with Kovalan

Kovalan, who was married to Kannagi, fell in love with Madhavi when he saw her at her dancing debut in the court of the Chola king Karikalan. Kovalan left Kannagi and starts living with Madhavi. She lived with Kovalan happily for some time. During that period, Madhavi's mother stole all of Kannagi's wealth by using Kovalan's ring Kannaiyali without Madhavi and Kovalan's knowledge. After three years, Kovalan learned the truth about the mother's crime through the song kaveri kanal vary, during the festival of the god Indra. He grew angry with Madhavi and again returned to Kannagi. After Kovalan left her, Madhavi learned of her mother's theft and showed her moral worth by returning all the wealth of Kovalan to his father and renouncing the world to become a Buddhist nun.

Manimekalai, the daughter of Madhavi and Kovalan, who is the main character of another epic called "Manimegalai", written by Seethalai Sattanar, born to them in this period of love in between them at Kaveripoompatinam.

Kovalan's death

Kovalan and his wife left for Madurai to restore their fortunes by trade. In an unfortunate twist of events, he was mistakenly arrested for having stolen the queen's anklet wear and beheaded as the queen had a similar anklet wear. Upon hearing this, Kannagi set out to the court of the Pandya king Neduncheziyan and proved her husband's innocence. On realizing his mistake, the king died instantly. Kannagi took revenge by burning the whole city of Madurai with her curse, which she later took back due to the city goddess' request.

Upon learning the tragic turn of events, Madhavi shaved her hair and became a Buddhist nun.

References

1. "Silappathikaram Tamil Literature". Tamilnadu.com. 22 January 2013. Archived from the original on 11 April 2013.
2. Geetha, C. V. (1985). Female Characters in Janakiraman's Novels. Pooram Publications.
3. Thompson, James (2005). Digging Up Stories: Applied Theatre, Performance and War. Manchester University Press. ISBN 978-0-7190-7315-1.
4. B.Jaiganesh, Dr (9 July 2021). "The Psychological Acumens in the Construction of the Two Characters Manimegalai and Kayasandigai". Annals of the Romanian Society for Cell Biology. 25 (6): 16100–16106.
5. Srinivasan, Priya (2009), "A 'Material'-ist Reading of the Bharata Natyam Dancing Body: The Possibility of the 'Unruly Spectator'", Worlding Dance, London: Palgrave Macmillan UK, pp. 53–75, doi:10.1057/9780230236844_4, ISBN 978-1-349-30230-7, retrieved 29 January 2024
6. Menon, Suseela (2011). "Empowerment of Women and Children Through Performance of Indian Classical Art Form – A Case Study with Special Reference to Mohiniyattam of Kerala". SSRN Electronic Journal. doi:10.2139/ssrn.1867831. ISSN 1556-5068. S2CID 141228534.
7. Vanita, Ruth (4 June 2022), "Gender, Masculinity, and the Dharma of Parenting", The Dharma of Justice in the Sanskrit Epics, Oxford University Press, pp. 153–164, doi:10.1093/oso/9780192859822.003.0009, ISBN 978-0-19-285982-2, retrieved 29 January 2024
8. Sebastian, Tania (22 November 2021). "Invisibility of Female Street Names in India". McGill GLSA Research Series. 1 (1): 1–19. doi:10.26443/glsars.v1i1.144. ISSN 2564-3843.
9. Bhanu, Sharada (1997). Myths and Legends from India - Great Women. Chennai: Macmillan India Limited. pp. 14–19. ISBN 0-333-93076-2.