Silappadigaram: The Greatest Poetic Composition in Tamil

Silappadigaram (Silappatikaram) or “The Jewelled Anklet” is traditionally attributed to Ilangovadigal, a grandson of the great Chola king Karikalan who was the greatest among the Sangam Chola and a contemporary of the Chera king Perunjeral Adan. Legend has it that Ilangovadigal was the brother of Chera king Senguttuvan. However, there is a divergence of views among the authorities on the authorship of this great epic in Tamil. But whoever the author of Silappadigaram was, he was a great genius.



A Scene From Silappadigaram

The story of Silappadigaram runs thus: Kovalan, the hero of Silappadigaram, is a young merchant of the city of Pugar or Kavirippattinam, the famous port of the Chola kingdom during the Sangam age. He was married to a beautiful woman named Kannagi. After the good times they had for sometime, Kovalan fell in love with the courtesan and dancer Madhavi at the royal court. After living sometime with Madhavi, he returned to her wife but only with all his wealth spent on the danseuse. Since they had no money except a precious pair of anklets of Kannagi, they decided to leave Pugar for great city of Madurai to earn their lost fortunes.

On their arrival at Madurai, Kovalan went to sell one of Kannagi’s anklets to a wicked court jeweller who had misappropriated a similar anklet of the queen of the Pandyan king Nedunjeliyan. Taking advantage of the situation the jeweler informed the king of the anklet brought by Kovalan. Kovalan was executed on the King’s order. Kannagi went to the court of the king and proved her husband’s innocence. Realizing the miscarriage of justice, the king died heart broken. The queen also dies. But this did not lessen the anger of Kannagi. She decided to burn the city of Madurai and in the process tore off one her breasts and threw it at the city and the city was burnt. It was only when the patron goddess of Madurai persuaded Kannagi that she withdrew her curse. Since then Kannagi became the patron goddesses of wifely loyalty and chastity.

The Government of India has instituted an award in honour of Kannagi given to woman.

Polyandry in Ancient India

In most parts of ancient India, polyandry, the practice of one woman marrying two or more husbands simultaneously, was an impossibility for ordinary people of respectable class. According to Smriti Chandrika by Brihaspati, it is a great sin to take the wife of brother.

But that is not to say that it was unknown. The most famous example of polyandry in ancient India is found in the great epic the Mahabharata where the five Pandava brothers, sharing their wife Draupadi in common. This shows that the idea of polyandry was not an abhorrence to the common people of ancient India. Otherwise the editors of the Mahabharata would have certainly invented four sisters of Draupadi. Apart from that there are fleeting references to polyandry in the ancient literature of India.

In ancient India niyoga was well known. Niyoga was the practice of acting on behalf of a husband by his brother if the husband had died without producing male child. Niyoga has been frequently mentioned in earlier Indian lawbooks. However with the passage of time the practice of niyoga began to be frowned upon.

Marriage in Ancient India

During the Rig Vedic period, marriage was usually monogamous, and apparently indissoluble, since no reference to divorce or the remarriage of widow occur in the Rig Veda. Polygamy was however known in the Rig Vedic period. The girls were married after they had reached puberty. Child marriage was unknown and there were unmarried girls like Gosha who lived all her life with her parents. There were no marriage restrictions, still matrimonial alliances with the Dashyus was prohibited. Among the Aryans only the marriage of father and daughter, and of brother and sister were banned. There was complete freedom both to the boy and the girl in the selection of their partner but the consent of the parents was essential. 

However the scene of the Vedic period underwent a change in the time of the Smiritis. According to Manu –Smriti, the lawbook of Manu, the age of bride should be one third of that of the groom. 

From the evidence, we can come safely to the conclusion that child marriage was not at all common until the late medieval period. In fact, the ancient treatise on medicine, Sushruta Samhita, states that best kids are produced from mother over the age of sixteen. 

During the Mauryan period divorce seems to make its appearance. It has been mentioned in the Arthshashtra and Kautilya has even permitted it. The society was becoming polygamous. Ashoka had as many as four queens. The early law text-books have enumerated eight forms of marriage, viz., Brahma Marriage, Daiva Marriage, Arsha Marriage, Prajapatya Marriage, Gandharva Marriage, Asura Marriage, Rakshasa Marriage and Paishacha Marriage.

Sati: Hindu practice of Self-immolation

Sati (written Suttee by older English writers) is the traditional Hindu practice of self-immolation by a widow on her husband's funeral pyre. The word Sati means “a virtuous woman”, was applied erroneously by the British to the practice. The practice of sati was declared illegal in 1829 during the governor-generalship of Lord William Bentick.

Suttee, by James Atkinson 1831

Whether the practice of sati was prevalent in the Vedic period is in the realm of debate. The first datable reference to sati is found in the Greek accounts of Alexander invasions and the first memorial, dated 510 AD to the custom is found at Eran near Sagar in the state of Madhya Pradesh. In medieval India, the practice became very common.

The practice of sati was disapproved of by Bana, the court poet of Harsha.

The Chalukyas of Anhilwara

The Chalukyas of Anhilwara or Solankis, as they are popularly known, ruled in Gujarat and Kathiawar for nearly three centuries and a half (c 950-1300). One of the earliest kings of this line of Chalukyas was Mularaja who consolidated the Chalukya authority in Gujarat. 

The next king of importance was Bhima I (c. 1022-64), during whose reign Mahmud Ghazni, who made seventeen raids on India between 1001 and 1027, overran Gujarat and plundered the great temple of Somanath. When Mahmud appeared before the capital city Anhilwara (modern Siddhpur Patan), Bhima I took refuge in Kanthkot fort in Kutch. After the withdrawal of Mahmud, Bhima I revived the Chalukya power and entered into a coalition with Lakshmi – Karna Kalachuri against Bhoja (c1010-55), the greatest ruler of the Paramara dynasty of Malwa. 

It was during the reign of Bhima I that the Sun Temple of Modhera was built. His spouse Udaymati is known for constructing Rani ki Vav (Queen's Stepwell'), a stepwell situated in the town of Patan in Gujarat. Rani ki Vav is a UNESCO's World Heritage Site. 

His minister, Vastupala, was responsible for constructing the famous Dilwara Jain temples at Mount Abu in the state of Rajasthan.  These temples are the products of superb craftsmanship.

Jayasimha Siddharaja was the greatest Solanki ruler who, in commemoration of his victory against the Paramaras, assumed the title of Avantinatha. He erected a number of religious edifices in his kingdom and patronised learning. He was the patron of the celebrated Jain scholar Hemachandra. He ruled from 1092 to 1142. 

Kumarapala (c. 1143-1172) of the dynasty was a big votary of Jainism. During his reign, Svetambaras gained a place of great prominence in Gujarat. It is said that during his reign, non-violence was enforced so strictly that those who killed even the flies were severely fined. During the reign of Bhima II (c.1178-1241), Muhammad Ghori made an unsuccessful invasion of Gujarat (AD 1178) and was comprehensively defeated in the Battle of Kayadara that took place in Sirohi district in Rajasthan. His slave Qutab-ud-din Aibak led two expeditions. Anhilwara was plundered and temporarily occupied by the Turkish army. In the same period, the Vaghela chief carved out an independent principality in Gujarat between Sabarmati and the Narmada. 

During the rule of the Chalukyas in Gujarat, architecture reached it zenith in Western India. The beautiful Jaina shrines at Mount Abu in Rajasthan are the case in point. Since the Solanki kingdom was prosperous thanks to the sea borne trade with the Arabs and Persians, large amount of money was spent on the construction of beautiful Hindu and Jaina temples.

The Religion of Harappa

As is the case with the civilizations of the ancient world, religion must have played an important role in the lives of Harappan people. However, nothing can be said with certainty about the religious life of the people of Indus valley civilization since our information on the topic is fragmentary. 

The Harappan religion was polytheistic. 

On the basis of information gathered from Harappan seals, seal impressions, terracotta and metal figures, cemeteries, etc, we can come to the conclusion that worship of the Mother Goddesses was very much prevalent in the society. It is very much to the point to underline the fact that worship of Mother Goddesses came into vogue in Hinduism one thousand years after the decline of Harappan culture. Other traits of later Hinduism such as worship of Pashupati Shiva, sacred animals trees etc, were practised by the Harappan people. 

Among the male gods, the most striking is a three faced horned deity seated cross legged on a throne and surrounded by four wild animals, an elephant, a tiger, a rhinoceros and a buffalo, with two deer under the seat. The god has been described by British archaeologist Sir John Marshal as “Proto-Shiva”. 

Animals played a big part in the religion of the people of Indus valley civilization. Though all the animals represented on the seals and sealings or in terracotta, faience and stones may not be sacred. The most common animal found on the Harappan seals is the bull, usually depicted with a single horn and often been referred to as ‘a unicorn’. As we know in Hinduism the bull is specially connected with the god Shiva, but the bull of Harappa is not associated with the “Proto-Shiva” as discussed earlier. The cow, so revered in later Hinduism, is nowhere depicted on the Harappan seals. 

The worship of tree, fire and water was prevalent in the Harappan culture. The prevalence of tree worship is evidenced by the representation of on many seals and sealings found in the various archeological sites belong to Harappan civilization. The most striking of these depicts the trishula horned deity standing nude, with long hair, between two branches of a tree with half kneeling figure of a worshipper with long hair armlets and horns, behind whom is a human headed goat. The leaves of the tree appear like those of pipal, much revered by the Buddhists. 

The worship of Phallic (lingam), the symbol of Shiva, was in vogue in Harappan times. Similarly, on the basis of certain large ring shaped stones, Marshall suggested them as representations of the female generative organ (yoni). However Marhsall’s view has been contested by George F Dales who opines, “There is no archeological evidence to support claims of special sexually-oriented aspects of Harappan religion.” 

That Harappan people envisioned afterlife can be ascertained from their grave offerings which included grains, ornaments, pottery and other materials of daily use. 

Bibliography 

A. L. Bhasham : The Wonder that was India

Life of Vardhamana Mahavira

Vardhamana Mahavira

A contemporary of The Buddha, Vardhamana, known to his followers as Mahavira, was born in village Kundandagrama near Vaishali in Bihar in a kshatriya (the warrior class) family about 540 BC. His father Siddhartha was the chief of the Jnatrikas clan and his mother Trishala was sister of Chetaka, the Licchavis king of Vaishali. Mahavira was also related to Bimbisara, the ruler of Magadha, who was married to Chellana, the daughter of Chetaka. Mahavira was married to Yashoda and had a daughter whose husband, Jamali, became the first disciple of Mahavira.

Though Mahavira was educated in all branches of knowledge he shied away from materialistic life. At the age of 30, when his parents were dead, he renounced his family, became an ascetic, and proceeded in search of truth. For over twelve years, he went from one place to another and led a life of torture by subjecting his body to all kinds of hardships but it was of no avail. During this period he met another ascetic, Gosala Maskariputra, who later founded the sect of Ajivikas. The Ajivika sect enjoyed its heydays during the Mauryan rule under Ashoka and his successor Dasharatha. It, however, survived until fourteenth century in south India.

In the thirteenth year of his asceticism on the tenth of Vaishakha, outside the town of Jrimbhikgrama he found full enlightenment and Nirvana. From now onwards he was called Jaina or Jitendriya (one who has conquered his senses), Nirgranthas (“Free from Bonds”) and Mahavira (the brave) and his followers were named Jain. For the remaining thirty years Mahavira moved from one place to another in the Gangetic kingdoms and preached his religion. At the age of 72 he breathed his last at Pava, near the Magadhan capital Rajagrha in 527 BC.