Kannaki confronts the King of Madurai over his unjust execution of Kovalan
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Kannaki confronts the King of Madurai over his unjust execution of Kovalan |
The chronicle of what followed is a blend of the natural and the supernatural. All Madurai perished in flames. The subsequent events in the story may best be told in the words of Cilappadikaram:
“Kannaki thereupon left Madurai and proceeding west reached Murugavel-Kunram (the hill sacred to Muruga) which she ascended. There she stood under the shade of a vengai tree to the wonder of the people of the place, most of whom were Kuravas.
When every one of them was looking at her, Kannaki left the place in the celestial car for heaven. This they reported to Senguttuvan, the King. The queen desired that a temple should be set up in honour of Kannaki.
Senguttuvan, who had been thinking for a long time of leading an expedition to the north to subdue the refractory chieftains there, resolved to secure a block of stone from the Himalayas to carve out an image of the Pattinik kadavul (‘Pattini deity’) as they called her.” (V.R.R. Dikshitar, 1939, p. 7).
