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Kannagi, a gem of a housewife, a 'paragon of chastity' has been immortalised in the pages of Silappadikaaram, the famous Tamil epic of Ilango, the Chera prince-turned-ascetic. It is the story of a clash between three anklets: the anklet of home, the anklet of stage and the anklet of the palace. An ill-fated housewife, Kannagi loses her husband Kovalan, to the art of a dancer, Madhavi, and finds him again to lose him to the blind law of a king. Her story is set in the three ancient cities of South India - Poompuhar, the Chola capital where she grew up, Madurai, the Pandya capital where she fell; and Vanji, the Chera capital which placed her on a pedestal. The epic is a rich record of a great civilization, vivid with descriptions of edifices, shrines, docks, market places and squares, of laws and rituals, Natya Shastra (science of dance), musicology and musical instruments of the day. Known for its high dramatic content, Silappadikaaram is a shining jewel in Tamil literature. The memory of Ilango and his immortal classic has recently been perpetuated by the Tamil Nadu Government by erecting at Kaveripattinam, a magnificent seven-story art gallery 'Silappadikaaram Kalaikoodam' in ancient Dravidian architectural style. The structure narrates the story in stone carvings.
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