1

Chapter 7
Attukal

Amma

and

Kannaki

of

Chilappathikaram: Two Different Entities

All rituals that are performed inside the temple
throughout the year and the crowd that throng the
temple everyday look insignificant when the women
arrive in their hundreds, thousands, and millions to
make their own offerings for the Goddess on the day of
the Pongala.
The temple and the festival attract wide media
coverage. I have witnessed that the media proclaim
without any evidence that Attukal Amma is Kannaki.
Songs

and

dance

productions

based

on

Attukal

Ammas story depict Her as Kannaki. I realized that it

is a huge blunder to popularize this story without any
historical references.
There

are

few

renowned

folklorists

and

historians in Thiruvananthapuram who are convinced

that She is not Kannaki. But the media-created
narratives each year become inaccuracies, which
gradually find a place in the history of Attukal Temple.
The

temples

website

repeats

the

incorrect

information. Every attempt to convince them to the

contrary was met with ruthless opposition almost to

the extent of forcing me to end my study. Obviously,

piggyback riding on the well-established and popular
myth of Kannaki seemed to be more comfortable to
them, than trying to consider historical inquiry.
The Tamil-style architecture of the temple with the
story

of

Chilappathikaram

represented

through

concrete sculptures is equally misleading. Darshana

Sreedhar

writes

in

her

thought-provoking

essay,

Attukal Pongala, Myth and Modernity in a Ritualistic

Space,1 that, the creation of the origin story reveals a
certain process of inclusion and exclusion in the
creation of a long tradition. In many ways the temples
website facilitates this origin myth and this long
tradition by becoming a technologically-facilitated
document of authenticity and legitimization. What is
considered tradition in terms of an origin story or in
terms of mythology therefore is also a very modern
process that speaks to us about the interlocutors
desire to locate Kannaki in terms of present concerns
rather than uncovering a past. This modern framing is
not limited only to the temples website .It also finds
1 Sreedhar, Darshana. Attukal Pongala, Myth and Modernity in a Ritualistic Space. In
Give title of the bookHyderabad: Orient Blackswan , 2015, p.151(Is the essay also titled
the same? Or, is the essay the with the same name going in the book of the same name?
If so, the entry should be like this: Sreedhar, Darshana. Attukal Pongala, Myth and
Modernity in a Ritualistic Space, in Attukal Pongala: Myth and Modernity in a Ritualistic
Space. Hyderabad: Orient Blackswan, 2015, pp151-?)-AJT

its place in the booklets issued by the Temple Trust

and in the temples architecture.
However, none of this matters to the millions that
throng there; for them, She is just Amma. Mother. A
Goddess who hearkens to their calls, who alleviates
their pain. Those who know who She is, never cared to
clarify; those who do not, never enquired. A majority of
the devotees dont read anything about Her or know
who She is.
But who is this Goddess? Why is She wrongly
called Kannaki? Did Kannaki ever visit Attukal?
As we have seen in the earlier chapters, the
vestiges related to antiquity of this temple are almost
fading away due to various unjustified extensions and
renovations that happened during the past fifty years.
There are only a handful of rituals carried over from
the past, to connect the temple with antiquity. Thottam
Paattu, the ritualistic hymn-singing that heralds the
commencement of the Ten-day Festival, is one of them.
The narration is in old Malayalam which is not
influenced by Sanskrit or Tamil; it is the pure,
primitive language of Kerala.
Thottam Paattu, the Story of Bhadrakali

The festivals in all major Bhadrakali shrines

known variously as kavu, thekkathu, ilankam, etc.,
in southern Kerala, commence with the singing of the
Thottam

Paattu.

This

narrates

the

legend

of

Bhadrakali. It is sung by a group of three people led by

a singer known as the Onnampuram, who is also called
the

Asan;

the

only

accompaniment

is

small

instrument called Kuzhithaalam. Dr.N.Ajithkumar, an

authority of Bhadrakali cult of Kerala says:This is one
of the most primitive musical instruments found in
Kerala and it measures time; actually it denotes
thaalam (rhythm) of the taandavam of Lord Shiva and
the laasyam of his consort; it is apt to be used as an
accompaniment in the primitive song, in praise of
Goddess Bhadrakali, who is the Goddess of Time
itself. (Please in the Notes, with Reference No.)
Of the three-member choir, the two junior singers
are seated next to the Asan, in the order of their
seniority

(Randampuram

and

Moonnampuram,

respectively) who repeat the lines sung by the Asan.

The Mudippura Thottam, the verse offering sung
during the festival, was never written down; it was
learned by rote. Most of the singers of the Thottam
songs believe that it is a sin to put down these songs in
black and white.

In Malayalam, the word thottam means instinct,

or something which forms in the mind. It also means
spring up and includes improvisation, or a hymn or
song in praise of a power.
But research on Thottam paattu is indeed a
complex venture since there are no written records to
rely on and also owing to the regional variations and
the overpowering sense of the divine attached to it by
the singers. The overriding similarities among them
and the absence of any major variation in the theme
are pointers to the historical significance of these
songs, underscored by the pieces of historical evidence
provided in the book Malayaalathile Pazhaya Paattukal
(The Old Songs of Malayalam), written by C.P. Govinda
Pillai, nearly a hundred years ago. Govinda Pillai has
divided the main themes of these songs as (i) the
slaying of the Asura Darikan, and (ii) the story of the
origin, growing up and the later life of a divine virgin,
who is Bhadrakali Herself, as the adopted daughter of
the king and queen of Thekkum Kollam.
There are five major variations in the theme of the
story in southern Kerala, and it is usually sung within
one day or three days or five days or even forty-one
days. At Attukal, the recital of the story is completed

within nine days. While C.P. Govinda Pillai enjoys the

unique position as the first to collect these songs, G.
Shankara Pillai who compiled these songs in 1957 says
their division into two parts by C.P. Govinda Pillai is
wrong and that the Thottam paattu is in fact a single
song. He also says that Kerala Sahitya Charithram by
Ulloor S. Parameswara Iyer and Keralathile Kaleeseva
by Chelanattu Achyuthamenon also repeat the same
mistake because they followed C.P. Govinda Pillais
findings.2And to my surprise, I learned that at Attukal,
the Thottam singers do not sing the first part, i.e., the
slaying of Darikan, in which the origin of Kali is
described as someone born to kill Darikan. The singers
couldnt give me an explanation for this. We learned it
this way and this is what Amma likes, Madhu Asan
said with a smile.
Thottam

Paattu

and

the

Story

of

song

that

heralds

the

Chilappathikaram
This

ritualistic

commencement of the festival at Attukal, follows a

narrative which bears close resemblance to the story
of Chilappathikaram, the epic poem of the Sangam Era
2Kurup, Deepu P.,Bhadrakalippaattu,History, Society and Culture, Doctoral
Thesis in Malayalam, submitted to University of Kerala, 2015, awaiting
publication from the State Institute of Languages, Thiruvananthapuram, Kerala.

of Tamil literature. This Jaina epic is believed to have

been

written

at

Vanjippattanam

(now

known

as

Kodungallur) by Ilango Adikal, a prince and scion of

the dynasty that established the first Chera Empire
(from third century BCE. to the twelfth century CE).
However, there are different opinions regarding
the period of the composition of Chilappathikaram and
also about Ilango Adikals identity (R. Parthasarathy,
the famous translator of Chilappathikaram into English
thinks he is almost a mythical figure like Homer or
Vyasa). During the Sangam Era, Kerala had three
power centres: the principalities of southern Kerala
ruled over by powerful rajas, the Chera kingdom in
central Kerala, and the Ezhimala kingdom in the north.
The majority of scholars have chosen the second
century CE as the period of Chilappathikaram, but the
historian K.A. Neelakanta Shastri puts it at the fifth
century CE. Some others cite the eighth or the ninth
century CE. as its date. (Please give Notes- for
Neelakanta Sastry and others-- AJT)
Ilango Adikal has brought together the three Tamil
kingdoms in the poem the story begins in Pukar
(Poompuhar),
Madurai,

the

the

Chola

Pandya

capital,
capital,

moves
and

through
ends

at

Vanjipattanam, the capital of the Cheras. Thus the epic

depicts a multidimensional history of the ancient Tamil
kingdoms.
After having given up his aspirations of becoming
the king by challenging Chenkuttuvan, his elder
brother and the powerful reigning king of the Cheras,
Prince Ilango Adikal was camping at the temple in
Kunavaayilkottam

(supposed

to

be

Thrikkanaamathilakam, of Kodungallur Bhagavathy

Temple, Adarsh, 2013:48, 96, 111,) when a troupe of
kuravas, members of a hill tribe, reached there and
narrated an amazing event they had witnessed.
They had seen the glorious sight of Lord Indra and
his entourage descending from heaven in a celestial
vehicle, approaching a young woman with a torn out
left breast standing under a Venga (Indian Kino) tree.
The celestial visitors showed her, her husband who
was there along with them in the vehicle; the celestial
vehicle picked her up and ascended heavenwards.
The Tamil poet Chaathanar who was present at
Ilangos camp, claimed he had already known the story
and narrated the tale of a woman who had set Madurai
on fire by plucking out her breast and hurling it at the
city

in

revenge

against

the

Pandyan

king

Nedumchezhiyan who had her innocent husband

executed. Ilango Adikal declared that he would write a
lyrical poem on the incident. That cheyyul,or poem, is
Chilappathikaram.
In Tamil Nadu, Chilappathikaram is claimed as
part of an ancient cultural tradition, but the religious
practices based on the mythology of Kannaki survive
only in a marginal way. For example, Chellathamman
Temple, near Madurai Meenakshi Temple, was built,
according to information which can be found on its
website, as a tribute to the divine chastity of Kannaki.
The temple is built at the place where Kannaki stayed
in Madurai (where the Jain nun Kavunthi Adikal left
Kannaki and Kovalan in the care of Maathiri, as we will
see later in the story). Devotees pray here to cultivate
softness and reduce (sic) anger, seek wedding boon
(sic) and to foster marital love. Fire accidents took
place often in this area when the temple was built.
People believed that the cause of fire may be due to
the fury-fire (sic) element in the idol of Kannaki. King
Shenbaga

Pandian

discussed

the

issue

with

his

ministers. It is said that Lord Shiva appeared in his

dream and advised (him) to install the idol of Mother
Parvati in the temple, according to some sources. The
king did so as advised by (the) Lord and named the

10

(Divine) Mother as Shenbagathu Amman which in later

days changed as Chellathamman. After this event,
Chellathamman became prominent and popular. First,
Puja is dedicated to Chellathamman and then to
Kannaki Kannaki is in the front mandap with Her
anklet in one hand. Women worship Kannaki with
Mangal Sutra and lime fruit garlands.3
This is all that one can find in regard to the
worship of Kannaki in Tamil Nadu. (Wikipedia says
Kannaki Amman is eulogized as the epitome of
chastity and is worshiped ... by the Sri Lankan Tamil
Hindus. There is also mention that she is venerated as
Goddess

Pattini in

Sri

Lanka by

the

Sinhalese

Buddhists, too.4) On the other hand, Kannaki is viewed

in a negative light by the general populace around
Madurai. As this writer has personally experienced, in
the Meenakshi Temple precincts, the mention of the
name of Kannaki still evokes strong reproof from even
ordinary people familiar with the tradition. Obviously,
they do not cherish Kannaki who burned their city
down once upon a time!

3http://temple.dinamalar.comennew_en.phpid=479

4. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pattini.

11

However, Kannaki is very much alive in Tamil

popular culture. One of the earliest Tamil epic films,
released in 1942, was Kannagi directed by R.S. Mani;
this

was

the

first

Chilappathikaram.

Tamil

Another

film

Tamil

adapted
film

from

Poompuhar

(1964), follows the same theme. Several Tamil and

Malayalam poets have made Kannaki subject of their
works. A statue of Kannagi holding her anklet,
depicting a scene from Chilappathikaram was installed
on

Marina

Beach,

Chennai.

It

was

removed

in

December 2001 citing reasons that it hindered traffic.

The statue was reinstalled in June 2006. Wikipediahttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kannagi).

((Please

use

this URL in the Note on the chapter. I am not doing

that because it will upset the numbers if I do.)
Dr Eric Miller, an American scholar who traced
Kannakis footsteps from Pukar to Madurai and to the
western mountains, has a different take on Kannaki.
He says, In my home town, New York City, we have a
pessimistic saying: You cannot fight City Hall. But
Kannaki proved that you can fight City Hall, and this is
the core of the story. That one person with no money,
in a place that was not native to her, with no family in
sight, could go before the highest civic authority, and
speak, and win her case: that is great. He refutes the

12

charges against Kannaki, that she was harsh towards

the residents of the city even when they were
supportive of her; that she was fighting an unworthy
cause, that of defending a husband who had cheated
her. Miller cites a prophecy which says that the Sun
God had already marked the city for burning down and
Kannaki merely invoked Lord Agni to do it, and it was
an act of purification, prior to regeneration. The
answer to the second charge is too obviousany
number of good women would pardon their cheating
husbands!5
But the largest variety and number of myths,
songs and ritual practices based on the Kannaki story
survive not in Tamil Nadu, but in Kerala. People of
Kerala, where the major part of the ancient Chera
kingdom flourished, believe that Kannaki was installed
at the Sree Bhadrakali Temple at Kodungallur; some of
the people of southern Kerala, especially around
Thiruvananthapuram and Kollam districts, believe that
Kannaki was installed at Attukal, after she had burned
down Madurai city, walked all the way to Kuttalam on
the south-western border with Kerala, and reached
Thiruvananthapuram.
5. http://www.thehindu.comtodays-papertp-opinionin-praise-of-citizenKannakiarticle3119956.ece

13

However, many Tamilians believe that she was

given residence at a temple built specially for the
purpose, as described below.
On the KeralaTamil Nadu border in the High
Ranges, at Vannathiparai, near Kumili (inside the
Periyar Tiger Reserve, Thekkady), there is a temple on
top of the mountain, at a spot called Mangaladevi
peak. The Mangaladevi Hill Temple (Mangaladevi
Kannaki Kottam) is dedicated to the deified Kannaki.
As

feature

in

The

Hindu

says,

Kannaki,

according to literary evidence, walked for 14 days from

Madurai to Vengaikanal Nedunkundram, where the
temple is now located. From here, she is believed to
have reunited with her husband Kovalan. Tribal
people, who were witness to the event, reported it to
the Chera king, Chenkuttuvan, during his visit to the
hilly region. As per legend, the king brought stones
from the Himalayas to construct the temple for
Kannaki. The King of Ceylon, Kayavagu, attended the
consecration of the temple.
Though it originally belonged to Tamil Nadu, as
per the earliest evidence of 1817* it now falls in Kerala
territory. It is easily accessible from the Kerala side.

14

(*a survey was conducted by the East India

Company) and St. George Gazette of 15 November
1883.)

The report further says that two inscriptions found

at the temple are of Rajaraja Cholan of 11th century
and Kulasekara Pandian of 13th century respectively. A
senior epigraphist is of the opinion that the 11th
century inscription is fragmentary and refers only to
Rajaraja Cholan. The second inscription makes a
reference to the Goddess in the temple as Pooranagiri
Aludaya Nachiar.
The epigraphist further explains that a reference
to the Mangaladevi Temple is found in a Perumal
temple at the nearby Gudalur town in Theni district.
Kannaki is described as Mangala Madanthai in
Chilappathikaram. Putting this together with the
earlier reference made above, the epigraphist asserts
that

the

deity

in

the

Mangaladevi

Temple

is

worshipped as the epics heroine.6

However, Mangala Devi Hill Temple certainly was
a major temple as one can see from the plinth area and
6http://www.thehindu.comnewsnationaltamil-nadutemple-for-Kannaki-a-pictureof-neglectarticle4651234.ece

15

the

sub-temples

situated

on

the

rectangular

bahyaakaara (outer balivattom), though the site is

almost dilapidated now. Whether this is the temple that
Cheran Chenkuttuvan built for Kannaki, or, is that
temple the one at Kodungallur, the capital of the Chera
kingdom, is open to further research. Some scholars
have

assumed

prathishtha,

at

that
the

Chenkuttuvan
Kodungallur

did

Kannaki

temple

premises

(Adarsh, 2013.32, 87). It is interesting to observe here

that there is a mention in the Travancore State
Manual7that the Cheras had ruled their kingdom with
Kumili as their capital, from the time of Perinchottu
Udanan

Cheralatan,

the

great

grandfather

of

Chenkuttuvan(Travancore State Manual Volume II,

page 19-Please give in the Notes-AJT.).
We have already seen the glimpses of the climax of
the story of Chilappathikaram. However the full story
goes like this, as summarised from Eric Millers
account: In the great harbour city of Poompuhar, on
ancient south Indias East Coast, Kannaki and Kovalan
married. Kovalan saw Madhavi the dancer perform at
court, and he went off with her. After an extended
period, Kovalan returned home. He and Kannaki
walked to Madurai, a distance of about 250 km, to
start a new life. There Kovalan was falsely accused of

16

stealing the local queens anklet, and the local ruler,

the Pandian king, unjustly put Kovalan to death.
Kannaki came to the court and proved that her
husband had been innocent of this crime. The king
punished himself for the injustice he had done, by
simply laying down and dying. Kannaki walked around
the city three times, tore off her left breast and threw
it against the city wall, and called for the city to burn
but for good people and animals to be unharmed. Agni,
the god of Fire, accomplished this. Kannaki wandered
westward to the mountains, where some people
worshipped her.
In the Vanchi-kaandam, the third chapter of
Chilappathikaram, the poet moves from the story of
Kannaki to the story of the Chera kingdom where the
conqueror of oceans, Chenkuttuvan, is the king. He is
resting with his queen Venmaal and his brother Ilango
Adikal at the source of Periyar River (the Mangaladevi
Kannaki Kottam mentioned above, and Kumili, the
supposed Chera capital according to Travancore State
Manual, are actually situated in the same region),
when the hill tribesmen who witness the miraculous
episode at Thirichenkunnu reach there and narrate
their story to the king. The Queen ordains that
Kannaki,

the

paragon

of

chastity,

should

be

17

worshipped as a Goddess. It is also decided that the

stone

for

the

idol

should

be

fetched

from

the

Himalayas.
Sages who return from the Himalayas report that
the kings of the north, Kanakan and Vijayan, had
spoken of the Tamil kings disparagingly. Chenkuttuvan
vows to subjugate the kings and make them carry the
stone for the temple, as a punishment. When he is
about to start for the Himalayas after a public
declaration to this effect, some people reach there
carrying

oblations

from

the

Padmanabhaswamy

Temple of Thiruvananthapuram. After receiving those

oblations

and

wearing

them

on

his

person,

Chenkuttuvan sets off on his journey. Crossing the

river Ganges, he defeats Kanakan and Vijayan of north
India and their vassal kings Utharan, Vichithran,
Rudran, Bhairavan, Chithran, Simhan, Dhanurdharan,
and Shwetan.
Chenkuttuvan

chooses

the

stone

from

the

Himalayas, gets the idol carved, and returns. Kanakan

and Vijayan carry the idol. While the party is resting on
the banks of the Ganges, Maatalan reaches there and
apprises them of the happenings in Madurai after the
conflagration.

18

Vettrivel Chezhiyan, the ruler of Korkka reaches

Madurai,

does

human

sacrifice

of

thousand

goldsmiths to Kannaki, and takes up the reins of the

anarchic kingdom. Maathiri commits self-immolation
after declaring that Kovalan is innocent. Unable to
bear the sorrow, Kavunthi Adikal also starves herself to
death. Kovalans father, Masuttavan gives away all his
wealth and becomes a monk. His wife dies of grief.
Kannakis father becomes a monk too, and her mother
commits suicide. Madhavi takes the vows of a nun. She
instructs her mother that her daughter, Manimekhalai,
should not be initiated into the ways of a courtesan
under the devadasi system. (Later Manimekhalai also
becomes a nun. Her story is narrated in the poem
Manimekhalai by Chaathanaar).
After returning to his kingdom, Chenkuttuvan
installs the idol of Kannaki in a temple that he builds at
Thiruvanchikkulam (now identified with Kodungallur).7
Chilappathikaram is a paean to universal love and
it brims with the love for life and nature. In this
tragedy, there are no anti-heroes. The Pandya king who
unwittingly sets off the trail of tragic events attains
nobility
misleads

through
the

his

king

death.
is

only

The

goldsmith

avaricious,

who

not

19

personification

of

wickedness.

Kannaki,

who

is

elevated to the status of Goddess, is the distilled

essence of this world of love.7
Part II
Kannaki and Kodungallur Amma
There is no mention of Kannakis induction into
the Kodungallur Temple either in Chilapathikaram or
in historical records (even though it was supposedly
dedicated by Chenkuttavan with fanfare at the time). It
is believed that Kannaki was moved to Kurumbakavu
on the southern side of the temple. Later on, her spirit
was imported into the deity at the Kodungallur Temple,
according to another popular belief. Historian V.R.
Chandrans following observation somewhat validates
this view:
It is customarily believed that the first dedication
took place at Sri Kurumbakavu, about one kilometre
south of Kodungallur Temple. Later, for certain other
reasons say, due to thePandya kings attack, or the
Brahman strategies for domination it is assumed that
it was moved from its primary location to the present
temple and placed westward of the existing deitys
nada(threshold opening to the sreekovil of the deity)
7Chandran, V.R. Sri Kodungallur Amma.

20

facing northward. They built the nada for the existing

deity, which was initially facing northward, as facing
the west subsequently.
P.G. Rajendran, a renowned scholar on the temples
of Kerala, has this to say about Kannakis deification:
Chenkuttavan conducted Kannakis dedication
process in the vicinity of the Kurumba Bhagavathy
temple about half a kilometre south of the existing
temple. As Chilappathikaram hints, the process took
place

in

the

2ndcentury.

Till

date,

the

devisthidambu(replica of the deity) is escorted from

this temple.8
All the aforementioned statements point to the
assumption that Kannakis dedication could not have
taken

place

in

Kodungallur

Temple

but

in

Sri

Kurumbakkavu, towards the south of the temple.

However, no concerted effort was known to have been
taken to arrive at this assumption following historical
evidence
prevalent

or

by

following

around

the

traditional

Kodungallur.

In

any

beliefs
case,

Kurumbakkavu too is within the Kodungallur Kavu

precincts, and a distinction need not be made as to the
exact site of the Kannaki prathishta.
8Rajendran, P.G. Kodungallur Bhagavathy

21

There is another belief that, later on, the deity of

Sri Kurumbakavu was imported and assimilated into
Devis idol at Kodungallur Temple. This way, the
presence of Kannaki is believed to have reached
Kodungallur Temple, providing immense relief to the
believers of Kannaki and Kali.
The belief that the famous Kodungallur Temple is
in fact Kannaki Temple still persists among many
people.
Well-known historian P.K. Gopalakrishnan does a
somewhat

convincing

analysis

of

how

Brahmin

domination altered the nature of the worship of the

Goddess, in whom Kannaki was originally thought to
have been merged. According to him, it seems right to
believe that with the turn of the seventh century CE.,
Kannaki, dedicated by Chenkuttavan, was replaced
with Kali due to the spread ofmimamsa siddhanta, and
became an object of worship for Brahmins. Till the end
of

the

seventh

century,

Brahmins

did

not

have

considerable influence in Kerala. Mezhathol was the

leader of the Brahmins who had arrived in Kerala. The
foundation for Brahmin influence was laid by seeking
the blessings of the kings of Kerala for conducting
ritual offerings and carrying forth the message of the

22

Shaiva faith. Since Chenkuttavan was an ardent

follower of the Shaiva faith, he encouraged yagam(the
ritual of offering) and other rituals of the Brahmins, as
Chilapathikaram hints at. History has the story of
Mayooravarman, the Kadba king, and the aswamedhayagam he had conducted at the Ahi Temple.
The

seventh

advancement

century

of

witnessed

Brahmins.

the

Brahmin

gradual
villages

mushroomed in between forests and and coastal areas.

The

lands

soon

became

verdant

regions.

This

unprecedented development led the Brahmins to

believe that they were the custodians of the earth.
When they flourished financially and culturally, and
when mimamsa siddhanta spread substantially with
the help of kings, scholars stepped forward. The belief
that salvation could be attained through holy sacrifice
and

worship

successful

in

grew

considerably.

gaining

influence

Mezhathol
though

was

mimamsa

siddhanta. Mezhathols repute as an astute man helped

the Brahmins gain a little influence for themselves.
Though it is difficult to take historical cognizance
of the story of Parasurama connected to Keralas
origin,

the

four

regions

of

Payyanur,

Panniyoor,

Paravoor and Chenganoor took control over thirty-two

23

Brahmin villages and led them on the path of growth.

Four renowned thallis (the kings of northern Kerala
called royal palaces and temples, thalli) existed in the
Brahmin

villages

spanning

from

Kottapuram

to

Chettuva-Kodungallur: they are Methalli, Kizhthalli,

Chingapurathalli

and

Nediyathalli.Apparently,

the

Kodungallur Temple was Nediyathalli. The Brahmin

village was not fully able to comprehend and accept
the dedication at Kodungallur as well as its rites and
rituals. They decided to impose the Namboodiri
practices in the worship and rituals of the temple.
Mezhathol sought to bring reformation, keeping the
existing beliefs and concepts intact.
Mezhathol established a concept of Devi based on
Brahmin faith, combining the figures of the furious
Kannaki with that of the fierce Kali to form a deity that
was all-powerful and extremely terrifying.
Ever

since

Cheran

Chenkuttavan

dedicated

Kannaki as a deity, we have come to learn more about

the forms of worship of the early Dravidians, the
concept of Devi based on Buddhist theology as well as
customs

reflecting

Buddhist faith.

the

intellectual

ways

of

the

24

Brahmins are mentioned in Sangam works only in

a few places. The only king who gave himself
completely over to the Brahmin belief system was
Palyaney, a Chera king. Brahmins were generally
considered a weak community. The immigration of the
Brahmins must have taken place on a small scale in
the second century CE in South India, including
Kerala.The control of almost all aspects of the temple
used to be in the hands of the non-Brahmins.
Gradually, from the
immigration

of

fourth century onwards, the

Brahmins

picked

up

pace.

The

influence of the Hindu faith increased exponentially.

Alongside, the growth of the Jain-Buddhist faiths came
to an end.
By the seventh century, the mimamsa siddhanta of
the Brahmins gained almost complete acceptance.
They accumulated power and influence had introduced
new changes in worship forms and concepts of divinity.
To strengthen the Brahminical Devi concept, practices
like human and animal sacrifice were abolished along
with chicken-slaying; in its stead, rituals like gurusi
(guruthi), raktapushpanjali and ash-gourd splitting
were introduced.

25

The followers of Jainism and Buddhism, and the

early Dravidians who came before them such as the
hill-tribes, found it highly unacceptable to admit
reforms or changes in their age-old customs. They
believed that doing so would only invite Goddesss
wrath.

The

Brahminized

customs

were

not

in

congruence with their conventions, and this forced

them to see to it that the Brahmins fled from the land.
Downgrading Brahmins eventually came to be seen as
a means of endearing themselves to the Goddess.
However,

the

Namboodiris

eventually

took

complete control of society at the beginning of the

twelfth century. They considered themselves to be the
owners

of

the

land.

History

has

it

that

when

competition and avarice among them became rife,

Rama Varma Shaktan Thampuran, Maharaja of Kochi,
(under whose realm Kodungallur Temple was at that
time, for a brief period) put an end to the control
granted to the

Namboodiri-dominated trusts

and

dismissed the Yogaatiri or the Namboodiri chief who

had absolute say in the administration of the temples
and took them over and brought them under the direct
control of the royal government.

26

Part III
Did

Kannaki

actually

exist?

Is

the

Chilappathikaram History, or Legend?

Dr Eric Miller who walked in the footsteps of
Kannaki (and Kovalan), from Poompuhar to Madurai
has this to say:
Ilango Adikals text is a biography of Kannaki,
written in verse. This biography was based on
what was told to him by these women. These
women may, or may not, have been eyewitnesses to the events that had occurred in
Madurai. Three kings are mentioned in the
text: 1) King Karikala of the Chola land who
is associated with advanced irrigation and
urban

water-use

systems;

2)

King

Nedunchezian of the Pandian land; and, 3)

King Chenkuttuvan of the Chera land who is
said to have journeyed to the Himalayas and
back, to get a stone worthy of being carved in
Kannakis image, defeating the kings along
the way.
I am not sure if these three southern kings
are mentioned as specific individual humans,
or as representatives of their dynasties. Only

27

scholars who are specialists in south Indian

history, and who can read Ilango Adikals senTamil

text,

can

begin

to

answer

such

questions. But as a scholar of storytelling, I

can say that in a sense, it is not important
whether

or

not

the

incidents

of

the

Chilappathikaram occurred in history. (Please

delete till here-Its repeating more or less
the same story and we can save space as
well.-AJT)
For whether or not these incidents(as
mentioned

in

Kannakis

biography

as

Dr.Miller calls Chialappathikaram,) occurred

in history these incidents occur perpetually
in the imaginations of people who know and
care about the story. And a story presents
people with a model of the past, and a model
for the future. That is, people base their
characters

and

actions,

their

entire

worldviews and identities, on the elements of

the stories they love. (Please give Eric
Millers source.AJT)

28

M.J. Gentes from the University of Texas in his

Scandalizing the Goddess at Kodungallur says9: By
12th century, Buddhism had virtually disappeared and
the cult of the Goddess Kali was in the ascendant,
(leading to), the re-consecration of Jain and Buddhist
sanctuaries as Bhagavati temples (Induchudan, 1969,
200-201). (To make )the nuns leave their residence at
Kodungallur, low-caste devotees of Bhagavati were
persuaded
sanctuary

to

throw

animals

(Induchudan,

rededicated

to

1969,

Bhadrakali

and

filth

39).

It

and

into

the

was

then

lost

its

(connection)with the Jain Goddess Kannaki of the

fourth century epic Shilappadikaram [The Affair of the
Anket].
The worship of Kannaki was assimilated by the
Kali cult; and the polluting of the temple during
Bharani is a reenactment of the original confrontation
between the low-caste women and the nuns, and the
taking over of the Jain sanctuary. At Sri Kurumba Kavu,
two

narrative

traditions

portraying

the

life

and

attributes of a Goddess exist. One of the Goddesses

mentioned is Bhadrakali. Her idol in the main sreekovil
receives Brahminical worship and her myth is recited
9Gentes, M.J. Scandalising the Goddess of Kudungallur.Austin, Texas: University
of Austin at Texas, available at https:// nirc.nanzan-u.ac.jpnfile1735

29

in the thottam songs. These hymns extol the Goddess

for defeating Darikan, for his beheading, and hanging
his head on Mt. Kailas near her father Shivas abode.
The second set of songs is about the heroine/Goddess
Kannaki or the epic Chilappadikaram. The songs that
praise Kannakis virtues are used as evidence to
identify

Sri

Kurumba

Kavu

as

the

very

shrine

described in the ancient Tamil work that was built by

the Chera king Senguttuvan to honor Kannaki. This
identification also proves that the original shrine was a
Jain sanctuary. Bhagavathi, Kannaki and Kali share
some traits and are rolled into one at Sri Kurumba
Kavu; however, separate traditions on each of them
survive

and

are

celebrated

in

songs

and

ritual

practices.(Paraphrased, after the first para of 84

words

quote.

Please

cite

the

reference

of

M.Gentes.A.J.T)
V.T. Induchudan10in his book, The Secret Chamber:
A Historical, Anthropological andPhilosophical Study
of the Kodungallur Temple(1969), presents the theory
that the true focus of the Bharani Festival is Kannaki
and that the worship of Kali is suspended. He
10Induchudan,V.T.,The Secret Chamber: A Historical, Anthropological and
Philosophical Study of the Kodungallur Temple, Trichur: Cochin Devaswom Board,
1969.

30

concludes that Kannakis mortal remains lie in the

unopened stone tomb that abuts the eastern side of the
inner sanctum. During the Bharani Festival, a red
cloth, one of the Goddess symbols worn by devotees
and given in offering to the Goddess, is hung on the
stone wall of the chamber between the tomb and the
Kali sanctum. An underground tunnel extends from the
chamber out under the east portico and surfaces on
the eastern side of the shrine grounds. A proscription
protects this tunnel, closed and no longer in use:
anyone looking into it will go blind, is the story in
circulation

that

is

intended

to

protect

this

secret.(Give Induchudns reference-AJT)

Induchudan assumes that at one time, the tunnel
was used to bring in for neophytes initiated into
worship of the Goddess. In this initiation, they entered
into Her courtyard, ritually died, and came out
reborn after passing through the tunnel.(Similar rebirth tunnels exist in Tiruvilvamala, in south Malabar,
and also the oldest structure in Kancheepuram, the
Kailsasanathar Temple, as this author has first hand
knowledge about). The elderly Atikal (member of a
particular priestly clan) told Induchudan that in the
past the Atikals entered the courtyard through the

31

passage to perform services in the chamber, until it

was sealed because of the danger of a cave-in.
When this practice ceased due to the risk of
walking through the passage, services came to be done
through the eastern door.There were two houses of
Atikals called Kunnath Madhom and Neelath Madhom.
Both these houses were traditionally located around
the

mouth

of

the

underground

passage,

says

Induchudan(Give reference-AJT)
The opening of the umbrella, the Kavutheendal,
and the beginning and the end of the frenzied run,
take place on the eastern portico, which is normally
not used, precisely because worship is directed at
Kannaki, the Goddess, whose remains rest inside the
east door, as Induchudan assumes.
It is to be noted here that Kannaki belongs to a
literary tradition, both oral and written. But in the
deeply rural imagination, such a name would not ring
any bells.
Dianne Jennet says: If you go into the countryside
and ask some of them, Why did Kannaki come here?
they might not even have heard of Kannaki.11
11Jenett, Dianne Elkins,Red Rice for Bhagavati Cooking for Kannaki An
Ethnographic Organic Inquiry of the Pongala Ritual at Attukal Temple, Kerala,
South India, (Doctoral Thesis, California Institute of Integral Studies,1999.

32

Part IV
The

Narrative

of

the

Thottam

Paattu

Juxtaposed Against that of Chilappathikaram

It is a mystery as to how the narrative of the
Thottam Paattu sung during the annual festivals in the
Mudippuras (Bhadrakali shrines) of southern Kerala
resembles that of Chilappathikaram in the main parts.
The

popular

lore

of

Attukal

notwithstanding,

in

Chilappathikaram there is no internal evidence of

Kannaki having visited Thiruvananthapuram.
Historians believe that even The Ramayana and
Mahabharata

existed

as

ballads

first

and

the

authorship cant be attributed to a single person. R.

Parthasarathy, in the Introduction to his translation of
Chilappathikaram, opines that Ilango Adikal could be
the name of a redactor, a mythical figure like Homer or
Vyasa, who wrote down the epic from existing oral
versions. Dr N. Ajithkumar, an authority on Devi
worship, Thottam Paattu and related subjects, believes
that

the

Thottam

Paattu

is

older

than

Chilappathikaram.12 Further, Dr. Deepu P. Kurup, who

12Dr N. Ajithkumar. Personal interview with the author.

33

is also a Thottam Paattu singer himself, in his doctoral

thesis, says that the Thottam paattu is as old as
Chilappathikaram, if not older. Chelanattu Achyutha
Menon, renowned folklorist and scholar also says, We
dont know when Amma got a song for Herself.
Parthasarathys

observation

provides

some

credence to the argument of Dr N.Ajithkumar, that the

narrative in the Paattus (as sung in the Bhadrakali
temples of southern Kerala), are a fictitious rendering
of songs sung by kuravas, the hill-tribesmen, at the
Kanuvaayilkottam Temple. (Were the kuravas singing
the Thottam Paattu? Is this temple the same as the
Kannaki Kottam Temple, the Mangaladevi Temple at
Vannathiparai, Kumili? No one can be certain.)
According to Chilappathikaram, the hill dwellers
witness Kannakis ascension to heaven and narrate the
tale to Cheran Chenkuttuvan. His queen, Ilango
Venmal, who is also present, requests the king that the
heroine of the story be worshipped as a Goddess. So,
can we assume that the story of Kannaki and Kovalan
(that of Kanyavu and Palakan) was sung as a ballad
much before Ilango Adikal wrote it in a style that
suited the poetic traditions of that time?
Kanyavu Vs Kannaki; Palakan Vs Kovalan

34

In Chilappathikaram, Kannaki is the daughter of a

mariner, married to the Vaishya youth, Kovalan, who
broke marital fidelity by taking Madhavi, the devadasi
dancer, as his mistress. However, in Thottam Paattu,
Kanyavu, (the female lead corresponding to Kannaki of
Chilappathikaram)

is

Goddess

Bhadrakali,

the

daughter of Lord Shiva.

In Thottam Paattu, Bhadrakali wants to remain a
virgin after marriage butin Chilappathikaram,Kovalan
and Kannaki have a blissful love life. In Thottam
Paattu, Devis tempestuousness comes out most clearly
in her violent rage against her uncle, her future
husband,

and

her

adoptive

father

whom

she

annihilates by closing her left eye (for details see the

chapter summarizing the burden of the Thottam
Paattu). How does one explain this terrible reaction of
Devi? Devi is furious because all three are associated
with the attempt to get her married. How can the
Goddess Bhadrakali, Lord Shivas daughter, marry a
mortal?
There are no references to Madhavi, the courtesan
who seduces Kovalan, in the Thottam Paattu sung in
southern

Keralas

temples.

But

the

Paattu

does

mention the bad habits Palakan acquires before

35

getting married. But the relationship between this Devi

and her husband has almost no correspondence to the
servile and chaste wife of the Chilappathikaram who
dotes on her husband, taking him back unconditionally
when he returns from the arms of his paramour.
The incident of Kovalan asking for the anklet to be
sold in the market, has its correspondence in the
Paattu, but in the reverse order. The contrite Kovalan,
who has squandered all his wealth and is left with
Kannakis anklets, asks her to give it to him so that he
can go to Madurai, sell it and raise some funds to
restart his business. On the other hand, in the Pattu,
Kanyavu asks Palakan to go to the market and sell the
anklet.
Whereas Kannaki of Chilappathikaram flies into an
all too human rage and confronts the Pandyan king
Nedunchezhiyan (it maybe noted that in Thottam
Paattu, the kings proper name is never mentioned
its always just Pandyan) about her husbands unjust
execution, and calls upon Lord Agni to burn Madurai,
as she hurls her torn off left breast at the city-walls,
and it comes to pass, and Kovalan is subsequently
resurrected by Lord Indra, Kanyavu of Thottam Paattu,
in a fit of rage hearing the news that Palakan, her

36

husband,

has

been

wrongfully

executed

by

the

Pandyan king of Madurai, rushes to the spot and

resurrects and her husband by herself. (Vannaars, the
washermen, who kept Palakans body intact, is blessed
by Devi who also gives them the right to sing the
Thottam at night.) She then confronts the goldsmith
who lied to the king, chops off his tongue and kills him.
Then she beheads the king. The Queen too falls at her
husbands feet and dies.Kanyavu then closes her left
eye, setting the city on fire. A great conflagration
follows. Presently, Kanyavu proceeds to Kailasam with
the severed head of the king in her hand and shows it
to her father, Lord Shiva, and hangs it next to the head
of Darikan whom she had slain in an earlier episode of
the Thottam Paattu. She pleads with her father to give
her a permanent abode at Kodungallur, which He
grants. Devi goes to Kodungallur with the resurrected
Palakan, establishes herself as Kodungallur Amma
(Sree Kurumba, Bhadrakali), and sets up a shrine
nearby for her husband.
It is interesting to note a striking difference in the
episode of the kings death: in the Thottam Paattu,
Devi kills the king, whereas in Chilappathikaram, the
king dies of shock upon learning from Kannakis mouth
about the injustice he inadvertently meted out to

37

Kovalan. Kannaki is escorted to heaven by Kovalan, but

in all the oral versions of the Thottam Paattu, Devi is
the Supreme Power who is able to resurrect her
husband.
In fact, there is not even the mention of the name
Kannaki or Kovalan anywhere in Thottam Paattu. As
already stated, the heroine is Kanyavu and the hero,
Palakan

(the

virgin

and

Balakan-the

youth,

literally).In Chilappathikaram Kovalan is the son of

Machathuvan, the Vaishya merchant of Pukar. But in
Thottam Paattu, Palakan is the son of King Marayaar of
Vadakkum Kollam. Kannaki is the daughter of a
mariner in the same city; but the virgin in the Thottam
Paattu is the daughter of Lord Shiva and the adopted
daughter of King Narayananaar of Thekkum Kollam.
And there is no mention of Cheran Chenkuttuvan in
the Thottam Paatu, or of the building of the temple at
Kodungallur. The Paattu, on the other hand, mentions
that Lord Shiva guides His daughter to create Her own
abode at Thiruvanchikkulam.
There is an inner contradiction that is running
throughout these parallel narratives, if one argues that
the story of Kannaki is a mere work of fiction. There
exist pieces of evidence, (however steeped in legends

38

they may be) like the particular spots in the city of

Madurai where Kovalan was beheaded (Kovalan Potal),
where Kannaki and Kovalan stayed at Purancheri (the
spot where the Chellathamman Temple is situated), the
Kannaki

Temple

at

Mangaladevi

where

Cheran

Chenkuttuvan is thought to have installed Kannaki (the

rival one at Kodungallur notwithstanding), and a
definite route that Kannaki took on her westward
journey to the Chera Kingdom after burning down the
city of Madurai, walking non-stop for fourteen days,
and reaching under the Venga tree, where she
resurrected Kovalan(the route which Dr Eric Miller
followed).
If the Thottam Paattu story had preceded the
Kannaki story, how then could her story have found a
place in the Paattu? How does it come to pass that in
the Thottam Paattu too, the villain of the piece is the
Pandyan

king?

These

contradictions

add

to

the

fascinating mystery of one of the most outstanding

woman characters in the most recent of ancient Indian
epics.
The common belief that Kannaki was consecrated
into a deity at the Kodungallur Temple has been
qualified or modified by scholars in the field in

39

different ways, as already seen. It is worth mentioning

here that Ilango Adikal who had converted to Jainsim
and become a monk, seems to have altered the original
story to suit his mission. Also, this explains why the
tempestuous and fiery Kanyavu, (if at all he based his
epic on the narrative of the supposedly pre-existing
Thottam Paattu) is depicted as the meek wife Kannaki.
There is however a curious connection between
the chilambu (anklet) that plays a central role in the
story of Chialappathikaram and Bhadrakali worship in
Kerala: Bhadrakali is invariably represented by a pair
of

chilambus

and

vaal(sword)

in

Her

shrines

throughout Kerala.
Unravelling

the

Mystery:

Possible

Explanation
The Devi of Attukal is definitely not Kannaki. But
Kodungallur Bhagavathy is invoked and transported to
Attukal at the beginning of the Ten-day Festival,
worshipped throughout, and sent back at the end all
these through Thottam Paattu. One can assert that it is
not Kannaki, but Sri Kurumba Bhagavathy who is
ritually invoked and transported from Kodungallur. But
Kannaki has got enmeshed in the narrative almost
inextricably.

40

We

could

look

at

these

anomalies

and

anachronisms from a totally different angle. There is

internal evidence in the Thottam Paattu sung at
Attukal to suggest that emendations do take place,in
the course of time as the narrative is sung by the
singers down the centuries. The first of its kind which
includes a glaring anachronism, in view of the fact that
the story would have taken place more than 2000
years ago, as the songs are supposed to have existed
even before Kannakis tale, is this: in the Fourth Days
Paattu, there is mention of Kanyavu hearing the
cannon shots from the ship of Palakan to notify Her of
his arrival, reciprocating to which Kanyavu also fires
the guns of Her ship. As a matter of fact, it was the
Portuguese who brought cannons and other guns to
India, after the arrival of Vasco da Gama in 1498. The
use of cannons for the first time in India was in the
First Battle of Panipat in 1526, when Babur the
Mughal used cannons and defeated the numerically
superior army of Ibrahim Lodi. Clearly, the Thottam
singers added this piece to the song, somewhere in
recent centuries.
Another

emendation,

once

again

involving

anachronism, is the occasion in the Ninth Days Paattu,

on which Devi grants the contrite Pandyan queen the

41

deity-hood, Mukkolaykkal Mutthaaramma, and the

use of a thatched roof shrine, while She Herself
reserves

the

right

to

use

tiled-roof

sanctum

sanctorum! Tiled roofs, as we know them, are a

comparatively recent addition, only after the arrival of
the German Christian Missionaries, in the sixteenth
century.
What I want to point out here is the tendency of
the Thottam singers to add details from comparatively
recent events into the Paattu, during the course of
their singing, over the centuries. They could actually
have added the parts in which Kanyavu sends Palakan
to sell the wares in the Pandyan kingdom, Palakan
selling the anklet, the court goldsmith lying, the king
executing Palakan, and Kanyavus revenge, taking all
these strands of narratives from Chialappathikaram
itself, as this was a story prevalent in these parts over
the last twelve centuries at least. This way, Kannaki
and Kanyavu would remain two different entities;
likewise, Kovalan and Palakan too would be two
different persons. It would just be that over the
centuries, singers of Thottam Paattu, which have
survived from time immemorial, would have added to
the

narrative

some

interesting

parts

of

Chilappathikaram, which struck their fancy. These are

42

conjectures, much less than even a hypothesis but

this could explain the strange resemblances in both
the narratives.
Scholars agree that the current form of Kali
evolved from the warrior Goddess, Kottavai, an ancient
Dravidian deity. Bhadrakali of Thottam Pattu is also a
warrior Goddess. The Pattu has elaborate descriptions
of battle scenes full of bravery. The source material of
the Pattu might have originated when a courageous
heroine like Kannaki appeared in the midst of a people
steeped in the Kottavai legends. By constructing a
temple and consecrating an idol of Kannaki, the
epitome of chastity, the Chera king Chenkuttuvan
enhanced her already heroic image and perpetuated
her story in popular perception. We

can safely

conclude that the blending of the worship of the

warrior deity Kottavai and Kannaki's story, set the
stage

for

the

song.13.According

emergence
to

Dr

of

divine

heroic

Deepu

P.

Kurup,the

the

comparison of Bhadrakali Pattu and Chilappathikaram

can be summarised thus: The plots of Bhadrakali Pattu
and Chilappathikaram are similar, but both have
13Kurup, Deepu P.,Bhadrakalippaattu,History, Society and Culture,Doctoral
thesis in Malayalam, 2015, awaiting publication from the State Institute of
Languages, Thiruvananthapuram, Kerala, p.30.

43

unique narrative styles. Bhadrakali Pattu does not rely

on

Chilappathikaram

in

terms

of

sub-plots,

characterization and event descriptions. Bhadrakali

Pattu has original sub-plots and series of events to
strengthen its central theme. It has attained an
autonomous existence like the Thampuran Pattu, Vil
Pattu and Chattu Pattu.
Bhadrakali Pattu was created independently as
part of the trend of hero worship in southern
Kerala. It is not an imitation of Ilanko Adigal's
Chilappathikaram. It is an independent work
based on the heroic legend of Kannaki, in parallel
to Chilappathikaram. None of the heroic ritualistic
songs of southern Travancore can be considered
to be copied from any classical poem.While
Chilappathikaram shows the characteristics of a
classical

work,

Bhadrakali

Pattu

is

only

ritualistic song. It has a moral outlook which

inculcates thoughts of divinity and fear of sin.
However, Chilappathikaram does not seem to have
any such purpose.14
Nevertheless, the Thottam Paattu which is sung in
the forecourt of the sreekovil of Attukal Amma now,
14 Ibid., pp.3132.

44

and will be in the future too, is the ever-tinkling

mysterious anklets of the Goddess of Attukal.