Fictional character
| Kovalan | |
|---|---|
 Kovalan (right) with his wife Kannagi | |
| First appearance | Silapadhigaaram |
| Created by | Ilango Adigal |
| In-universe information | |
| Gender | Male |
| Occupation | Merchant |
| Spouses | Kannagi Madhavi (extra-marital) |
| Children | Manimekalai (through Madhavi) |
| Home | Kaveri Poompattinam, Early Chola Kingdom (present-day Puhar, Mayiladuthurai, Tamil Nadu, India) |
| Nationality | Tamil |
Kovalan (Tamil: கோவலன்) is a central character in Ilango Adigal's Silappatikaram, one of the ancient Tamil epics.
Family
Father : Machattuvan
Wife : Kannagi
Lover : Madhavi
Daughter : Manimekalai (Mother: Madhavi)
Narrative
Puharkkandam
Kovalan, the son of a wealthy merchant, Machattuvan, married Kannagi, the daughter of another merchant, Manayakan. At the time of his marriage, he was sixteen years old. They lived together happily in the city of Kaveripattinam, until Kovalan met the courtesan Madhavi and fell in love with her. In his infatuation, he completely forgot his wife and spent his time and parental wealth with Madhavi.
During the annual festival in the honour of Indra, there was a misunderstanding between Kovalan and Madhavi. As a result, the penniless Kovalan returned to Kannagi, who welcomed him whole-heartedly. Realising his mistake, he decided to start a new life by migrating to Madurai with Kannagi. Accompanied by a Buddhist nun, they started their journey towards Madurai city at the stroke of first light.
Maduraikkandam
After many days, they reached the city of Madurai. In the middle of the journey, Kovalan sent word to his parents about his intentions of starting a new life in a new city. Upon arrival, impressed by the grandeur of Madurai city, Kovalan set out to sell one of Kannagi's anklets (Tamil: Silambu), the only left-over asset they owned, with which he intended to start a business. Kovalan entrusted the anklet to be sold to the palace's chief jeweller, who promises to fetch him good money from King Nedunjeliyan I. The king, who is tricked by the chief Jeweller, ordered to behead Kovalan without a trial, on account of stealing the Queen's anklet. Thereby, Kovalan dies in the city of Madurai.
In films
| Year | Title | Language | Actor |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1942 | Kannagi | Tamil | P. U. Chinnappa |
| 1964 | Poompuhar | Tamil | S. S. Rajendran |
| 1968 | Kodungallooramma | Malayalam | Prem Nazir |
| 2016 | Paththini | Sinhala | Uddika Premarathna |
References
- Bhanu, Sharada (1997). Myths and Legends from India - Great Women. Chennai: Macmillan India Limited. pp. 7–9. ISBN 0-333-93076-2.
- "Poompuhar". The Indian Express. 26 September 1964. p. 3.
- "Kodungallooramma". malayalasangeetham.info. Archived from the original on 17 March 2015. Retrieved 14 October 2014.
- "Pathini Sinhala Film by Sunil Ariyaratne". Sandeshaya. Retrieved 2 May 2016.
Further reading
- The Silappatikaram of Ilanko Atigal: An Epic of South India (Translations from the Asian Classics) by R. Parthasarathy (1992)
- An Introduction to Cilappathikaram
- Cilapathikaram in Tamil Unicode - pukaark kaaNtam, maturaik kANTam, vanjcik kANTam
| Silappatikaram by Ilango Adigal | |
|---|---|
| Characters | |
| Place | |
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