Kannaki - Wife, Fury & Goddess, Story of Attukalamma.

In a land of myths and legends, the story of Kannki and her Silappatikaram is not just a celebrated story but the tale that gave birth to a Goddess who undoubtedly commands the devotion of more women than any other spiritual being.  

The story begins with the lady Kannaki and her husband Kovalan, merchants by profession having a bit of marital rift as Kovalan was enamored by Madhavi, a dancer. Kovalan ruined himself financially over the dancer and penniless he returned to Kannaki, who received him without any issues. The duo decided to relocate for a fresh  start and went to  the city of Madhuri ruled by the Pandyan king Nedunjelian I.

 Kannaki gave one half of her last precious possession, an anklet to Kovalan to sell so that he can have some capital to start a business. Unfortunately at the same time someone stole an anklet belonging to the queen of the city and a search for the thief was undertaken.  At the market a search party came upon Kovalan who was in the process of bargaining a fair price for his wife's anklet. The grunts overzealous and hopeful for some reward seized Kovalan, confiscated the anklet and dragged him to the court. The king who must have been pestered to hell by the queen in poor judgement commanded to relieve Kovalan off his head. 

Kannaki & Silapathikaram from Tamil literature

The news of Kovalans arrest reached Kannagi and she ran into the court with her other half of the anklet and screamed her cause at the king. This anklet was decorated with rubies while the queens missing ones were of pearls. The king knew that he screwed up and had fatal cardiac event and in the caos that followed some one (possibly Kannaki) knocked over lamps over the drapes and a blaze engulfed the palace. Kannaki in an act of valor and savageness tore off and threw her breast at the city cursing it to burn for the injustice it had done to her husband. The fire gutted a huge portion of the city with the palace and the barraks in ashes. There was huge loss of life and property and finally the patron Goddess of the city Meenakshi requested Kannaki to withdraw her curse. Anger abated at the suffering she caused, she withdrew her curse and that act gifted her salvation and a stature of Goddess. 

She left the smoking city and traveled towards Kerala taking the form of a small girl. At a place called Attukal in Trivandrum she requested an elderly man to help her cross the river Killi and later that night she appeared in his dream to build her a shrine at the nearby sacred grove, which with reverence he did. Kannaki traveled northwards and finally settled at the village of Kodungallor. The shrine the old man build at Attukal grew over the years to what is now the temple of Attukalamma and the shrine build to her at Kodungallor grew to become Kodungallor Devi temple. The legend says that Kannaki comes to Atuukal once every year on the day the Pongala festival to bless her devotes gathered there.

Kannaki is regarded as the Goddess of prosperity, wealth and feminine power and worshiped by millions of devotes with much reverence.  The Pongala festival celebrated with women building a hearth in which they prepare the payasam (a boiled mix of rice, jaggery, ghee, grated coconut and spices) near the temple, at their house or sometimes the closest they could reach the city of Trivandrum. 

Bird's eye view of the Temple and devotees at Pongala

To understand the implication of this statement you must know that the city of Trivandrum have a population of ten million and in 2016, it was estimated that 4.5 million lady devotees build up hearth at temple premise, on the roads of the city and all available spaces to offer the Pongala to their Goddess. The entire of the city turns into a hallowed ground complete with prayers, offerings and the presence of mystic energies can be felt surging through. The entire population of the city is immersed in the ritual with volunteers providing food, water, refreshments and medical aid. The city officials forget their lethargy and work round the clock to ensure smooth and safe conduct of the festival. 

The true devotees of Goddess

Once the rituals are finished and river of devotees flows out of the city, what remains is the heaps of trash they leave behind which includes bricks, ash, tinder, flowers, disposable plates and glasses etc. The true wonder of the day begins with the emergence of blue clad corporation clean up crew. I often think that their devotion to restore the city to the level of neatness that was before the ritual eclipse that shown by the devotees themselves. Within a couple of hours, you will find no trace of four million hearth, their owners or the trash they generated.

 Cleanliness is not next to Godliness; it is Godliness.

Rush after Pongala

For the people of Trivandrum, Attukal Pongala is not just a yearly celebration of a temple or an occasion to project their city and show their devotion but something much more. As world today is repulsed with violence against women; some speak for her protection while some for her empowerment, but in this city resides a lady who burned down a king, his entourage and his palace for the injustice they did to her.

Here we celebrate the unique feminine strength, capable of consuming a city and also willing to forgive it, here we celebrate the most empowered woman who walked this earth.

The Iron Was Not Hot To Strike, Irom Sharmilaji.

Mahatma Gandhi according to Wiki, fasted 17 times for political reasons the longest ones with a duration of 21 days (1933 May, 1924 Sept & 1943 Feb). Aghast with the subjugation of his brethren, he fought for the independence and dignity of the nation through non violence methods and succeeded in doing so. He is lauded as the father of our nation. Irom Chanu Sharmila fasted once but for 16 years. Yea you read it correctly, and its not a typo. She fasted from November 2000 to August 2016 for repelling the Armed Forces Special Powers Act (AFSPA) in her home state of Manipur, a decree that gave the paramilitary forces the authority ranging from search without warrant to use of deadly force on reasonable suspicion. After ending her fast to try for a political solution of the issue, she contested in the election and got a grand total of 90 votes and a load of humiliation.

Sharmila being removed to hospital during her fast.

I am a supporter of the AFSPA and strongly believe it is need in troubled areas like the Kashmir valley and in Naga, Ulfa & Maoist strongholds. I do not support or agree with Irom Sharmila or her erstwhile human rights activist friends to repeal this act, but I did root of her in this election. I read about her first in the early 2000's and wondered how could a person survive with out food for so long. The sights of nasogastric tubes that fed her cleared my doubts. Over the years her name popped up occasionally in the media that would gather her sympathy and at times accolades. I followed her through the news networks and was in awe of her determination to see it to the end. She tried to involve Anna Hazarae on his high day, wrote to the silent economist PM couple times and once attempted to make international awareness at UNHRC with the help of  Nobel peace price winner Shirin Ebadi. 

All in vain.

She did managed to turn many heads and drop even more jaws but never managed to gather enough support to win her cause neither with the public nor with the political elite. For a fete of such magnitude, the expected footfall is enormous, yet the sixteen year long struggle fizzed out. Why?

In my opinion, the most probable reason is because no one really cared about what happened in the North East. No one are the ones who are responsible to bring the attention of the masses to such issues and the ones who are supposed to take action on those issue. Unlike the politically and religiously lucrative state of Kashmir, Manipur hold very less place in the mind of the everyman and that means it sells less. Less of newspapers and magazines and less of TRP.

The world runs on money, so less the money, less the attention it requires.

Let that be so in the wide media-political landscape of India,yet how did Irom Sharmila loose an election with just 90 votes against a two time incumbent chief minister with over 18000 votes? After all she was in an extended diet of one and a half decades to end the suffering of the same people who had the chance to pay her back as votes.

Simple politics. She is a human rights activist and he a veteran politician. She had the sympathies of some villagers and the facultative support of a few activists and media outlets while he had the resources of the Congress party and its organizational machinery. She ended her fast in a low note without many noticing, she formed a party without any organizers or clear agenda and she declared her intent to fight the CM too hastily and that too in his home ground. She hardly had a campaign strategy nor offered a plan of what she will do if elected. Aravind Kejarival of the AAP defeated the then CM of Delhi Sheela Dikshit in 2012 after a high voltage anti corruption campaign (thanks to Anna Hazarae), had an action plan and a lot of promises (how ever absurd they may be) offered to the people. His AAP manged to run decent ground work and a very impressive one in media both social and paid and he reaped the dividend. Irom Sharmila neither had his resources, nor capable supporters or a alternative to offer the voters. Politics is never won by sacrifices or hard work alone, but just like any other industry, marketing is the key. She failed in projecting herself as the Aung San Suu Kyi of Maipur, and rather naively trusted in the goodness of people to carry her through.

She wasted her chance to make it big by going low-key. Sixteen years of suffering wasted in the haste to contest in an election she was bound to loose. The news showed a shawl clad, tear eyed Iron Lady announcing her exit from politics, but I hope she reconsiders. I hope she learns the ways of politics and return as a capable, different person. 

After all sixteen years is a long time to be wasted for any cause.