Category: Fiction
Rights: All rights available
Sita. Sati. Savitri. Draupadi. Kannagi.
What do these women have in common?
They are goddesses. They are victims. But before they were either, they were women who sacrificed everything for their husbands.
Born into Puhar’s elite, Kannagi is raised with one goal, and one goal only: marriage. But when her husband Kovalan leaves her for another, he leaves the door to her gilded cage open. On the very brink of financial ruin, Kannagi manages to build an entirely new life with her lady-in-waiting and confidant Veni.
Kovalan eventually finds his way back to her, begging for another chance. He is penniless, but in Sangam-era Tamil Nadu, a penniless husband is better than none. Disgraced in society, the pair leaves to Madurai – rival Pandyas’ capital famous for get-rich-quick schemes.
In Madurai, Kannagi’s world is split wide open. Her marriage disintegrates with her newfound freedom; she begins to see only cruelty where she once saw tradition. When Kovalan is executed following a court scandal, Kannagi is left with two options: live the life of a widow on the fringes of society as is expected of her, or burn the whole place down.
In Bhargavi’s retelling of the Tamil epic Silappadhikaaram, Kannagi is neither goddess nor victim. She is a woman with horrible luck, lofty ambitions and a rage against the system that echoes well into the 21st century.
The author: Bhargavi Kumaran