Table of Contents
The Book of Vanci Questions and Answers
Short Essay Type Questions with Answers
1 . The central theme of The Book of Vanci is the deification of Kannaki chaste woman and kingship. Explain with a close reference to the text.
Ans. Kannagi is a legendary Tamil woman who forms the central character of the Tamil epic Cilapatikaram (100-300CE). The story relates how Kannagi took revenge on the Pandyan king of Madurai who had unjustly put her husband to death, by cursing the city. Kannagi interrogates the king and demands justice.
Kovalan was the son of a wealthy merchant of Vaishya community in Puhar who married Kannagi. Kovalan met a dancer Madhavi and had an affair with her, which
prompted him to spend all his wealth on the dancer. At last, penniless, Kovalan realised his mistake and returned to his wife Kannagi. Kannagi epitomises chastity and justice. Kannaki came to the king’s court, broke open the anklet seized from Kovalan and showed that it contained rubies, as opposed to the queen’s anklets which contained pearls. Realizing the fault the king committed suicide in shame, after having delivered such miscarriage of justice. Kannaki uttered a curse that the entire city of Madurai be burnt. The capital of Pandyas was set ablaze resulting in huge losses. At last, at the request of Goddess Meenakshi, she calmed down and later, attained salvation.
2 .Comment on the setting of Cilapatikaram, a Tamil epic.
Ans. Dating back to around the 5th century CE, the Tamil epic Cilapatikaram is often considered the nearest book India has to a great epic in alanguage other than Sanskrit. It is the story of an ordinary woman’s apotheosis into a goddess and substantiate chastity as the principle element of womanhood. Kannagi is a legendary Tamil woman who forms the central character of the Tamil epic Cilapatikaram (100-300CE). The story relates how Kannagi took revenge on the Pandyan king of Madurai who had unjustly put her husband to death, by cursing the city. Its heroine Kannaki spent most of her life as a married woman in solitude, abandoned by Kovalan, her adulterous husband.
Situated in Pukar, the epic Cilappatikaran develops a kernel of the Kovalan and Kannaki story that was a part of the oral extant tradition and presents it in epic form situated within the larger Jain tradition to be presented before a largely Jain audience. It could have been as a result of the inroads of Jainism into Tamil society or as a result of the epic being presented to a Jain audience.
Q. 3. Assess The Cilappatikaram as a Tamil epic with particular reference of The Book of Vanci.
Ans. An epic is a long narrative poem. It is a long verse on a serious subject matter, centered on a heroic or quasi-divine figure on whose action depends the fate of a tribe or nation.
The Cilappatikaram is one of the most famous South Indian epics written by llango Adigal. This Tamil epic consists of 5,730 lines and it is divided into three books:
(i) The Book of Pukar’ consists 10 cantos.
(ii) ‘The Book of Maturai’ consists of 13 cantos and
(iii) ‘The Book of Vanci’ consists of 7 cantos.
The Book of Vanci is belonged to our syllabus which tells us how a common woman is apotheosized as a goddess by ascending to heaven by the other gods, how much the story of her sorrowful incident had touched the hearts of the other people that their king, Cenkuttuvan went to Himalaya to bring a stone for engraving the image of the chaste woman, Kannaki.
If ‘The Book of Vanci’ is analyzed as an epic in the comparison of the other Indian epics, ‘The Ramayana’ and ‘The Mahabharata’. It must be considered to be as an epic as it has all the qualities of being an epic. As it is a South Indian epic, there have many references of Southern culture like round dance, called ‘Kuravai’ is a folk form that continues to be popular even today, is called ‘Kunrakkuravai’. Many Southern names, Cenkuttuvan, Pantiya etc.
Epic similes are also noticeable in the epic; ‘As a famished lion stalking for prey rejoices at the sight of a herd of elephants, so did Cenkuttuvan rejoice seeing his foes march towards him’.
Though there has the reference of a female protagonist instead of an epic hero, it does not create any obstacle to get the honour as an epic. considered as a Tamil epic or South Indian epic.
Thus, The Cilappatikaram must be
Q. 4. What did king Satakarni offer to the Chera king Cenkuttuvan while he was preparing for expedition to the north?
Ans. During his preparation for the military expedition to the north in Canto 26 the Chera king Cenkuttuvan had consulted his royal astrologers and received assurance and inspiration for unquestionable victory. Many poets, bards, noblemen and panegyrists had praised the king and wished him victory in the battlefield. Wise sages on their way to the Malaya hills had also paid a visit to the king and blessed him with words of success and protection. Beautiful dancers from the Konkana country also had contributed to this appraisal. Then came the folk from the Kutaku country with their dancing girls with fine bangles and wide fishlike eyes. They chanted beautiful songs of encouragement for the king and his army. Then we find Samjaya, a messenger from king Satakarni to attend the tent of Cenkuttuvan with a very large number of dancers, singers, jests, chariots, elephants, horses and carts as military support. He bows to the king and delivers the message from Satakarni who is friendly relation to Chera kingdom.
King Satakarni, apart from sending such a huge number of entertainment and military assistance as a gift to Cenkuttuvan, had also respectfully expressed his wish that Cenkuttuvan may not need to take the pain of paying a visit to the north for bringing the sacred stone from the Himalayas, but he (Satakarni) would be delighted to do this entire task on his own on Cenkuttuvan’s behalf. Cenkuttuvan, however, did not need this help, but he expressed his gratitude by asking Samjaya to get a large fleet of boats ready by Satakarmi’s men, for his army to cross the holy Ganga.
Q. 5. How is the theme of loss and death poignantly dealt with in Cilappatikaram?
Ans. Almost all epics in the history of human civilization have dealt with a grand salutation to the Dionysian instruct. Death of dance is a centrality too in The Book of Vanci. The deaths of the rebellious northern kings in the battle against the army of Cenkuttuvan, innumerable soldiers belonging to both sides, the supernatural interventions by the dance of death by the goblins all contribute to the grotesque side of the Puram domain. Repugnance and violence walk hand in hand in Ilango’s description.
But this is not all; there are resonances of death in every corner of the epic. It begins with the unjustified execution of Kovalan; then leads to the eventual deaths pf the Pantya king and queen; then by the curse of Kannaki the entire city of Madurai burns into fire. Kannaki dies after fourteen days. Matarai who was taking care of Kannaki previously, dies at the grief of the fate of this couple. Kavunti, the Jain ascetic also starves herself to death at the sad news of Kannaki and Kavalan. Kovalan’s and Kannaki’s mothers die in grief too.
Their respective fathers become monks. Even towards the end of the text the brutal ‘sacrifice of one thousand goldsmiths in a single day to the goddess Pattini” by the new Pantya king evokes the sense of extreme bloodshed and cruelty. Thus both in Akam and Puram domains death lurks as a prevailing theme in the entire epic.
Q. 6. Who is Pattini? Who builds a shrine for her? Or, Write a brief essay on the cult of Pattini
Ans. Bereaved Kannaki comes to a hill in the Chera kingdom after cursing the ancient city pf Madurai to be burnt to ashes and having the left breast plucked out of her body. She sustains here for mere fourteen days before Indra takes her with him to heaven. In the meantime the girls from hunter community see her standing under the Kino tree, know her story, empathize her and inform the Chera king Cenkuttuvan everything.
Cenkuttuvan then declares that she would receive a divine respect from their community; she would be worshipped as the Goddess PattiniKadavul (Goddess of chastity). From then onwards Kannaki is referred to as Pattini. And later Cenkuttuvan builds a shrine for her by getting built an idol for her with the holy stone brought from the Himalayas and washed in the holy waters of Ganga.
Q. 7. Who happens to be Manimekalai?
Ans. In the first section of the main epic of Cenkuttuvan Kovalan, the central male character gets married to Kannaki, the heroine of the poem. But soon afterwards he gets attached towards a courtesan named Madhavi and starts living with her. Kannaki, however, did maintain all her due responsibilities. Finally Kovalan returns to Kannaki realizing his guilt. Manimekalai is the name of the daughter of Kovalan and Madhavi. In The Book of Vanci it is heard that Manimekalai has denounced the property and fortune of her mother and become a sage perhaps as a reaction to her father’s death.
Later on another poet named ChithalaiChathanar took the inspiration from llango Adigal’s Cilappatikaram and composed a detailed epic poem on the life of Manimekalai with even name, Manimekalai and that too remained yet another milestone in Tamil literary history.
Q. 8. Narrate both the Akam and Puram aspects as revealed in the welcoming of the victorious king and his army back in Vanci.
Ans. According to the ancient Tamil literary tradition Akam means ‘private’ and Puram means ‘public’. Here in Cilappatikaram both of these sides of the king and other characters are portrayed with precision. Canto 28 opens with the homecoming of the triumphant king Cenkuttuvan and his army. He is now wealthier and more renowned, so much so that his stock epithet the white parasol is now replaced by the golden one.
In the description of the warm welcoming that the soldiers and even the king receive from their respective wives involves both aspect of heroic and erotic. The lovely women embrace the warriors whose chests are either gored by tuskers, marked by spears, pierced by arrows or cut up by swords. Everybody celebrate these marked chests as ‘glowing with jewel’. The erotic images of dolled up women vie with images of manly chests.
The theme of Kurinci (meeting of lovers) in its most personal touch is expressed in the happy reunion of the royal couple, Cenkuttuvan and Venmal, “the good and chaste queen”. It is a high point in this canto and the only evidence of the AkamThinai. The canto captures a giddy, erotic evening for the king and his soldiers in the royal palace at their victorious return.
Q.9.What is the purpose of the Chera king’s expedition to the north?
Ans. When the Chera king Cenkuttuvan comes to know the tragic story of Kannaki in detail he immediately declares that the ‘foul deed of the Pantya king is a shameful act, and Kannaki should receive her due respect in his kingdom. She would be worshiped as Goddess PattiniKodavul (Goddess of chastity). He consults his queen too and confirms this decision. However, this sensitive decision of protecting Dharma is mixed with the king’s subtle politic mind too.
He chooses to blind an idol for Pattini by a stone piece brought from the Himalayas. This would lead him visit the northern kingdoms, and if anywhere he faces opposition, he would be duty-bound to fight against that kingdom for the shake of Dharma. Hence it is actually a dual purpose working behind the Chera King’s expedition to the north: of bringing the stone to build Pattini’s idol: and of dominating the enemy kingdoms to restore Dharma.
Q. 10. Who burns down ‘the ancient city of Maturai’ and why?
Ans. “The ancient city of Maturai’ is burnt by the curse of Kannaki. Her husband Kovalan is first cheated by a goldsmith in the country and then given false accusation of stealing the queen’s anklet. The Pantya king also has believed in the words of the goldsmith and has not bothered to go for a proper enquiry; instead has ordered for the
execution of Kovalan. After the execution is over Kannaki comes to know about the severe miscarriage of justice taken against her husband and immediately rushes to the court of the king.
There she proves her husband’s innocence by breaking the anklet and showing that it contained rubies inside whereas that of the queen’s had pearls. Now realizing his major blunder and considering the loss of life of Kovalan, the king dies and so does the queen too. But bereaved Kannaki curses the city to be burnt into fire in order to pacify her wrath.
Short Questions with Answers
Q. 1. What are the three books of The Cilappatikaram?
Ans. i. The Book of Pukar -10 Cantos
ii. The Book of Maturai – 13 Cantos
iii. The Book of Vanci – 7 Cantos
woman who looks like Valli!” (L-5) Ans. The line is quoted from IlangoAdigal’s poem Cilappatikaram (The Book of Vansi). The hill dwellers recited and danced at a place where a beautiful woman stood beneath a Kino tree. Kannaki appears as beautiful as Valli. Valli was the daughter of the shiptale and beloved of Lord Murugan. The tribal women invoked the exquisite woman (lady) Kannaki.
Q. 2. Locate and annotate.”O lovely
Who do ‘the people of small huts’ refer to?
Ans. The people of small huts’ refers to the mountain folks who witnessed Kannaki’s ascension to heaven.
3 .How does Canto 24 allude to Valli-Murugan episode?
Ans. Murugan is invoked repeatedly along with his wife Valli, a woman from their own community. Valli is the second consort of Murugan, his aggressively wooed and courted beloved whom he married later. Valli-Murugan as a pair, is invoked to bless the lover’s marriage.
Q. 5. Name two mythological figures from the prologue of the Cilappatikaram (Canto 24)
Ans. i. Indra. ii. Shiva.
Indra is the Lord of the immortals. Shiva is the mighty God of destruction.
Q. 6. What do you know about Ilango Adigal?
Ans. From the prologue of the poem we have come to know that IlangoAdigal is the brother of the Ceral king. IlangoAdigal had renounced the throne to become a monk. He wrote Cilappatikaram that consists of 3 books – The Book of Pukar, The Book of Maturai and The Book of Vanci.
Q. 7. “Until now our people have never had a goddess like her.” – Locate and annotate.
Ans. The line is quoted from IlangoAdigal’s poem Cilappatikaram(The Book of Vanci). This line occurs in the narrative interlude of Canto 24.
Here Kannaki’s ascent to heaven is witnessed by the mountain folk. Her apotheosis as a goddess is venerated and celebrated by the “people of small huts”.
Q. 8. Give the description of the place where king Cenkuttuvan was stopped? Ans. Cenkuttuvan reached the fine sand dunes in the bank of the river Periyar. The place is full of thick groves of the cottonwood, kino, the laburnum in clusters, gamboge, redwood, and fragrant sandalwood. Swarm of bees and insects hovered over them.
Q. 9. What is the vallai song?
Ans. Vallai song refers to a song in praise of a heric figure sung by women working in the fields, winnowing or gathering grains.
Q.10. ‘She ascended to heaven.” – Who is she referred to here?
Ans. Here the person referred to iskannaki.
Q.11. Locate and annotate. “The famed Tamil poet.’
Ans. The line is quoted from IlangoAdigal’s poem, ‘The Cilappatikaram’ (The book of Vanci) Ilango presents his contemporary poet Cattan (Sathanar) to narrate the tale of Kannaki to Cenkuttuvan (68 – 94). His brief narrative brings out a symbiotic relationship between chastity and kingship – the central theme of the epic and in particular The Book of Vanci (90-93).
Q.12. Who was king Cenkuttuvan?
Ans. King Cenkuttuvan was a king, born in the illustrious line of the Ceral. He reached the fine sand dunes of the Periyar River that tumbled from the high mountain and resembled a wreath on Visnu’s chest.
Q.13. Locate and annotate:
By crowned kings the Pantiyan lies condemned and before the news reached our ears.
Ans. These lines are taken from Canto 25 of ‘The Book of Vanci’ by IlangoAdigal. “Cenkuttuvan presents ….. and dharma.”
Q.14. What is Villavan Ketal?
Ans. Villavan Ketai was the minister of the king, Cenkuttuvan.
Q.15. What are the major themes of Canto 25?
Ans. The major themes are the chastity of a woman and a valour and dharma of a king.
Deify – apotheoses
Q.16. What are the emblems of ‘Tamil country’?
Ans. The emblems of Tamil country were bow, fish and tiger.
Q.17. Name the ministers of the king.
Ans. Villavan, Ketai, Alumpivel.
Q.18. What did the councillors propose to the king?
Ans. The councillors of the king proposed that an image of Kannaki as the goddess of chastity might be built with the choicest stone from the Himalayas Potijil hills. The stone from the Potijil hills or from the great Himalaya might bring the emblems of bow. The hills were washed by the flooded waters of the Kaveri and the Ganga.
0.19. Who is Cenkuttuvan?
Ans. Cenkuttuvan represents himself as the undisputed leader of kings, unequalled in valour and dharma.
Q.20. What is The Book of Vanci?
Ans. The Book of Vanci is the third and final part of the main Tamil epic Cilappatikaram. It is the story of Kovalan and Kannaki that is portrayed in this epic. According to the flow of action and chain of events, the entire epic of total 5270 lines is divided into three parts.
Q.21. What is the central theme of The Book of Vanci?
Ans. Even towards the end of the text the brutal “sacrifice of one thousand goldsmiths in a single day to the goddess Pattini” by the new Pantya king evokes the sense of extreme bloodshed and cruelty. Thus both in Akam and Puram domains death lurks as a prevailing theme in the entire epic Q.22. Who wrote The Book of Vanci?
Ans. Cilappatikaram, also spelled Shilappadikaram, Tamil epic, attributed to the Jain prince HlangoAtikal, in three books, set in the capitals of the three Tamil kingdoms-Pukar (the Chola capital), Maturai (i.e., Madurai, the Pantiya [Pandya] capital), and Vanchi (the Chera capital).
Q.23. Who is Kannaki’s husband?
Ans. Kannaki was the daughter of the merchant and ship captain Manayakan from Puhar. She marries the son of Macattuvan, Kovalan, whose family were sea traders and had the sea goddess Manimekalai as patron deity. Q.24. What happened to Madhavi in the end of this Tamil epic?
Ans. On realizing his mistake, the king died instantly. Kannaki took revenge by burning the whole city of Madurai with her curse, which she later took back due to request of the city goddess. Upon learning the tragic turn of events, Madhavi shaved her hair and became a Buddhist nun.
Q.25. What is Akam and Puram?
Ans. Puram is one of two genres of Classical Tamil poetry. The genre dealing with poems about love affairs is called Akam while the other genre, called Puram, concerns many subjects such as wars, kings, poets and personal virtues, besides others.
Q.26. What do you mean by ‘Cilappadikaram’?
Ans. According to V R Ramachandra Dikshitar, the title Cilappatikâram also spelled Silappadikaram – is a combination of two words, “silambu” (anklet) and “adikaram” (the story about). It therefore connotes a “story that centersaround an anklet”.
Q.27. Who is deified as Pattini and by whom?
Ans. In Cilappatikaram by llango Adigal, Kannaki deities as ‘Pattini’ for her chasteness. The Chera king built a temple for Kannaki as the goddess of chastity. She became rather apotheosized as a goddess for her boldness and unconditional love towards her husband and his determination of proving her husband innocent.
Q.28. What sours Kannaki’s relationship with her husband?
Ans. Kovalan’s attachment for Madhavi, a courtesan who separated Kovalan from Kannaki, Kovalan ignored their marital relationship. He loved Kannaki and stayed with Madhavi.
Q.29. Mention the ‘foul deed’ of the Pantiya king?
Ans. Pantiya king sentenced Kovalan to death on account of a false accusation of stealing the queen’s anklet which was resembled to Kannaki’s anklet. Without justifying anything, the king had ordered of killing Kovalan. This deed was mentioned as foul deed of the Pantiyan king.
Q.30. Who is Manimekalai and
what makes her renounce the world? Ans. Manimekalai was the daughter of Kovalan and Madhavi. She grew up as a beautiful girl but rejected the life of a courtesan and entered Buddhist monastery after getting the news of Kovalan’s death. When the king and the people heard about this, they were so unhappy as if a pearl less jewel had dropped into the sea.
Q.31. What happens to Kovalam’s parents after his execution?,
Ans. Hearing the sadistic news of his son, daughter-in-law, Kovalan’s father was distraught. He gave away all his wealth and entered the sevenfold monastery of Indra.
*********************************
READ MORE…
The Book of Vanci Questions and Answers The Book of Vanci Questions and Answers The Book of Vanci Questions and AnswersThe Book of Vanci Questions and AnswersThe Book of Vanci Questions and AnswersThe Book of Vanci Questions and AnswersThe Book of Vanci Questions and AnswersThe Book of Vanci Questions and AnswersThe Book of Vanci Questions and AnswersThe Book of Vanci Questions and AnswersThe Book of Vanci Questions and Answers
The Book of Vanci Questions and AnswersThe Book of Vanci Questions and AnswersThe Book of Vanci Questions and AnswersThe Book of Vanci Questions and AnswersThe Book of Vanci Questions and AnswersThe Book of Vanci Questions and AnswersThe Book of Vanci Questions and AnswersThe Book of Vanci Questions and AnswersThe Book of Vanci Questions and AnswersThe Book of Vanci Questions and AnswersThe Book of Vanci Questions and AnswersThe Book of Vanci Questions and AnswersThe Book of Vanci Questions and AnswersThe Book of Vanci Questions and AnswersThe Book of Vanci Questions and AnswersThe Book of Vanci Questions and AnswersThe Book of Vanci Questions and AnswersThe Book of Vanci Questions and AnswersThe Book of Vanci Questions and AnswersThe Book of Vanci Questions and Answers
The Book of Vanci Questions and AnswersThe Book of Vanci Questions and AnswersThe Book of Vanci Questions and AnswersThe Book of Vanci Questions and AnswersThe Book of Vanci Questions and AnswersThe Book of Vanci Questions and AnswersThe Book of Vanci Questions and AnswersThe Book of Vanci Questions and AnswersThe Book of Vanci Questions and AnswersThe Book of Vanci Questions and AnswersThe Book of Vanci Questions and AnswersThe Book of Vanci Questions and AnswersThe Book of Vanci Questions and AnswersThe Book of Vanci Questions and AnswersThe Book of Vanci Questions and AnswersThe Book of Vanci Questions and Answers
Share now