https://indianpedia.org/index.php?action=history&feed=atom&title=KopperundeviKopperundevi - Revision history2026-07-30T14:42:36ZRevision history for this page on the wikiMediaWiki 1.45.4https://indianpedia.org/index.php?title=Kopperundevi&diff=510506&oldid=prevPankajglobal at 11:22, 9 March 20262026-03-09T11:22:25Z<p></p>
<p><b>New page</b></p><div>{{Infobox character<br />
| name = Kopperundevi<br />
| series = [[Cilappatikaram]]<br />
| image = Silappatikaram_(9).jpg<br />
| caption = [[Kannagi]] asking for justice in the court of [[Neduncheziyan]], with Kopperundevi (top right) by his side<br />
| creator = [[Ilango Adigal]]<br />
| first_date = 2nd to 6th century CE<br />
| affiliation = <br />
| spouse = [[Neduncheziyan]]<br />
| nationality = [[Pandya Empire]]<br />
}}<br />
'''Kopperundevi''' is one of the major characters in the [[Five Great Epics|Tamil epic]] ''[[Cilappatikaram]]'' written by [[Ilango Adigal]] (2nd to 6th century BCE). She is portrayed as the wife of [[Pandya Empire|Pandya]] king [[Neduncheziyan]], and becomes indirectly responsible for the death of [[Kovalan]], the husband of the titular character [[Kannagi]].<br />
<br />
==Literature==<br />
''[[Cilappatikāram]]'' ("the Tale of an Anklet"), is the one of the [[Five Great Epics]]s in [[Tamil literature]].{{sfn|Parthasarathy|2004|p=1-3}} It is attributed to a [[Ilango Adigal]], a [[Chera]] prince turned monk, and was probably composed between 2nd to 6th centuries CE.{{sfn|Sastri|2002|p=397}}{{sfn|Alain Danielou|1965|p=viii}} The epic consists of 5,730 lines,{{sfn|Parthasarathy|2004|p=5-6}} and narrates the tragic story of [[Kannagi]] and her husband [[Kovalan]].{{sfn|Zvelebil|1973|p=174–175}}{{sfn|Pollock|2003|p=296–298}}<br />
<br />
==Story==<br />
The first part of ''Cilappatikāram'' describes the city of [[Poompuhar|Puhar]] in the [[Chola Empire]], where the pair of [[Kovalan]] and [[Kannagi]] reside. After Kovalan loses his wealth through his illicit relationship with the dancer [[Madhavi (Silappatikaram)|Madhavi]], he returns to Kannagi and the couple decide to move to [[Madurai]] in the [[Pandya Empire]]. The Pandyas are led by king [[Neduncheziyan]] and his wife Kopperundevi.{{sfn|Parthasarathy|1993|p=73–90}}<br />
<br />
Kopperundevi is described as a dignified and chaste woman, and extols the virtues expected of a royal woman in classical Tamil literature. When Kovalan attempts to sell one of the two [[silambu|anklets]] of Kannagi to raise money, the royal goldsmith, who had earlier stolen an anklet belonging to the queen Kopperundevi, finds the that anklets are similar, and falsely accuses Kovalan of stealing the queen’s anklet. Enraged by the act, the king Neduncheziyan orders Kovalan’s arrest and execution without a fair trial.{{sfn|Dikshitar|1939|p=217–221}}<br />
<br />
After Kovalan is executed, Kannagi appears in the royal court, trying to prove her husband’s innocence and demanding justice. She breaks open her remaining anklet to reveal that her anklet contained [[rubies]] whereas queen Kopperundevi's missing anklet contained [[pearl]]s. When the king realised the truth and his mistake, he kills himself due to remorse. The queen, Kopperundevi, unable to bear the grief and shame caused by the unjust execution, also dies soon afterward.{{sfn|Dikshitar|1939|p=247–251}}<br />
<br />
== Role ==<br />
Although Kopperundevi appears only briefly in the epic, her anklet becomes the main trigger of the central conflict of the story line. She suffers a tragedy not because of her own making, and is one of the tragic characters of the epic, along with Kannagi.{{sfn|Chellappan|1985|p=61, 124}}<br />
<br />
== References ==<br />
{{reflist}}<br />
<br />
=== Bibliography ===<br />
{{refbegin}}<br />
* {{cite book|title=Myths and Legends from India – Great Women|last=Bhanu|first=Sharada|publisher=[[Macmillan Publishers]] |year=1997|location=Chennai|isbn=978-0-333-93076-2}}<br />
* {{cite book|title=Shakespeare and Ilango as Tragedians|first=Kasiviswanathan|last=Chellappan|year=1985|publisher=[[University of Michigan]]}}<br />
* {{cite book|first=Alain |last=Danielou|author-link=Alain Daniélou|title=Shilappadikaram (The Ankle Bracelet) by Iḷaṅkōvaṭikaḷ| url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Uu3QelRpmsgC|year =1965|publisher=[[New Directions Publishing]]|isbn=978-0-8112-0001-1}}<br />
* {{cite book|first=V. R. Ramachandra |last=Dikshitar |author-link=V. R. Ramachandra Dikshitar |title=The Silappadikaram |year=1939 |publisher=[[Oxford University Press]] | url=https://archive.org/details/in.ernet.dli.2015.201802/page/n5 |isbn=978-9-390-03592-2}}<br />
* {{cite book |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=WzEwFjKKFfIC&pg=PA279 | title=The Cilappatikaram of Ilanko Atikal: An Epic of South India| first=R. | last=Parthasarathy |author-link=R. Parthasarathy | publisher=[[Columbia University Press]]| year=1993 |isbn = 978-0-231-07848-1}}<br />
*{{cite book|first=R |last=Parthasarathy |author-link=R. Parthasarathy |title=The Cilappatikāram: The Tale of an Anklet (Iḷaṅkōvaṭikaḷ)|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=HWPg7EvPirgC|year=2004|publisher=[[Penguin Books]] |isbn=978-0-14-303196-3}}<br />
* {{cite book |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=ak9csfpY2WoC | title=Literary cultures in history: reconstructions from South Asia| last=Pollock| first=Sheldon |author-link=Sheldon Pollock | publisher=[[University of California Press]]| year=2003|isbn = 0-520-22821-9}}<br />
* {{cite book |last=Sastri |first=Nilakanta |author-link=Nilakanta Sastri |orig-year=1955 |title=A History of South India |publisher=[[Oxford University Press]] |location=New Delhi |edition=Reprinted |year=2002 |isbn=978-0-195-60686-7}}<br />
* {{cite book|first=Kamil |last=Zvelebil|author-link=Kamil Zvelebil|title=The Smile of Murugan: On Tamil Literature of South India|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=degUAAAAIAAJ|year=1973|publisher=[[Brill Publishers]] |isbn=978-9-004-03591-1 }}<br />
{{refend}}<br />
{{Silappatikaram}}<br />
<br />
[[Category:Characters in Silappatikaram]]<br />
[[Category:Fictional Tamil people]]</div>Pankajglobal