Kannaki Amman

Kannaki Amman
Tamil language	கண்ணகி அம்மன்
Affiliation	Parvati
Symbol	Anklet
Consort	Kovalan
Mount	Lion, Pigeon

Kannaki Amman (Tamil: கண்ணகி அம்மன் Kaṇṇaki am'man, Sinhalese: පත්තිනි දෙවියෝ, pattiṉi teviyō Malayalam: കണ്ണകി ഭഗവതി, kaṇṇaki bhagavati) is the divinished form of the Kannagi, the heroine of the great Tamil epic Silapathikaram, worshipped mainly in Sri Lanka and Kerala. As the goddess of Chastity, Rain, fertilization, she is well praised by the Malayalees and two main ethnicities of Sri Lanka, Tamil Saivites and Sinhala Buddhists.

Silapathikaram, the literary work of Ilango Adigal describes the poor life of Kannaki with her husband merchant Kovalan, who lost his all wealth during his life with a lavish courtesan dancer called Madhavi and travelled to Madurai to start a new life. While kovalan selling anklets of Kannaki for money in Madurai, he was misunderstood as the thief of Pandya queen's anklet and beheaded by King's order without any inquiries. Kannaki became furious and advocates at the court of the King and by breaking the anklets, she proves that anklet seized from Kovalan is hers. Pandya King shocked and died while Kannaki took an oath to express her chastity by burning the City, Madurai. Then, She wanders towards west and at Neduvel Kunram, She became a celestial goddess.

Silappatikaram and its sequel Tamil epic Manimekalai have the evidences that Kannaki was praised as goddess even during the lifetime of Manimekalai, the daughter of Kovalan and Madhavi. Silappatikaram tells about the Kannaki worship of another Pandyan King "Vetrivel Cheliyan" for relieving from drought and curse of her on Pandya Nadu.

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