Kannaki is heartbroken, but as the chaste woman, she waits despite her husband's unfaithfulness. He falls for her, leaves Kannaki and moves in with Matavi.
Over time, Kovalan meets Matavi (Madhavi) – a courtesan. Kannaki and Kovalan are a newly married couple, in love, and living in bliss. The S ilappatikaram is set in a flourishing seaport city of the early Chola kingdom. It is attributed to a prince-turned-monk Iḷaṅkõ Aṭikaḷ, and was probably composed in the 5th or 6th century CE. The Silappathikaram has more ancient roots in the Tamil bardic tradition, as Kannaki and other characters of the story are mentioned or alluded to in the Sangam literature such as in the Naṟṟiṇai and later texts such as the Kovalam Katai.
The epic is a tragic love story of an ordinary couple, Kannaki and her husband Kovalan. It is a poem of 5,730 lines in almost entirely akaval ( aciriyam) meter. 'the Tale of an Anklet'), also referred to as Silappathikaram or Silappatikaram, is the earliest Hindu - Jain Tamil semi-legendary epic.
