Poompuhar | |
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![]() Theatrical release poster | |
Directed by | P. Neelakantan |
Screenplay by | M. Karunanidhi |
Story by | Ilango Adigal |
Starring | S. S. Rajendran C. R. Vijayakumari Rajasree K. B. Sundarambal |
Music by | R. Sudarsanam |
Production company | Mekala Pictures |
Distributed by | SSR Pictures |
Release date |
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Country | India |
Language | Tamil |
Poompuhar is a 1964 Indian Tamil-language epic film directed by P. Neelakantan and written by M. Karunanidhi. It is the second film based on the epic Cilappatikaram after Kannagi (1942). The film stars S. S. Rajendran, C. R. Vijayakumari, Rajasree and K. B. Sundarambal. It was released on 18 September 1964.
Kovalan, the son of a wealthy merchant in the city of Kaveripattinam, marries Kannagi, the daughter of another merchant. They live together happily in Kaveripattinam, until Kovalan met the courtesan Madhavi and fell in love with her. In his infatuation, he leaves his wife and gradually spends all his wealth on Madhavi. Eventually penniless, Kovalan realises his mistake, and returns to Kannagi after a year. Their only asset is a precious pair of anklets called Silambu, which Kannagi gave to him willingly. With these as their capital, they go to the city of Madurai, where Kovalan hopes to recoup his fortunes by trade.
Madurai is ruled by the Pandya king Nedunjeliyan I. Upon arrival there, Kovalan sets out to sell Kannagi's anklets. While on his way to sell the anklet, he is held by the king's guards for the alleged theft of one of the queen's anklets. Upon the king's orders, he is beheaded without trial. When Kannagi is informed of this, she becomes furious, and set out to prove her husband's innocence to the king, by showing him the anklets.
Kannagi comes to the king's court, breaks open the anklet seized from Kovalan and shows that it contained rubies, as opposed to the queen's anklets which contain pearls. Realising their fault, the king and the queen die of shame. Unsatisfied, Kannagi tears out a breast and flings it on the city, uttering a curse that the entire city be burnt. Due to her utmost chastity, her curse becomes a reality.
Music was composed by R. Sudarsanam while the lyrics were penned by Udumalai Narayana Kavi, Mayavanathan, Alangudi Somu, M. Karunanidhi and Radha Manikam. [4]
No. | Title | Lyrics | Singers | Length |
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1. | "Ennai Mudhal Mudhallaga" | Radha Manikam | T. M. Soundararajan, S. Janaki | 3:37 |
2. | "Ponnaal Idhupole" | Udumalai Narayana Kavi | S. Janaki | 3:28 |
3. | "Vazhkkai Ennum Odam" | M. Karunanidhi | K. B. Sundarambal | 3:19 |
4. | "Thappitthu Vandhanamma" | Mayavanathan | K. B. Sundarambal | 2:36 |
5. | "Andru Kollum" | Mayavanathan | K. B. Sundarambal | 2:16 |
6. | "Iraiva Iraiva" | Alangudi Somu | P. Susheela | 3:55 |
7. | "Kaaviri Penne" | Mayavanathan | P. Susheela, T. M. Soundararajan | 3:29 |
8. | "Pottirunthum" | Alangudi Somu | P. Susheela | 3:13 |
9. | "Thamizh Engal Uyiranathu" | Mayavanathan | P. Susheela | 4:30 |
10. | "Thunbamellam" | Mayavanathan | K. B. Sundarambal | 3:22 |
11. | "Thottavudan Malaronru" | Mayavanathan | K. B. Sundarambal | 0:38 |
Total length: | 34:23 |
Poompuhar was released on 18 September 1964, and distributed by SSR Pictures in Madras. [5] The Indian Express called it an "ambitious motion picture in the grand tradition of screen spectacle. It combines lavish and gigantic sets, good acting [..] and pleasing music by Sudharshanam". [1] T. M. Ramachandran of Sport and Pastime wrote the story is "well-known, the film sustains the interest of the audience on account of imaginative treatment and deft touches by director P. Neelakantan" while praising the artistes and their performances. [2]
Kannagi sometimes spelled Kannaki, is a legendary Tamil woman who forms the central character of the Tamil epic Cilappatikaram. Kannagi is described as the chaste woman who stays with her husband despite his unfaithfulness, their attempt to rebuild their marriage after her husband had lost everything but repented, how her husband is falsely framed then punished without the due checks and processes of justice. Kannagi proves and protests the injustice, then curses the king and city of Madurai leading to the death of the unjust Pandyan King of Madurai, who had wrongfully put her husband Kovalan to death. The society that had made her suffer, suffers in retribution as the city Madurai is burnt to the ground because of her curse. In the Chera (Kerala) and Tamil tradition, Kannagi has been deified as the symbol – sometimes as goddess – of chastity, with sculptures or reliefs in Hindu temples iconographically reminding the visitor of her breaking her anklet or tearing her bleeding breast and throwing it at the city.
Cilappatikāram, also referred to as Silappathikaram or Silappatikaram, is the earliest Tamil epic. It is a poem of 5,730 lines in almost entirely akaval (aciriyam) meter. The epic is a tragic love story of an ordinary couple, Kannaki and her husband Kovalan. 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. It is attributed to a prince-turned-monk Iḷaṅkõ Aṭikaḷ, and was probably composed in the 5th or 6th century CE.
The Five Great Epics are five Tamil epics according to later Tamil literary tradition. They are Silappatikāram, Manimekalai, Cīvaka Cintāmaṇi, Valayapathi and Kuṇṭalakēci.
Puhar is a town in the Mayiladuthurai district in the southern Indian state of Tamil Nadu. It was once a flourishing ancient port city known as Kaveri Poompattinam, which is described in Sangam literature like Silappadikaram, Manimekalai, Pattinapalai and Akananuru as the capital of the Early Chola kings in Tamilakam. Puhar is located near the mouth of the Kaveri river, on the sea coast. It is mentioned in the Periplus of the Erythraean Sea.
Kovalan is a central character in Ilango Adigal's Silappatikaram, one of the ancient Tamil epics.
Madhavi is an important character in the Silapathikaram, one of the epics in Tamil literature. Silapathikaram is the first Kappiyam (epic) among the five in Tamil literature. It belongs to the Sangam Period. Madhavi was born in a lineage of courtesans, and was an accomplished dancer. Madhavi is one of the three main characters in Silappatikaram, along with Kannagi and Kovalan.
The Attukal Bhagavathy Temple is a Hindu religious shrine at Attukal in Kerala, India. Goddess Bhadrakali (Kannaki), mounted over 'vethala', is the main deity in this temple. Bhadrakali, a form of Mahakali, who killed the demon king Daruka, believed to be born from the third eye of lord Shiva. 'Bhadra' means good and 'Kali' means goddess of time. So Bhadrakali is considered as the goddess of prosperity and salvation. Goddess 'Attukal devi', itself is the supreme mother 'Bhaadrkali devi', the goddess of power and courage. She is often referred as Kannaki, the heroine of Ilanko Adikal's 'Silapathikaaram'. The temple is renowned for the annual Attukal Pongal festival, in which over three million women participate. A festival that has figured in the Guinness Book of World Records for being the single largest gathering of women for a religious activity, the Attukal Pongala continues to draw millions of women with each passing year. According to the Attukal Temple Trust, around 4.9 million devotees are expected to attend the pongala in 2016. Attukal Temple is situated near the heart of the city, 2 kilometres away from Sree Padmanabhaswamy Temple, East Fort in Thiruvananthapuram. Devotees believe that all of their wishes will be fulfilled by the goddess, provide prosperity and can attain salvation. Attukal devi is often worshipped in 3 forms such as Maha Saraswati, Maha Lakshmi and Mahakali/ Parvathy.
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Kannagi is a 1942 Indian Tamil-language epic film directed by R.S Mani based on one of The Five Great Epics of Tamil Literature, Cilappatikaram. This is the first Tamil film based on the epic. The second film, Poompuhar, was released later in 1964.
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