earliest Tamil epic. It is a poem of 5,730 lines in almost entirely akaval (aciriyam) meter and is a tragic love story of a wealthy couple, Kannaki and her husband Kovalan. It is set in Poompuhar a seaport city of the early Chola kingdom. Kannaki and Kovalan are a newly married couple, blissfully in love. Over time, Kovalan meets Madhavi – a courtesan and falls for her, leaves Kannaki and moves in with Madhavi. He spends lavishly on her. Kannaki is heartbroken, but as the chaste woman, she waits despite her husband's unfaithfulness. During the festival for Indra, the rain god, there is a poem recital competition. Kovalan recites a poem about a woman who hurt her lover. Madhavi then recites a song about a man who betrayed his lover. Each interprets the song as a message to the other. Kovalan feels Madhavi is unfaithful to him, leaves her, returns to Kannaki. Kovalan is poor, they move to Madurai, and try to restart their life. Kannaki gives him one from her pair of jeweled anklets to sell and raise capital. Kovalan sells it to a merchant who grows suspicious of the stranger and falsely accuses of theft of the queen' jeweled anklet which is also missing. The king orders his execution, hurrying the checks and processes of justice. Kannaki learns what has happened. She protests the injustice and then proves Kovalan's innocence by breaking the remaining anklet of the pair in the court . The king accepts his mistake. Kannaki curses the king and the people of Madurai, tears off her left breast and throws it at the gathered public. The king dies of heartbreak and the city of Madurai is burnt to the ground. In the third section of the epic, gods and goddesses meet Kannaki and she goes to heaven with god Indra. The royal family of the Chera kingdom learns about her, resolves to build a temple with Kannaki as the featured goddess. They go to the Himalayas, bring a stone, carve her image, call her goddess Pattini, dedicate a temple, order daily prayers, and perform a royal sacrifice. Manimekalai Manimekalai, also spelled Manimekhalai or Manimekalai, is a Tamil epic composed by Kulavāṇikaṉ Cittalaic Cātaṉār probably around the 6th century. It is a Buddhist "anti-love" sequel to the Silappadikaram, with some characters from it and their next generation. The epic consists of 4,861 lines in akaval meter,