invites readers to review the work. the five poems are criticized for being unfamiliar and difficult to understand. To some critics, Maṇimēkalai is more interesting than Cilappatikāram, but in literary evaluation, it seems inferior. The story of Maṇimēkalai with all its superficial elements seems to be of lesser interest to the author whose aim was pointed toward spread of Buddhism. In the former, ethics and religious are artistic, while in the latter reverse is the case. Maṇimēkalai criticizes Jainism and preaches the ideals of Buddhism, and human interest is diluted in supernatural features. The narration in akaval meter moves on in Maṇimēkalai without the relief of any lyric, which are the main features of Cilappatikāram. Maṇimēkalai in puritan terms is not an epic poem, but a grave disquisition on philosophy. There are effusions in Cilappatikāram in the form of a song or a dance, which does not go well with the Western audience as they are assessed to be inspired on the spur of the moment. Calcutta review claims that the three works on a whole have no plot and insufficient length characterization for an epic genre. They believe plot of Cīvaka Cintāmaṇi is monotonous and deficient in variety in strength and character and does not stand the quality of an epic. Popular culture There have been multiple movies based on Silappathikaram. The most famous is the portrayal of Kannagi by actress Kannamba in the 1942 Tamil movie Kannagi with P.U. Chinnappa as Kovalan. The movie faithfully follows the story of Silappathikaram and was a hit when it was released. The movie Poompuhar, penned by M. Karunanidhi, is also based on Silapathikaram. There are multiple dance dramas as well by some of the exponents of Bharatanatyam (a South Indian dance form) in Tamil as most of the verses of Silappathikaram can be set to music. Maṇimēkalai has been shot as a teleserial in Doordarshan. See also Tamil literature Notes References History of literature in India Cultural history of Tamil Nadu Epics Of Tamil Literature