Famous Statues in Chennai

     Kannagi is the legendary heroine of the ancient Tamil literary work ‘Silapathigaram’ written by Ilango Adigal. She is seen as an enduring symbol of Tamil culture and chastity.

     According to Silapathigaram, Kannagi’s husband Kovalan was beheaded on the orders of the King of Madurai after being accused of stealing the queen’s anklet (with pearls inside) and selling it. Kannagi went to the King’s court to demand justice and proved to him that Kovalan was trying to sell her anklet, which had rubies and not pearls inside it. While the King and queens die of remorse, Kannagi burned down Madurai with a curse.

     The Kannagi Statue was installed in January 1968 on the occasion of the second world Tamil conference in Chennai during the DMK regime under C N Annadurai.

     In 1968, the C.N. Annadurai government installed 40 statues, of which Kannagi Statue alone was inaugurated by Karunanidhi, the then PWD Minister. During the conference most of the statues were gifted by different organisations and individuals. A unique feature of the Kannagi statue is that it was put up entirely with contributions from students all over the State. They contributed even 50 paise and one rupee. It is said that the model for the statue was Kalpana, a 1960s actress-socialite.

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