Introduction
Daughter of Kovalan and Madhavi; heroine of the epic Manimekalai, in which she resists a prince's advances, gains magical powers, and eventually renounces the world as a Buddhist nun
Family
- Father: Kovalan
- Mother: Madhavi
This article records a figure from Sangam-era and early medieval Tamil literature and dynastic tradition — the Chera, Chola, Pandya and Pallava royal lines, the legendary Kadai Ezhu Vallalgal patrons, and the Silappatikaram/Manimekalai epic cycle. Chronology and genealogy in this corpus are drawn from praise-poetry and literary narrative rather than administrative record, and are recorded here as attested textual tradition rather than settled history; the Pallava kings in particular postdate the classical Sangam corpus by several centuries, as noted in their individual entries.