Kandapuranam and Ramayana: Some stunning similarities

In India, a story is never told for the first time said eminent scholar and folk tale enthusiast AK Ramanujan. Every story there is, has been told so many times over (with some minor variations to fit regional requirements), that every story you hear reminds you of another. Thus we find the same thread running through the stories of Tenali Raman in Telugu, tales of Birbal in Hindi, fables of Mariyadai Raman in Tamil, stories of Gopal the maverick from Bengal and the stories of Sanathkumara in Sanskrit.

Or, take for example the two epics, Ramayana and Mahabharatha. These two epics are believed to have been composed a few centuries apart, with Ramayana’s oral version preceding its loftier counterpart. Yet they share several common motifs  - they both dwell on the concept of a king’s duty and they both have powerful women characters who perform the role of a catalyst in the elimination of evil. At a more basic level, they deal with the problems of heirless kings and even share similarities in linking physical handicaps to a crooked mind (Shakuni limped and Manthra was a hunchback).

What is even more remarkable is the stunning similarity that one finds between the Ramayana and a 17th century Tamil epic Kandapuranam (KP), an adaption of the Sanskrit work, Skandapurana, believed to have been composed a millennia earlier.

What is singularly intriguing about the stories of Rama and Murugan is that both these compositions choose to elevate deities from two (once) opposing sects – the Vaishnava and the Shaiva schools.

Before proceeding with identifying the similarities between the two epics, here is the story of KP in a capsule.

The story of Kandapuranam

Surapadman and his two brothers Tarakasuran and Simhamukhan gain the boon of invincibility from Shiva - they cannot be defeated by anyone other than a force of Shiva. Predictably, the boon makes them arrogant and all powerful. The three asuras invade Amaravathi, capture and enslave the devas and the sages and deploy them to do menial tasks. They also capture and imprison Indra’s son, Jayantha in their capital city, Veera Mahendrapuram.

Rendered powerless by the malicious asuras, the devas led by Brahma seek Shiva’s help to rein them in. Shiva creates Skanda who assumes the role of Senapathi of the deva armies, and with the help of Veerabahu (his confidant) and his men, decimates the three asuras and restores order to the establishment.

Uncanny similarities with the Ramayana

Let’s now go about identifying the similarities this story has with the pan-Indian epic, the Ramayana. To begin at the beginning, let’s take the reason for Skanda’s birth.

In the original Sanskrit text, Skanda is conceived by Shiva to destroy the evil Tarakasura. (There is no mention of Surapadman or Simhamukhan here.) In KP, Murugan alias Karthikeya is born to eliminate three asuras, namely Surapadman, Tarakasuran and Simhamukhan. These three asuras happen to be the sons of Sage Kashyapa.  Ravana, Kumbhakarna and Vibhishana are also sons of a seer - Sage Vishrava. In both the cases, their mothers Kaikesi (Ravana) and Maya (Surapadman) were asura women who chose to seduce and marry old, wise Rishis, with a specific agenda, namely to bear powerful offspring.

In the Ramayana, Rama wages war on Ravana to free his wife Sita, who is held captive in Lanka. In KP, Surapadman holds the devas and Indra’s son Jayantha captive. Murugan leads an army to free the celestials.

Ravana’s kingdom is the island city of Lanka whereas Surapadman’s kingdom is the city of Veera Mahendrapuram, also an island.

Both Ravana and Surapadman are ardent devotees of Lord Shiva and both are well versed in occult and magic, thanks to their asura geneology.

Incidentally in both the epics, the three asuras have a sister who has a critical role to play in the story. The Shurpanaka equivalent in KP is Ajamukhi. While Shurpanaka incites Ravana to kidnap Sita, Ajamukhi desires Indra’s wife Saachi for her brother, Surapadman. In the process, Ajamukhi loses her hands and Shurpanakha, her nose.

Again, among the three asuras, Simhamukha is portrayed as a moderate who warns Surapadman, his elder brother, against taking on the force of Shiva, i.e., Murugan. Similarly, in the Ramayana, Vibhishana advises Ravana to return Sita to Rama, whom he identifies as a divine and undefeatable force. However, the similarity ends there. Simhamukha is no deserter, and unlike Vibhishana, loses his life fighting for his brother.

In Kamban’s Ramavataram, as Kumbhakarna proceeds to the battlefield, he has a premonition that he may not return alive. However, he commits his life to his brother’s cause, namely to defeat Rama and his forces. A similar dialogue takes place between Simhamukha and Surapadman before the former leaves for the battlefield to fight Murugan’s armies.

Talking of family members, Surapadman has a son called Banugopan, just as Ravana has a son, Indrajeet. Both Banugopan and Indrajeet are killed in the war against the divine forces. 

In the Ramayana, Hanuman carries Rama’s message of peace to Ravana’s court. In KP, it is Veerabahu, Murugan’s confidant, who goes as the messenger to Surapadman’s court. Similar to Hanuman, Veerabahu is blessed with the ability to change form according to his wish. Just as Hanuman meets Sita to pass on the message of Rama’s wellbeing and his plans to free her, Veerabahu takes the form of a flying insect to visit Jayantha (Indra’s son), who is languishing in the prison. To him, Veerabahu announces the arrival of Murugan, and his plans to destroy Surapadman and his men.

And finally in popular culture today, just as Ramleela is celebrated with pomp and splendor, the slaying of Surapadman is celebrated with revelry at the Murugan temple at Thiruchendoor, a coastal town in southern Tamil Nadu. The festival is called Surasamharam in which the battle between Murugan and Surapadmam is enacted and thousands throng to watch the performance which culminates in Murugan slaying the mighty Surapadman.

Final thoughts on the striking parallels

It will not be an exaggeration to claim that the Tamil text composed by the Shaivite, Kachiappa Shivacharyar bears a stronger resemblance to the Ramayana than it does to its mother text, the Skandapurana.

Considering that Kachiyappar’s composition came some 4-5 centuries after Kamban’s Ramavataram (12th century), it is not surprising that KP was heavily inspired by Kamban’s hugely popular magnum opus.

In other words, KP once again reiterates the huge popularity of Ramayana as a story that has captured the imagination of the people of various cultures, across a very wide geography. Kachiappar could not have found a better vehicle to carry his story than the Ramayana whose structure was already familiar among people.

Or, was the similarity a deliberate attempt to integrate the two rival sects, the Shaivites and Vaishnavites under one umbrella......only Kachiappar can tell. 

Funnily enough, most people listening to the Kandapuranam hardly recognize the similarities between the two epics, and therein lies the success of the story-teller!