On learning that her husband had been killed for theft of the queen’s anklet (which he had not stolen), Kannagi stormed into the king’s court.
She raised the anklet above her head and threw it to the ground. “Rubies, not pearls,” she bellowed. “The queen’s anklets have pearls, mine have rubies.”
As the rubies rolled along the marble floor, the king of Madurai slunk off his throne. Ashamed at putting an innocent man to death, he fell on his own sword.
But Kannagi was not satisfied. She would take her vengeance on everyone responsible for her husband’s death. Madurai would burn.
Q1. Was it right for Kannagi to burn down Madurai? No, it was not.
Q2. Who were the people Kannagi was angry with?
The jeweller who confirmed that Kannagi’s husband was guilty. The common people who did not speak up. The court, which watched when a great injustice was being carried out. The guards who arrested her husband, and the king who passed the sentence.
Q3. Explain in your own words why Kannagi was right in burning down Madurai.
It was true that the king killed her husband, but why did all of Madurai have to suffer? Kannagi was not right in burning down Madurai.
Q4. Defend Kannagi’s actions…
Source: For very young readers: Can Nisha and Jamie solve the mystery behind the fires in the city?
