Mandakini Is Captured at Kodikkarai

Mandakini Is Captured at Kodikkarai is a sudden abduction staged around an injured deer. Mandhakini leaves her boat to approach the animal, only to find herself surrounded by armed men; when Poonguzhali tries to stop them, she too is overpowered. The episode turns a moment of concern into a forced separation, while leaving the captors’ purpose unexplained.

The Deer as a Decoy and Turning Point

Before the capture, Mandhakini makes an uncanny warning sound, and the nearby animals bound away. Almost immediately, an arrow from a hidden position strikes a deer. Mandhakini jumps from the boat and goes towards the injured animal. Her response brings her within reach of the men concealed around the site: the apparent incident involving the deer has become the opening for an ambush.

The surrounding group numbers seven or eight. Some carry spears, and Raakkammal appears nearby as their guide. The account establishes her role in leading the men to Mandhakini, but does not explain who organized the capture or what the captors intend to do with their prisoner. That missing explanation keeps the immediate scene focused on the reversal itself: Mandhakini moves towards an animal in need and finds herself surrounded.

Mandhakini and Poonguzhali Are Separated

Mandhakini first tries to escape. When she recognizes that her efforts will not succeed, she stops resisting; two of the men approach and bind her arms with rope. Her change from attempted flight to stillness happens quickly, before Poonguzhali can reach her from the boat.

Poonguzhali sees strangers imprisoning her aunt and leaps ashore with her oar raised, trying to attack them. The men around Mandhakini turn on this new threat, drag Poonguzhali back towards the boat, and bind her as well. The capture therefore becomes a separation of aunt and niece in two stages: the men secure Mandhakini first, then prevent Poonguzhali from intervening. The account does not describe Poonguzhali’s subsequent fate in this encounter.

The Escort into the Forest

Once both women have been restrained, the men leave with Mandhakini. She accompanies them placidly as they escort her through the forest and disappear from view. This quiet departure contrasts with Poonguzhali’s urgent attempt to resist: Mandhakini’s lack of further resistance does not undo the force of the capture, but marks the point at which the captors control the movement of the scene.

The forest’s concealment ends the episode without revealing where Mandhakini is taken. Nor does the scene identify the men or state their plan. Its immediate consequence is clear nonetheless: Poonguzhali is left behind, unable to follow or protect her aunt, while Mandhakini is removed from the boat and carried beyond sight.

Later Separation in Thanjavur

The capture at Kodikkarai is not the last occasion on which Mandhakini is separated from Poonguzhali in a crowd. Much later, after the previous night’s storm has damaged Sendhan Amudhan’s home, Poonguzhali and an escort find Mandhakini there and persuade her to accompany them to see the ailing emperor. At the fort, Mandhakini enters with the crowd rather than taking the proposed secret passage. People whisper that she resembles the Pazhuvoor Ilaiya Rani, and Poonguzhali and her companion try to shield her from public attention.

When the Velakkara Regiment intervenes, the crowd is forced apart, separating Mandhakini from Poonguzhali and her escort. A street fight between rival groups then draws Chinna Pazhuvettarayar into the disturbance. After the crowds disperse, Poonguzhali discovers that Mandhakini has vanished and searches nearby without finding her. This later disappearance is distinct from the abduction at Kodikkarai, and the account does not establish that the same captors are involved. Together, however, the episodes show how repeatedly Mandhakini’s movements are interrupted by other people’s interventions, while those accompanying her struggle to keep her in view.