The Cauvery River is praised in the fifth-century Tamil epic, Silappadikaram. Silappadikaram used a phrase while referring to the Cauvery River – kadarkarai melikkum kaviri periaru (the river that erodes the seashore). The epic is considered to be the brightest gem of the early Tamil literature. Silappadikaram (literally translated as ‘The Story of the Anklet’) depicts the life of Kannagi, a chaste woman who led a peaceful life with Kovalan in Puhar (Poompuhar), the then capital of Cholas.