Manimekalai then used the mantra which the sea goddess had given her and flies back to Kaveripoompattinam, Manimekalai reunites with Madhavi and narrates to her all that had transpired. They meet Sage Aravana Adigal (Serukalathur Sama) who informs them the history of the mystic Amudhasurabhi and expounds her the Buddha's Teaching and advises her about the nature of life. Manimekalai now takes to feeding the poor and needy with her magic bowl. The king who had earlier viewed her with suspicion now perceives her innate divinity and agrees to her proposal to turn the prison to a hall of charity where Buddhist monks could meditate and establish a hospice for the poor. Prince Udhaya Kumaran continues to pursue Manimekalai, despite her avowed spiritual inclinations to dedicate herself to a religious celibate life. In an effort to ward of his unwelcome advances, Manimekalai takes up the form of Kayachandika, an accursed Yaksha. Kayachanika's husband Kanjanan believes that Manimekalai is his wife who has been cured of her illness, and when he finds Udhaya Kumaran stalking her, kills him in fury. Surmounting several hurdles that come in her way, Manimekalai learns the sacred tenets of various religions and finally takes up the sacred orders of Buddhist nun or Bhikshuni, spending the rest of her life in Kanchipuram and practices to rid herself from the bondage of birth and death and attain Nirvana. The film is based on the epic Manimekalai from one of The Five Great Epics of Tamil Literature. It narrates the moving chronicle of chastity, charity and compassion that marked the life of Manimekalai, the daughter of Kovalan and Madhavi. Written around the 2nd century A.D. and set against a Buddhist backdrop, the story is an enlightening mirror of the society and culture of the time in Southern India and Sri Lanka. The story is set in both the harbour town of Kaveripoompattinam, the modern town of Poompuhar in Tamil Nadu and in Manipallavam the mordern day Nainatheevu of Nāga Nadu, a small sandy island of the Jaffna Peninsula in modern Sri Lanka. The music was composed by G. Ramanathan.