[further explanation needed] A beautiful poem from Kuruntokai is the famous Red earth and pouring rain by the Sangam age poet Sembula Peyaneerar.
- Kurunthokai 40, Red earth and pouring rain, Kurinji Thinai – What the hero said to the heroine, about their love This poem is the verse 40 in the Kuruntokai anthology.
The mood created is that of lovers, clandestinely meeting in the hills, their hearts waking suddenly, unexpectedly, to each other.
From these abstractions, it comes to concreteness with the picture of red earth in the rain, drawing a parallel with the lover's journey from aloneness to union.
A kurinji flower only blooms once in twelve years,[9] the period associated in Tamil tradition with the coming of a girl to sexual maturity.
[10] Recent usage is the song Nallai Allai in Katru Veliyidai (2017) film directed by Maniratnam which was inspired by the 47th poem authored by Neduvennilavinār.