Sangam landscape
Every situation in the poems is described using themes in which the time, the place and the floral symbols of each episode are codified.
[3] (husband accused of visiting a courtesan) Milk Curd|| Mango || Punnai || Cactus In Tamil, each of the five geographical thinais are named for a flower that is characteristic of that landscape.
Love in this setting is exemplified by Murugan, and one of his wives, Valli, the daughter of a mountain dweller.
He wears the sparkling red kantal flower and rides a peacock, the bird of the mountains.
This event of jubilation and purity symbolizes the frenzy of a sudden love shared, in concert with the unleashed forces of nature: the amorous dance of peacocks, their echoing cries, the splash of waterfalls, the roar of savage beasts.
The people of this region were known by the names kanavar, vedar and kuravar whose prime occupation was hunting, honey harvesting and millet cultivation.
[7] Their settlements were known as sirukuti and their place-names attached the suffixes kuricci (hilly village) and malai (hill).
Kuṟiñci (Kuṟuntokai-2) Beautiful-winged bee whose life is passed in search of honey don't speak to me of desire but tell me what you really saw: Could even the flowers that you know be as full of fragrance as the hair of the woman with the even set of teeth and the peacock nature, to whom long affection binds me?
[7] Their settlements were known as pādi/cheri and seven nrega the suffixes patti, vati, katu and ental attached to their place-names.
[10][8] Their headmen bore the titles Ayar/kon, Annal, Tonral, Kuramporai,[11][12][13] and headwomen as Aatchiyar and Manaivi.
[6] The theme of the forest and of shepherds at play, the image of confident waiting for the loved one, produced an original offshoot; for this is the region of Maayon/kopalan, (Ancient Tamil god), and the love theme it represents symbolizes the devotee waiting in the hope that Maayon will eventually come and fill his soul, thus experiencing the joys of expectation.
George L. Hart The plains were the scene of triangular love plots in which the hero's visits to the courtesan oblige the heroine to counter with a mixed show of coquetry and moodiness, tactics whose limits are described in the Thirukkural ("Sulking is like flavouring with salt; a little suffices, but it is easy to go too far.").
—Marutham (Kuruntokai-31) The seashore affords many examples of the compelling charm of Sangam poetry and the extraordinary freshness of its realism.
From behind the conventional symbolization of waiting there emerges a picture of the life of the fisherfolk; the nets and boats drawn up on the beach, scuttling crabs and cart wheels bogged down in the sand, the odour of drying fish, cut into thick slices, which attracts the birds, beautiful village girls peering through the Pandanus hedges, and the wind blowing through the cracks in the roughly constructed straw huts at night.
The inhabitants were known as parathavar, nulaiyar and umanar whose occupations included fishing, coastal trade, pearl diving and salt manufacturing.
The parathavars were sailors and fishermen, the nulaiyar were the divers and umanars the salt manufacturers and merchants.
The people inhabiting this region are known as eyiner, maravar and kalvar who were involved in waylaying, highway robbery and soldiering.
