Sangam literature
Kamil Zvelebil, on the other hand, proposed that the most plausible date for the bulk of early Tamil literature is the 2nd century CE, with the exceptions of works like Paripatal, Kalittokai, and Tirumurukaraarruppatai, which belong to a later period.
[3] When he took into consideration the cumulative evidence of the linguistic, epigraphic, archaeological, numismatic and historical data, both internal and external, he concluded that the ancient Tamil literature may be dated between 100 BCE and 250 CE.
Tolkappiyam, the ancient Tamil grammar text written by Tolkappiyar, consists of three parts: Eluttatikaram (Phonology), Sollatikaram (Semantics), and Porulatikaram (Context and Meaning).
However, S. Vaiyapuri Pillai suggests that Tolkappiyar was a Jain scholar well-versed in the Aintiram grammatical system and posits a later date, placing him in southern Kerala around the 5th century CE.
[4] Iravatham Mahadevan, based on epigraphic evidence, dates the text to no later than the 2nd century CE, highlighting its significance in early Tamil literary tradition.
He lists six anthologies of Tamil poems (later a part of Ettuttokai):[7] These claims of the Sangams and the description of sunken land masses Kumari Kandam have been dismissed as frivolous by historiographers.
Of particular note, states Shulman, is the tenth-century CE Sinnamanur inscription that mentions a Pandyan king who sponsored the "translation of the Mahabharata into Tamil" and established a "Madhurapuri (Madurai) Sangam".
[9][note 1] According to Zvelebil, within the myth there is a kernel of reality, and all literary evidence leads one to conclude that "such an academy did exist in Madurai (Maturai) at the beginning of the Christian era".
These poets emerged, states Nilakanta Sastri, in a milieu where the Tamil society had already interacted and inseparably amalgamated with north Indians (Indo-Aryan) and both sides had shared mythology, values and literary conventions.
[24] Similar tiṇais pertain to puram poems as well, categories are sometimes based on activity: vetchi (cattle raid), vanchi (invasion, preparation for war), kanchi (tragedy), ulinai (siege), tumpai (battle), vakai (victory), paataan (elegy and praise), karanthai , and pothuviyal.
[22] The akam poetry uses metaphors and imagery to set the mood, never uses names of person or places, often leaves the context as well that the community will fill in and understand given their oral tradition.
[30] The prosody of an example early Sangam poem is illustrated by Kuruntokai:[31] Traditional ciṟuveḷ ḷaravi ṉavvarik kuruḷai kāṉa yāṉai aṇaṅki yāaṅ kiḷaiyaṇ muḷaivā ḷeyiṟṟaḷ vaḷaiyuṭaik kaiyaḷem maṇaṅki yōḷē – Kuruntokai 119, Author: Catti Nataanr The prosodic pattern in this poem follows the 4-4-3-4 feet per line, according to akaval, also called aciriyam, Sangam meter rule:[31] = – / = – / – = / = – – – / – – / = – / – – = – / = – / = – = = / – = / = – / – – Note: "=" is a ner, while "–" is a nirai in Tamil terminology.
Ramanujan (1967) This metrical pattern, states Zvelebil, gives the Sangam poetry a "wonderful conciseness, terseness, pithiness", then an inner tension that is resolved at the end of the stanza.
Damodaram Pillai, also from Jaffna, was the earliest scholar to systematically hunt for long-lost manuscripts and publish them using modern tools of textual criticism.
During his personal visit to the Thiruvavaduthurai Adhinam – a Shaiva matha about twenty kilometers northeast of Kumbhakonam, he reached out to the monastery head Subrahmanya Desikar for access to its large library of preserved manuscripts.
The Sangam literature is the historic evidence of indigenous literary developments in South India in parallel to Sanskrit, and the classical status of the Tamil language.
[45] On their significance, Zvelebil quotes A. K. Ramanujan, "In their antiquity and in their contemporaneity, there is not much else in any Indian literature equal to these quiet and dramatic Tamil poems.
In their values and stances, they represent a mature classical poetry: passion is balanced by courtesy, transparency by ironies and nuances of design, impersonality by vivid detail, austerity of line by richness of implication.
[48] The Pattinappalai poem in the Ten Idylls group, for example, paints a description of the Chola capital, the king Karikal, the life in a harbor city with ships and merchandise for seafaring trade, the dance troupes, the bards and artists, the worship of the Hindu god Vishnu, Murugan and the monasteries of Buddhism and Jainism.
This Sangam era poem remained in the active memory and was significant to the Tamil people centuries later, as evidenced by its mention nearly 1,000 years later in the 11th- and 12th-century inscriptions and literary work.
[49] Sangam literature embeds evidence of loan words from Sanskrit, suggesting on-going linguistic and literary collaboration between ancient Tamil Nadu and other parts of the Indian subcontinent.
[56][57][note 7] Similarly, the 150 poems of Kalittokai – also from the Eight Anthologies group – mention Krishna, Shiva, Murugan, various Pandava brothers of the Mahabharata, Kama, goddesses such as Ganga, divine characters from classical love stories of India.
[60] One of the poems also mentions the "merciful men of Benares", an evidence of interaction between the northern holy city of the Hindus with the Sangam poets.
Sangam literature (200 BCE to 500 CE) mentions Mayon or the "dark one," as the Supreme deity who creates, sustains, and destroys the universe and was worshipped in the Plains and mountains of Tamilakam.The Earliest verses of Paripadal describe the glory of Perumal in the most poetic of terms.
[67] Cēyōṉ "the red one", who is identified with Murugan, whose name is literally Murukaṉ "the youth" in the Tolkāppiyam; Extant Sangam literature works, dated between the third century BCE and the fifth century CE glorified Murugan, "the red god seated on the blue peacock, who is ever young and resplendent," as "the favoured god of the Tamils.
To Tirumal (Maha Vishnu): தீயினுள் தெறல் நீ; பூவினுள் நாற்றம் நீ; கல்லினுள் மணியும் நீ; சொல்லினுள் வாய்மை நீ; அறத்தினுள் அன்பு நீ; மறத்தினுள் மைந்து நீ; வேதத்து மறை நீ; பூதத்து முதலும் நீ; வெஞ் சுடர் ஒளியும் நீ; திங்களுள் அளியும் நீ; அனைத்தும் நீ; அனைத்தின் உட்பொருளும் நீ; In fire, you are the heat; in blossoms, the fragrance; among the stones, you are the diamond; in speech, truth; among virtues, you are love; in valour—strength; in the Veda, you are the secret; among elements, the primordial; in the burning sun, the light; in moonshine, its sweetness; you are all, and you are the substance and meaning of all.
To Seyyon (Skandha): We pray you not for wealth, not for gold, not for pleasure; But for your grace, for love, for virtue, these three, O god with the rich garland of kaṭampu flowers with rolling clusters!
