SANGAM LITERATURES AN INTRODUCTION :-
The Saṅgam age is the period in the history of ancient Tamil Nadu (the present Tamilnadu, Kerala, parts of Andhra Pradesh, parts of Karnataka and northern Sri Lanka) spanning from 4th C.B.C to 2nd C.A.D.
According to Tamil legends there were three Saṅgam periods, viz., Thalai Saṅgam, Iḍai Saṅgam and Kaḍai Saṅgam. However the historians refer to only the Third Saṅgam or Kaḍai Saṅgam as the “Saṅgam period.”
Most of the available Saṅgam Literature are from third Saṅgam period. This collection contains 2381 poems in Tamil composed by 473 poets, some 102 of whom remain anonymous. Now let's discuss briefly abt sangam literatures.
(1) Tolkāppiyam:
The author of this text is Tolkāppiyar (2ndB.C).This text contains about 1610 verses/sūtras. The text is divided into three sections viz., Eḻuttadhigāram with 480 verses, Solladhigāram with 465 verses and Poruḷadhigāram with the remaining 665 verses.
2) Pattuppāṭṭu ( 10 songs ) :
Tirumurugāṟṟppaḍai, Porunarāṟṟuppaḍai, Ciṟupāṇāṟṟuppaḍai, Perumpāṇā-ṟṟuppaḍai, Mullaipāṭṭu, Maduraikāñci, Neḍunalvāḍai, Kuruñjippāṭṭu, Paṭṭi-ṉappālai and Malaipaḍu-kaḍām (also known as Kūttarāṟṟuppaḍai)
Out of these, 5 are sung in the form of Āṟṟuppaḍai. This is a form of poetry where one poet suggests another poet, who he meets on the way to go to a certain noble man & sing his poetry to get rewarded. Of these, the Thirumurugatrupadai ( praising Murugan ) is an exception.
(3) Eṭṭuttogai: The Eṭṭuttogai texts are: Naṟṟiṇai, Kuṟunthogai, Aiṅkuṟunūṟu, Paripāḍal, Kalittogai, Aganāṉūṟu, Padiṟṟuppattu and Puṟanāṉūṟu. These texts are compilations of song sung by different poets over a period of time in the Agam and Puṟam genres.
(4) Patinen-kil-kanaku :
These are known as 18 lesser texts, mostly created during post sangam period ( 100-500ce ). Among them the most famous one is TIRUKURAL.
There is a saying, " what God said to man is " Bhagavad Gita ", What man said to God is " Thiruvasagam " and what man said to man is " Thirukkural ".
In the next part, we will see how vedic culture is deeply reflected in Sangam literatures ! 🙏❣️
@Mahadevangini @Dharmicgoks @_Ashutosh_M @VedicWisdom1 @RamaInExile @tskrishnan @HLKodo @GaikwadAnkur @Indumakalktchi @krithikasivasw @Param_Chaitanya
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