Netunalvatai, is a Tamil poetic work in the Pathinenmaelkanakku anthology of Tamil literature, belonging to the Sangam period corresponding to between 100 BCE – 100 CE. "Netunalvatai" is part of the Pattupattu collection, which is the oldest available collection of long poems in Tamil literature. Netunalvatai contains 188 lines of poetry in the akaval meter. The poet Nakkirar wrote Netunalvatai. Netunalvatai poems belong to the Akam, or subjective themes of love and human relationships and utilises the location of the story to spins a vivid picture of the ancient Tamil country. Netunalvatai contains descriptions of the palace of the Pandya king Nedeunchezhiyan. Tamil literature is literature in the Tamil language which most prominently includes the contributions of the Tamil country (or Tamizhagam) history, a large part of which constitutes the modern state of Tamil Nadu and Kerala as well as some parts of Karnataka and Andra pradesh. ... Sangam Literature is the collective name for the Tamil literature created over 1800 years ago. ... Agattiyam, according to mentions inSangam Literature, was the first known book on Tamil grammar. ... The Tolkāppiyam (தொல்காப்பியம் in Tamil) is a work on the grammar of the Tamil language. ... Pathinenmaelkanakku is the collection of the oldest surviving Tamil Poetry. ... Ettuthokai (எட்டுத்தொகை)– The Eight Anthologies - form part of the Pathinenmaelkanakku anthology series of the Sangam Literature. ... Ainkurnuru (ஐங்குறுநூறு) is a book containing five hundred short poems and is part of Ettuthokai, a Sangam literature anthology. ... Akananuru (அகநானுறு) is the seventh book in the Sangam literature anthology Ettuthokai. ... Pura Nanooru or Pura Nanuru is an ancient Tamil Sangam collection of poems, dating from 900 BCE to 220 CE. It is one of the oldest Tamil anthologies. ... Kaliththokai (கலித்தொகை) is the sixth book of Ettuthokai, a Sangam literature anthology. ... Kuruntokai (குறுந்தொகை) is the second book of Ettuthokai, a Sangam literature anthology. ... Natrinai (நற்றிணை), is a book of Ettuthokai, a Sangam literature anthology. ... Paripaatal (பரிபாடல்), is the fifth book in the Ettuthokai, a Sangam literature anthology. ... Pathirruppaththu (பதிற்றுப்பத்து), is the fourth book in the Ettuthokai, a Sangam literature anthology. ... Pattupattu (பத்துப்பாட்டு) – The ten Idylls, is an anthology of ten mind length books and is one of the oldest surviving Tamil Poetry. ... Tirumurugarruppatai by Nakkirar is one of the most important works of Sangam Literature. ... Mathuraikkanci, is a Tamil poetic work in the Pathinenmaelkanakku anthology of Tamil literature, belonging to the Sangam period corresponding to between 100 BCE – 100 CE. Mathuraikkanci contains 583 lines of poetry in the Achiriyappa meter. ... Thiruvalluvar statue at Kanyakumari Thirukural (திருக்குறள் in Tamil) is an important work of Tamil literature by Thiruvalluvar written in a poetic form called Kural or couplets expounding various aspects of life. ... now. ... The Sangam landscape is categorisation the Tamil landscape into various Thinais depending on the nature, location and the mood of the poem. ... Early Tamil History has few authentic sources. ... Tamil literature is literature in the Tamil language which most prominently includes the contributions of the Tamil country (or Tamizhagam) history, a large part of which constitutes the modern state of Tamil Nadu and Kerala as well as some parts of Karnataka and Andra pradesh. ... The ancient Tamil music was the music of the ancient Tamil people. ... Tamil (தமிழ் ) is a classical language and one of the major languages of the Dravidian language family. ... Pathinenmaelkanakku is the collection of the oldest surviving Tamil Poetry. ... Tamil literature is literature in the Tamil language which most prominently includes the contributions of the Tamil country (or Tamizhagam) history, a large part of which constitutes the modern state of Tamil Nadu and Kerala as well as some parts of Karnataka and Andra pradesh. ... now. ... Pattupattu (பத்துப்பாட்டு) – The ten Idylls, is an anthology of ten mind length books and is one of the oldest surviving Tamil Poetry. ... Tamil literature is literature in the Tamil language which most prominently includes the contributions of the Tamil country (or Tamizhagam) history, a large part of which constitutes the modern state of Tamil Nadu and Kerala as well as some parts of Karnataka and Andra pradesh. ... The Pandyan kingdom was an ancient state at the tip of South India, founded around the 6th century BCE. It was part of the Dravidian cultural area, which also comprised other kingdoms such as that of the Pallava, the Chera, the Chola, the Chalukya and the Vijayanagara. ...

Nature of Netunalvatai

The story of Netunalvatai is about the heroine who prays to the goddess for the return of her lover from the battlefield. Seeing the suffering of the heroine, her maids in the palace also pray to the goddess for the hero to quickly win the battle and return home to their mistress.

Around this centre core, the poet paints a beautiful picture with descriptions of the heroine's palace, the hero in the battlefield and the description of the cool breeze that flows through the palace and the battlefield to cool the hears of the pining lovers. The cool breeze with the hint of rain, moisture carrying, spreads everywhere. This breeze promises rain and brings coolness to the weather making the shepherds and their flock shiver. The monkeys in the forest are hurt by the cold weather, birds struck by the coolness fall from the sky; suckling calves are turned away by the cows. The cold weather flowing through the streets of the towns scatter the people and drive them indoors. Only drunks are to be found in the streets. They are so inebriated they cannot feel the cold. The cold weather darkens the sky so that the people have no means of telling the time to light the lamps. The cruel cold breeze flows through the battlefield keeping the hero awake. He goes around at midnight to converse with his wounded soldiers and look at his horses.

Meaning of Netunalvadai

Netunalvatai in keeping with its name, has the theme of the vatai, or cold breeze. The two adjectives netu and nal to the vatai breeze mean bad and good. The same breeze is at the same time is bad to the heroine who languishes in the palace and increases her suffering, at the same time, the breeze causes the hero to do good by conversing and consoling his suffering troops.

Ancient controversy

Netunalvatai is classified as an akam poem because the hero and the heroine remain anonymous. According to the ancient grammatical treatise Tolkappiyam, if the subject of a poem is an identifiable person, then the poem ceases to be an akam. Or subjective poetry and becomes a more tangible puram poetry. An ancient commentator to this book argued that, since in one sentence in this poem there is a mention of a vembu flower adorning the spear of the hero, he could be identified to belong to the Pandya dynasty. Thus the character is no longer anonymous. The Tolkāppiyam (தொல்காப்பியம் in Tamil) is a work on the grammar of the Tamil language. ... The Pandyan kingdom was an ancient state at the tip of South India, founded around the 6th century BCE. It was part of the Dravidian cultural area, which also comprised other kingdoms such as that of the Pallava, the Chera, the Chola, the Chalukya and the Vijayanagara. ...

References

• http://www.tamilnation.org/literature/
• http://www.tamilnation.org/literature/pathinen/pm0070.pdf Netunalvatai eText at Project madurai