Pattupattu (பத்துப்பாட்டு) – The ten Idylls, is an anthology of ten mind length books and is one of the oldest surviving Tamil Poetry. This collection is considered part of the Sangam Literature and dated approximately between 300 B.C.E and 200 C.E. Sangam Literature is the collective name for the Tamil literature created over 1800 years ago. ... 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. ... Tiruvalluvar statue at Kanyakumari Tirukural (திருக்குறள் in Tamil) is an important work of Tamil literature by Tiruvalluvar written in the form of couplets expounding various aspects of life. ... Manimegalai, Seevaga Sindhamani, Valayaapathi, Kundalakesi and Silapadhigaaram constitute the Five Great Epics of Tamil Literature. ... Cilappatikaram (The Anklet) also spelled as Cilappadhikaram or Silappadhigaram, is one of the five great epics of ancient Tamil Literature. ... Manimekalai is one of the masterpieces of Tamil literature and belongs to The Five Great Epics of Tamil Literature. ... The Sangam is a collection of Tamil literature composed between 1,500 and 2,000 years ago. ... 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 in India and some parts of Kerala, Karnataka and Andra pradesh. ... Tamil (தமிழ் ) is a classical language and one of the major languages of the Dravidian language family. ... Sangam Literature is the collective name for the Tamil literature created over 1800 years ago. ... For other uses, see number 200. ...

Aarruppatai

The Pattupattu collection contains lengthy and picturesque descriptions of the Tamil country and its seasons. Most of them are in the form of Aarruppatai, a literary device by which a bard or a minstrel who has received bountiful gifts from some wealthy patron is supposed to direct another to the same Maecenas. This gives the occasion to the poet, among other topics, to describe in great detail the natural beauty, fertility, and resources of the territory that has to be traversed to reach the palace of the patron.

These poems which are in the nature of guide-books and travelogues adopt a more credible and realistic device than those Tamil poems of a later age which utilize inanimate objects like the cloud and the wind as messengers or the media of poetic observation. The Aarruppatai is of a piece with Tamil realism and describes the journey as experienced by a human traveller, and that on terra firma.

Themes of Nature

Each of the Ten Idylls contains passages relevant to the theme of Nature. The first poem on the god, Murugan, contains descriptions of the natural beauty of spots most beloved by him, of his immanent presence in Nature, and of the flowers, trees and animals sacred to him. Minute and interesting descriptions of the hill country, of the dawn and the setting in of evening, and of the close life of the people with Nature, occur in Malaipatukatam, and Kapilar's famous Kurincippattu. In Hinduism, Kartikeya (also Murugan, Subrahmanya, Skanda, Kumaran, Swaminanda) is a deity born out of a magical spark created by Shiva. ...

Few passages can rival the description of the North Wind and its effects, and the interplay of human emotions and sentiments as found in Nedunalvadai.The conventional regions of the Chola and Pandya kingdoms, the Kaveri and Vaigai which water them. The Cholas were the most famous of the three dynasties that ruled ancient Tamil Nadu. ... 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. ... The Cauvery (sometimes written as Kaveri) is one of the major rivers of southern India. ... The Vaigai is a river in Tamil Nadu state of southern India. ...

The greatness of a sovereign was assessed also by the fertility and the diversity of regions found within his kingdom and, therefore, descriptions of the landscapes of the territory of a sovereign often form an integral part of laudatory and heroic verse.

Contents of the Anthology

• Thirumurugarruppadai
• Kurincippattu
• Malaipatukatam
• Mathuraikkanci
• Mullaippattu
• Nedunalvadai
• Pattinappaalai
• Perumpanarruppatai
• Porunaraatruppadai
• Cirupanarruppatai

See also

• Ancient Tamil country
• Tamil language
• Tamil Literature
• Sangam
• Sangam Literature
• Sangam landscape

The ancient Tamil country of the classical era extended from River Krishna to the Cape Comorin(Kanyakumari). ... Tamil (தமிழ் ) is a classical language and one of the major languages of the Dravidian language family. ... 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 in India and some parts of Kerala, Karnataka and Andra pradesh. ... The Sangam is a collection of Tamil literature composed between 1,500 and 2,000 years ago. ... Sangam Literature is the collective name for the Tamil literature created over 1800 years ago. ...

References

• Mudaliyar, Singaravelu A., Apithana Cintamani, An encyclopaedia of Tamil Literature, (1931) - Reprinted by Asian Educational Services, New Delhi (1983)
• http://www.tamilnation.org/literature/ory:Tamil|Literature, Tamil]]
• Xavier S. Thaninayagam, (1966) Ancient Tamil Literature from the Introduction to Landscape and Poetry (http://www.tamilnation.org/literature/)