Perunthogai
Perunthogai ( ta, பெருந்தொகை, literally "great anthology") is an anthology containing 2,214 ancient and medieval Tamil stand-alone poems. It was compiled in 1936 by M. Raghava Iyengar. History The Sangam Literature contains many anthologies compiled by ancient scholars, such as the Eight Anthologies comprising poems penned by more than 500 authors, preserving numerous literary treasures from the Antiquity that would have otherwise been lost to the modern reader. However, unfortunately, the same was not the case with several post-Sangam texts, and many were lost in time. Even with the Sangam texts, despite these efforts, the biographical details of most of the ancient Tamil poets, except that of well-known poets such as Sathanar and Kapilar, remain cloudy. After a long hiatus, an anthological work named ''Tamil Navalar Charithai'' was compiled between the 16th and 18th centuries, which records rare details about medieval poets such as Koothar and Kambar. ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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India
India, officially the Republic of India (Hindi: ), is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by area, the second-most populous country, and the most populous democracy in the world. Bounded by the Indian Ocean on the south, the Arabian Sea on the southwest, and the Bay of Bengal on the southeast, it shares land borders with Pakistan to the west; China, Nepal, and Bhutan to the north; and Bangladesh and Myanmar to the east. In the Indian Ocean, India is in the vicinity of Sri Lanka and the Maldives; its Andaman and Nicobar Islands share a maritime border with Thailand, Myanmar, and Indonesia. Modern humans arrived on the Indian subcontinent from Africa no later than 55,000 years ago., "Y-Chromosome and Mt-DNA data support the colonization of South Asia by modern humans originating in Africa. ... Coalescence dates for most non-European populations average to between 73–55 ka.", "Modern human beings—''Homo sapiens''—originated in Africa. Then, int ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Kapilar
Kapilar or Kabilar (Tamil: கபிலர்) was the most prolific Tamil poet of the Sangam period (c. 3rd century BCE to 3rd century CE). He alone contributed some 206 poems, or a little less than 10% of the entire Sangam-era classical corpus by 473 ancient poets. Held in high regard by other poets of the Sangam era, as well as the post-Sangam era, he is variously dated to have lived between c. 50–125 CE, or 140–200 CE. He was a contemporary of Karikala Chola, Irunkōvēl and Vēl Pāri. He was the close friend, confidant and alleged favorite of Vēl Pāri, one of the Vēlir kings.''Studies in Tamil Literature and History by Ramachandra Dikshitar'', pages 55-59 He was the author of Inna Narpathu, a didactic work of the Sangam literature. Verse 5 of the Tiruvalluva Maalai is also attributed to him. Early life Kapilar was born in Thiruvadhavur in the Pandyan Kingdom. Initially a poet at the Pandyan court, he left Madurai at an early age to travel across various kingdoms. ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Tamil-language Literature
Tamil (; ' , ) is a Dravidian language natively spoken by the Tamil people of South Asia. Tamil is an official language of the Indian state of Tamil Nadu, the sovereign nations of Sri Lanka and Singapore, and the Indian territory of Puducherry. Tamil is also spoken by significant minorities in the four other South Indian states of Kerala, Karnataka, Andhra Pradesh and Telangana, and the Union Territory of the Andaman and Nicobar Islands. It is also spoken by the Tamil diaspora found in many countries, including Malaysia, Myanmar, South Africa, United Kingdom, United States, Canada, Australia and Mauritius. Tamil is also natively spoken by Sri Lankan Moors. One of 22 scheduled languages in the Constitution of India, Tamil was the first to be classified as a classical language of India. Tamil is one of the longest-surviving classical languages of India.. "Tamil is one of the two longest-surviving classical languages in India" (p. 7). A. K. Ramanujan described it as "the onl ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Tamil Literature
Tamil literature has a rich and long literary tradition spanning more than two thousand years. The oldest extant works show signs of maturity indicating an even longer period of evolution. Contributors to the Tamil literature are mainly from Tamil people from South India, including the land now comprising Tamil Nadu, Kerala, Eelam Tamils from Sri Lanka, as well as the Tamil diaspora. The history of Tamil literature follows the history of Tamil Nadu, closely following the social, economical, political and cultural trends of various periods. The early Sangam literature, dated before 300 BCE, contain anthologies of various poets dealing with many aspects of life, including love, war, social values and religion.Akananuru (1, 15, 31, 55, 61, 65, 91, 97, 101, 115, 127, 187, 197, 201, 211, 233, 251, 265, 281, 311, 325, 331, 347, 349, 359, 393, 281, 295), Kurunthogai (11), and Natrinai (14, 75) are dated before 300 BCE. This was followed by the early epics and moral literature, author ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Mahabharata
The ''Mahābhārata'' ( ; sa, महाभारतम्, ', ) is one of the two major Sanskrit epics of ancient India in Hinduism, the other being the ''Rāmāyaṇa''. It narrates the struggle between two groups of cousins in the Kurukshetra War and the fates of the Kaurava and the Pāṇḍava princes and their successors. It also contains philosophical and devotional material, such as a discussion of the four "goals of life" or ''puruṣārtha'' (12.161). Among the principal works and stories in the ''Mahābhārata'' are the '' Bhagavad Gita'', the story of Damayanti, the story of Shakuntala, the story of Pururava and Urvashi, the story of Savitri and Satyavan, the story of Kacha and Devayani, the story of Rishyasringa and an abbreviated version of the ''Rāmāyaṇa'', often considered as works in their own right. Traditionally, the authorship of the ''Mahābhārata'' is attributed to Vyāsa. There have been many attempts to unravel its historical growth and c ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Ancient Tamil Country
Tamiḻakam (Tamil: தமிழகம்; Malayalam: തമിഴകം), refers to the geographical region inhabited by the ancient Tamil people, covering the southernmost region of the Indian subcontinent. Tamilakam covered today's Tamil Nadu, Kerala, Puducherry, Lakshadweep and southern parts of Andhra Pradesh and Karnataka. Traditional accounts and the ''Tolkāppiyam'' referred to these territories as a single cultural area, where Tamil was the natural language and permeated the culture of all its inhabitants. The ancient Tamil country was divided into kingdoms. The best known among them were the Cheras, Cholas, Pandyans and Pallavas. During the Sangam period, Tamil culture began to spread outside Tamilakam. Ancient Tamil settlements were also established in Sri Lanka (Sri Lankan Tamils) and the Maldives ( Giravarus). In contemporary India, Tamil politicians and orators often use the name ''Tamilakam'' to refer to Tamil Nadu alone. Etymology "Tamiḻakam" is a por ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Kambar (poet)
Kambar or Kavichakravarthy Kamban (1180 CE–1250 CE) was an Indian Tamils, Tamil poet and the author of the Ramavataram, popularly known as ''Kambaramayanam'', the Tamil version of the epic Ramayana.The Cyclopaedia of India and of Eastern and Southern Asia By Edward Balfour Kambar also authored other literary works in Tamil language, Tamil, such as Thirukkai Vazhakkam, ''Erezhupathu'', Silaiyezhupathu, ''Kangai Puranam'', ''Sadagopar Anthathi'' and ''Saraswati Anthathi''. Life Kambar was born in Therazhundur, Thanjavur district, Therazhundur. His father was a wealthy farmer named Sadaiyepa Vallal. He grew up the Chola dynasty, Chola Empire under the reign of Kulothunga Chola III, Kulothunga III. Having heard of this talented bard, Kulothunga summoned him to his court and honoured him with the title ''Kavi Chakravarty'' (''The Emperor of Poets''). Kambar flourished in Therazhundur, a village in the culturally rich Nagapattinam District in the modern state of Tamil Nadu in Sou ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Ottakoothar
Ottakoothar (c. 12th century CE) was a Tamil court poet to three Later Chola kings, namely Vikrama Chola, Kulotunga II and Rajaraja II. He wrote poems in praise of these three kings. The poet's memorial is believed to be still in a place known as Darasuram in Kumbakonam, just opposite the famous Airavatesvara Temple. According to legend, the goddess Saraswati blessed him in Koothanur, then he became a famous poet. Family According to a legend, there was once a Chola king called Muchukundan who had his capital at Karur. He is said to have won the favor of God Murugan after deep penances and the latter is said to have bestowed upon him his personal bodyguards to aid him in his wars. Muchukundan Chola then married Chitravalli, daughter of the warrior chief and Murugan's bodyguard called Virabahu and spawned a new line. The poet Ottakoothar is presented as the scion of the family of this Sengunthar chief in his work ''Eeti-elupattu''. It is worth mentioning that this Muchukunda ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Seethalai Sathanaar
Satthanar or Chithalai Satthanar ( ta, சாத்தனார் or சீத்தலைச் சாத்தனார், ''cītalai cāttanār'') was the Tamil poet who composed the epic Manimekalai. A total of 11 verses of the Sangam literature have been attributed to Satthanar, including verse 10 of the Tiruvalluva Maalai. Etymology Pronounced ''Sa-tha-naar,'' the name is derived from ( ta, சாத்து, ''sāttu'') meaning Buddhist monk. Applying this principle to the name Maturai Kulavāṇikan Cāttan, the author of Manimekalai, we see that the two appellations Maturai and Kulavanikan were prefixed to his name in order to distinguish him from another poet of Maturai with the same name and from a third who lived elsewhere. Several examples could be cited of this system of nomenclature which prevailed during the early days. Biography Satthanar hailed from a place known as Seerthandalai, later came to be known as Seethalai. He was a grain merchant at Madurai and hen ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Old Tamil Language
Old Tamil is the period of the Tamil language spanning from 300 BCE to 700 CE. Prior to Old Tamil, the period of Tamil linguistic development is termed as Pre Tamil. After the Old Tamil period, Tamil becomes Middle Tamil. The earliest records in Old Tamil are inscriptions from between the 3rd and 1st century BCE in caves and on pottery. These inscriptions are written in a variant of the Brahmi script called Tamil Brahmi. The earliest long text in Old Tamil is the ''Tolkāppiyam'', an early work on Tamil grammar and poetics, whose oldest layers could be as old as the mid 2nd century BCE.Zvelebil, K. ''The Smile of Murugan: On Tamil Literature of South '' p.XX Old Tamil preserved many features of Proto-Dravidian, the earliest reconstructed form of the Dravidian including inventory of consonants, the syllable structure, and various grammatical features. History According to Bhadriraju Krishnamurti, Tamil, as a Dravidian language, descends from Proto-Dravidian, a proto-language. ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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List Of Sangam Poets
Sangam refers to the assembly of the highly learned people of the ancient Tamil land, with the primary aim of advancing the literature. There were historically three Sangams. With the details of the first two Sangams remaining obscure, all the available Sangam works come from the Third Sangam, which began sometime around 1500 BCE. It is said to have lasted 1850 years, until around 300 CE, with 449 poets contributing under the patronage of 49 Pandyan kings. However, only the works of the last 800 years of the Sangam period () have been retrieved and others are believed to have been lost. List of Sangam poets Below is a list of poets of the Third Sangam period: See also * Third Sangam * Sangam landscape The Sangam landscape (Tamil: அகத்திணை "inner classification") is the name given to a poetic device that was characteristic of love poetry in classical Tamil Sangam literature. The core of the device was the categorisation of poe ... References Further r ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |