''Akapporul vilakkam'' (Tamil: அகப்பொருள் விளக்கம் "An explanation of the love theme"), also known as ''Nambi akapporul'' ("Nambi's treatise on the love theme"), is a mediaeval treatise on

Tamil Tamil may refer to: * Tamils, an ethnic group native to India and some other parts of Asia ** Sri Lankan Tamils, Tamil people native to Sri Lanka also called ilankai tamils **Tamil Malaysians, Tamil people native to Malaysia * Tamil language, nati ...

''akam''

poetics Poetics is the theory of structure, form, and discourse within literature, and, in particular, within poetry. History The term ''poetics'' derives from the Ancient Greek ποιητικός ''poietikos'' "pertaining to poetry"; also "creative" an ...

written by Narkavirasa Nambi (Tamil: நாற்கவிராச நம்பி). The treatise dates to the 13th century. It is closely associated with the Tancaivanankovai of Poyyamolipulavar, a set of connected poems in the form of a

kovai Coimbatore, also spelt as Koyamputhur (), sometimes shortened as Kovai (), is one of the major metropolitan cities in the Indian state of Tamil Nadu. It is located on the banks of the Noyyal River and surrounded by the Western Ghats. Coimbato ...

on the life of the Pandiyan king Maravarman Kulasekara Pandiyan I, which was written as an ''ilakkiyam'' to illustrate the successive rules of Akapporul Vilakkam. Unlike earlier works on ''akam'' poetics, the ''Akapporul Vilakkam'' divides the phases of a relationship into three, adding an intermediate phase of ''varaivu'' (" marriage") to the two phases of ''kalavu'' ("stolen love") and ''karpu'' (" chaste love") discussed in earlier texts. The text's discussion of the topics that are the subject of ''akam'' poetry is classified according to a hierarchy of situations and events (''kilavi'', ''vakai'' and ''viri''), unlike earlier grammars which classify topics according to the speaker (''kurru'').

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of ''Akapporul vilakkam'' (in Tamil) Tamil poetics Literature about poetry {{poetry-stub