Patiṟṟuppattu
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The ''Patiṟṟuppattu'' (lit. ''Ten Tens'', sometimes spelled ''Pathitrupathu'',) is a classical Tamil poetic work and one of the
Eight Anthologies The Eight Anthologies, known as Eṭṭuttokai () or "Eight Collections" in the literature, is a classical Tamil poetic work that forms part of the Eighteen Greater Texts (''Patiṉeṇmēlkaṇakku'') anthology series of the Sangam Literature. ...
(''Ettuthokai'') in
Sangam literature The Sangam literature (Tamil language, Tamil: சங்க இலக்கியம், ''caṅka ilakkiyam''), historically known as 'the poetry of the noble ones' (Tamil language, Tamil: சான்றோர் செய்யுள், ''Cā ...
. A
panegyric A panegyric ( or ) is a formal public speech or written verse, delivered in high praise of a person or thing. The original panegyrics were speeches delivered at public events in ancient Athens. Etymology The word originated as a compound of - ' ...
collection, it contains ''
puram ''Puram'' (, ''Lit.'' exterior) is one of two genres of Classical Tamil poetry. The concept of the lifestyle of human beings falls in two categories: personal and public. The genre dealing with poems about love affairs is called '' Akam'' (அ ...
'' (war and public life) poems. The Chera kings, known as the Cheramal, are the centre of the work. Its invocatory poem is about
Mayon Mayon (; , ), also known as Mount Mayon and Mayon Volcano is an active stratovolcano in the Provinces of the Philippines, province of Albay in Bicol Region, Bicol, Philippines. A popular tourist spot, it is renowned for its "perfect cone" bec ...
, or Perumal (
Vishnu Vishnu (; , , ), also known as Narayana and Hari, is one of the Hindu deities, principal deities of Hinduism. He is the supreme being within Vaishnavism, one of the major traditions within contemporary Hinduism, and the god of preservation ( ...
). The ''Patiṟṟuppattu'' originally contained ten sections of ten poems, each section dedicated to a decade of rule in ancient
Kerala Kerala ( , ) is a States and union territories of India, state on the Malabar Coast of India. It was formed on 1 November 1956, following the passage of the States Reorganisation Act, by combining Malayalam-speaking regions of the erstwhile ...
(Cerals, Chera); the first and last sections have been lost. Of the surviving poems, the second-to-sixth-decade-related poems are about the three generations of rulers from the Imayavaramban dynasty. The remaining poems are about the three generations of rulers from the Irumporai dynasty. In the ''Patirruppattu'' palm-leaf manuscripts, each decade ends with a (a verse epilogue followed by a prose colophon. According to U. V. Swaminatha Iyer (who rediscovered the Sangam manuscripts), a commentary was written in or after the 13th century. The ''Patiṟṟuppattu'' was written by several male poets and one female poet, indicating that women could play a scholarly role in ancient
South India South India, also known as Southern India or Peninsular India, is the southern part of the Deccan Peninsula in India encompassing the states of Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka, Kerala, Tamil Nadu and Telangana as well as the union territories of ...
. The poems praise rulers and heroes in Hagiographical form, with a core seemingly rooted in history. They mention the Hindu deities
Vishnu Vishnu (; , , ), also known as Narayana and Hari, is one of the Hindu deities, principal deities of Hinduism. He is the supreme being within Vaishnavism, one of the major traditions within contemporary Hinduism, and the god of preservation ( ...
,
Shiva Shiva (; , ), also known as Mahadeva (; , , Help:IPA/Sanskrit, ɐɦaːd̪eːʋɐh and Hara, is one of the Hindu deities, principal deities of Hinduism. He is the God in Hinduism, Supreme Being in Shaivism, one of the major traditions w ...
,
Murugan Kartikeya (/ kɑɾt̪ɪkejə/; ), also known as Skanda ( /skən̪d̪ə/), Subrahmanya (/ sʊbɾəɦməɲjə/, /ɕʊ-/), Shanmukha ( /ɕɑnmʊkʰə/) and Murugan (/ mʊɾʊgən/), is the Hindu god of war. He is generally described as the ...
and
Korravai Kotravai (), is the goddess of war and victory in the Tamil tradition. She is also the mother goddess and the goddess of fertility, agriculture, and hunters. In the latter form, she is sometimes referred to by other names and epithets in the T ...
(Uma, Durga), and their worship by warriors and the king. The poems, epilogues, and colophons are significant in studies of ancient culture and sociology. The poetry probably relies on older
oral tradition Oral tradition, or oral lore, is a form of human communication in which knowledge, art, ideas and culture are received, preserved, and transmitted orally from one generation to another.Jan Vansina, Vansina, Jan: ''Oral Tradition as History'' (19 ...
s shared by post-Sangam Tamil epics. Czech scholar
Kamil Zvelebil Kamil Václav Zvelebil (November 17, 1927 – January 17, 2009) was a Czech scholar in Indian literature and linguistics, notably Tamil, Sanskrit, Dravidian linguistics and literature and philology. Life and career Zvelebil studied at the C ...
wrote that the ''Patirruppattu'' was probably composed over a period of time: the first layer sometime between the 2nd and 4th centuries CE, and the second layer between the 3rd and 5th centuries. Its poems and are of significant historical importance. According to T. P. Meenakshisundaram, the ''Patiṟṟuppattu'' is the "only available book of ancient Chera history".


Structure

The ten verses in each of the eight tens now available have a common structure. Each verse has a title or caption, a catchy phrase found in the text of the verse. The text of the verse follows the caption or title. At the end of each verse is information about the poetic theme referred to with the Tamil term துறை (), rhythm with the Tamil word வண்ணம் (Vannam), metre (தூக்கு, Thookku) and the name of the verse, known as பெயர் (). This type of information is rarely found in other classical Tamil literature. An epilogue ()is at the end of each ten. The theme, rhythm, metre, name and epilogues were added by the authors of the at a later date, before the commentaries were written; the , as well as the verses, have been annotated.


Contents

The ''Patirruppattu'' is about ten decades of Chera kings. Its second, third, fourth and fifth ten describe the Imayavaraman dynasty, and the sixth, seventh and eighth ten deal with the Irumporai dynasty. These are called the Ceral (plural Ceralar). Each decade has 10 poems; each poem has an average length of 21 lines, and the entire decade averages 211 lines. The shortest verse (verse 87) is five lines long, and the longest (verse 90) is 57 lines in length. The supplemental at the end of each decade vary in length from 10 to 21 lines. The poems include graphic details of war and violence.


Patikams

Each verse of the ''Patirruppattu'' extant eight tens ends with a , supplementary information about the decade. These were added to the tens at a later date, before the medieval commentator Atiyarkkunallar, who wrote a commentary on ''Silappatikaram'' quoting the .


First ten

These poems have been lost.


Second ten

These ten poems were written by Kumattur Kannan about the Cheral king Nedum Cheralathan.


Third ten

Palyanai Sel Kelu Kuttuvan, Nedum Cheralathan's brother, is the hero of the ''Patiṟṟuppattu'' third ten. Palyanai helped his brother conquer the northern
Malabar Coast The Malabar Coast () is the southwestern region of the Indian subcontinent. It generally refers to the West Coast of India, western coastline of India stretching from Konkan to Kanyakumari. Geographically, it comprises one of the wettest regio ...
, at least part of which came under Chera rule. In later life, Palyanai retired from the military life and devoted himself to the arts, letters, philanthropy and helping
Brahmin Brahmin (; ) is a ''Varna (Hinduism), varna'' (theoretical social classes) within Hindu society. The other three varnas are the ''Kshatriya'' (rulers and warriors), ''Vaishya'' (traders, merchants, and farmers), and ''Shudra'' (labourers). Th ...
s.


Fourth ten

Poet Kappiyatru Kaapiyanaar composed these poems about Chera prince Narmudi Cheral, receiving four million gold coins. Narmudi had a series of victories, but was generous to those he defeated. In the battle of Vakaiperumturai, He defeated and killed Nannan of Ezhimalai, and annexed Puzhinadu.


Fifth ten

Paranar composed these ten poems about the Chera king Cenkuttuvan. According to Kamil Zvelebil, the Paranar poems are probably the ''Patiṟṟuppattu'' best examples of the heroic genre. This section is notable for dating the earliest Tamil epic, ''
Silappatikaram ''Cilappatikāram'' ( IPA: ʧiləppət̪ikɑːrəm, ''lit.'' "the Tale of an Anklet"), also referred to as ''Silappathikaram'' or ''Silappatikaram'', is the earliest Tamil epic. It is a poem of 5,730 lines in almost entirely ''akaval'' (''acir ...
''. Although it includes details about Ceṅkuṭṭuvan's family and rule, it does not mention that he had a brother who became an ascetic and wrote a cherished epics. This has been a reason to consider legendary author Ilango Adikal a mythological figure later extrapolated into the epic, ruling out the epic as part of Sangam literature.


Sixth ten

Adu Kottu Pattu Cheralathan, a crown prince for 38 years who never became king, is the hero of the sixth ten. A patron of commerce, letters and the arts, he is described as giving a village in Kuttanad to
Brahmin Brahmin (; ) is a ''Varna (Hinduism), varna'' (theoretical social classes) within Hindu society. The other three varnas are the ''Kshatriya'' (rulers and warriors), ''Vaishya'' (traders, merchants, and farmers), and ''Shudra'' (labourers). Th ...
s.


Seventh ten

The poet
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 contributed 206 poems, or a little less than 10% of the entire Sangam-era classical corpus by 473 ...
composed these poems about Cheran Celvakkadungo Vazhi Aathan.


Eighth ten

The Cheral king Perunceral Irumporai is the subject of these ten poems.


Ninth ten

These poems were written about the Cheral king Perunceral Irumporai, possibly the brother of the king in the previous ten.


Tenth ten

These poems have been lost.


See also

*
Eight Anthologies The Eight Anthologies, known as Eṭṭuttokai () or "Eight Collections" in the literature, is a classical Tamil poetic work that forms part of the Eighteen Greater Texts (''Patiṉeṇmēlkaṇakku'') anthology series of the Sangam Literature. ...
*
Eighteen Greater Texts The Eighteen Greater Texts, known as Patiṉeṇmēlkaṇakku () in the literature, is the collection of the oldest surviving Tamil poetry. This collection is considered part of the Sangam Literature and dated approximately between 100 BCE and ...
*
Sangam literature The Sangam literature (Tamil language, Tamil: சங்க இலக்கியம், ''caṅka ilakkiyam''), historically known as 'the poetry of the noble ones' (Tamil language, Tamil: சான்றோர் செய்யுள், ''Cā ...


References


Bibliography

* * Mudaliyar, Singaravelu A., Apithana Cintamani, An encyclopaedia of Tamil Literature, (1931) - Reprinted by Asian Educational Services, New Delhi (1983) * {{DEFAULTSORT:Patirruppattu Sangam literature