The Ten Idylls, known as Pattuppāṭṭu ( ta, பத்துப்பாட்டு) or Ten Lays, is an
anthology
In book publishing, an anthology is a collection of literary works chosen by the compiler; it may be a collection of plays, poems, short stories, songs or excerpts by different authors.
In genre fiction, the term ''anthology'' typically categ ...
of ten longer poems in the
Sangam literature
The Sangam literature (Tamil: சங்க இலக்கியம், ''caṅka ilakkiyam'';) historically known as 'the poetry of the noble ones' (Tamil: சான்றோர் செய்யுள், ''Cāṉṟōr ceyyuḷ'') connotes ...
– the earliest known Tamil literature.
They range between about 100 and 800 lines, and the collection includes the celebrated Nakkīrar's ''Tirumurukāṟṟuppaṭai'' (lit. "Guide to Lord Murukan").
The collection was termed as "Ten Idylls" during the colonial era, though this title is considered "very incorrect" by Kamil Zvelebil – a scholar of Tamil literature and history. He suggests "Ten
Lays
Lay's is a brand of potato chips, as well as the name of the company that founded the chip brand in the United States. The brand is also referred to as Frito-Lay because both Lay's and Fritos are brands sold by the Frito-Lay company, which has b ...
" as the more apt title. Five of these ten ancient poems are lyrical, narrative bardic guides (''arruppatai'') by which poets directed other bards to the patrons of arts such as kings and chieftains. The others are guides to religious devotion (Murugan) and to major towns, sometimes mixed with akam- or puram-genre poetry.
The ''Pattuppāṭṭu'' collection is a later dated collection, with its earliest layer composed sometime between 2nd and 3rd century CE, the middle between 2nd and 4th century, while the last layer sometime between 3rd and 5th century CE.
The collection
According to Zvelebil, the ''Pattuppāṭṭu'' compilation is as follows:
Inscriptions
Two
Shaivite
Shaivism (; sa, शैवसम्प्रदायः, Śaivasampradāyaḥ) is one of the major Hindu traditions, which worships Shiva as the Supreme Being. One of the largest Hindu denominations, it incorporates many sub-traditions rangin ...
Hindu
Hindus (; ) are people who religiously adhere to Hinduism.Jeffery D. Long (2007), A Vision for Hinduism, IB Tauris, , pages 35–37 Historically, the term has also been used as a geographical, cultural, and later religious identifier for ...
temple inscriptions have been discovered in
Tamil Nadu
Tamil Nadu (; , TN) is a States and union territories of India, state in southern India. It is the List of states and union territories of India by area, tenth largest Indian state by area and the List of states and union territories of India ...
which allude to and quote lines from the ''Pattuppāṭṭu'' collection.
The first found in one of the inscriptions at
Veerateeswarar temple
Veerateeswarar Temple (also called Thirukoilur Veerattam) in Tirukoilur, a panchayat town in Villupuram district in the South Indian state of Tamil Nadu, is dedicated to the Hindu god Shiva. Constructed in the Dravidian style of architecture, ...
is dated 1012 CE and attributed to
Rajaraja I
Rajaraja I (947 CE – 1014 CE), born Arunmozhi Varman or Arulmozhi Varman and often described as Raja Raja the Great or Raja Raja Chozhan was a Chola emperor who reigned from 985 CE to 1014 CE. He was the most powerful Tamil king in South ...
. The inscription is in the form of an ''Pattuppāṭṭu arruppatai'' in the same meter as those found in ''Pattuppāṭṭu'', and alludes to 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 alone contributed some 206 poems, or a little less than 10% of the entire Sangam-era classical corpus ...
.
The second inscription is found in Rishabeshwarar temple in
Chengam. Its author and patron are unknown, but palaeographically from the 12th-century
Chola
The Chola dynasty was a Tamils, Tamil thalassocratic Tamil Dynasties, empire of southern India and one of the longest-ruling dynasties in the history of the world. The earliest datable references to the Chola are from inscriptions dated ...
period. The inscription quotes lines from this collection and mentions the title ''Mali-katam-pattu'' (an anagram of ''Malaipaṭukaṭām''). These inscription show that the collection of these poems were an integral part of the Shaiva tradition literature and revered in the context of their temples.
Publication
U. V. Swaminatha Iyer
Uttamadhanapuram Venkatasubbaiyer Swaminatha Iyer (19 February 1855 – 28 April 1942) was a Tamil scholar and researcher who was instrumental in bringing many long-forgotten works of classical Tamil literature to light. His singular efforts ...
rediscovered the palm-leaf manuscripts of the ''Pattuppāṭṭu'' along with other Sangam literature in Shaiva monasteries during the late 19th century.
The Ten Idylls were published in 1889. Over time, additional manuscripts – suggesting some early rediscoveries were partially damaged and incomplete – were discovered in temples, monasteries and private collections in India. Eva Wilden has compiled and published a catalog of important manuscripts of ''Pattuppāṭṭu'' preserved in major libraries.
Translations
* Pattupattu – Ten Tamil Idylls by J. V. Chellaih (1946)
* Ancient Tamil Classic Pattuppattu in English (The Ten Tamil Idylls) by A. Dakshinamurthy (2012)
See also
*
Hindu texts
Hindu texts are manuscripts and voluminous historical literature which are related to any of the diverse traditions within Hinduism. A few of these texts are shared across these traditions and they are broadly considered Hindu scriptures. These ...
*
Sangam literature
The Sangam literature (Tamil: சங்க இலக்கியம், ''caṅka ilakkiyam'';) historically known as 'the poetry of the noble ones' (Tamil: சான்றோர் செய்யுள், ''Cāṉṟōr ceyyuḷ'') connotes ...
Notes
References
Bibliography
*
* A. Dakshinamurthy, Ancient Tamil Classic Pattuppattu in English (The Ten Tamil Idylls), Thamizh Academy, SRM University, 2013.
*
* Mudaliyar, Singaravelu A., Apithana Cintamani, An encyclopaedia of Tamil Literature, (1931) - Reprinted by Asian Educational Services, New Delhi (1983)
*
*
* Selby, Martha Ann (2011) Tamil Love Poetry: The Five Hundred Short Poems of the Aiṅkuṟunūṟu, an Early Third-Century Anthology. Columbia University Press,
*
*
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{{DEFAULTSORT:Ten Idylls
Sangam literature
Partially lost Tamil literary works
Tamil Hindu literature