Perunthogai ( ta, பெருந்தொகை, literally "great anthology") 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 ...

containing 2,214 ancient and medieval Tamil stand-alone poems. It was compiled in 1936 by

M. Raghava Iyengar Maha Vidhwan Rao Sahib Mu Raghava Iyengar (Tamil: மு ராகவ ஐயங்கார்) (1878–1960) was a well known Tamil scholar and researcher of Tamil literature. Life Maha Vidhwan Mu Raghava Iyengar (known as M. Raghava Iyeng ...

History

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 ...

contains many anthologies compiled by ancient scholars, such as the

Eight Anthologies The Eight Anthologies, known as Eṭṭuttokai ( ta, எட்டுத்தொகை) or "Eight Collections" in the literature, is a classical Tamil poetic work that forms part of the Eighteen Greater Texts (''Patiṉeṇmēlkaṇakku'') antholo ...

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 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 ...

, 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. However, this work was able to cover only a meager number of the vast literary ocean of the ancient Tamil land, and several poems still remained at large. In the early 20th century, M. Raghava Iyenger began to compile these stand-alone poems from various sources including verbal sources from various scholars; ancient commentaries to works from the Antiquity such as the Tolkappiyam, Yaaparungalam Kaarigai, and Veera Choliyam; various commentaries to ancient and medieval works; and unnamed and unpublished works such as

Bharatham ''Bharatham'' is a 1991 Indian Malayalam-language musical drama film written by A. K. Lohithadas and directed by Sibi Malayil. It stars Mohanlal, Urvashi, Nedumudi Venu, Lakshmi, and Murali. The film was produced by Mohanlal through his produc ...

, Thagadur Yathirai, and Muthollaayiram Aasiriyamaalai. In all, he compiled about 3,500 stand-alone verses under five sections, namely, Invocation to God, Virtue, Wealth, Love, and Appendix. In 1936, he published the first part containing 2,214 verses in three parts, namely, Invocation to God, Virtue, and Wealth.

Citations

References

* {{Tamil language Tamil-language literature Ancient India Medieval India

History

See also

Citations

References