Tiruvalluva Maalai (

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, nativ ...

: திருவள்ளுவ மாலை), literally 'Garland of Valluvar', 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 ancient Tamil

paean A paean () is a song or lyric poem expressing triumph or thanksgiving. In classical antiquity, it is usually performed by a chorus, but some examples seem intended for an individual voice (monody). It comes from the Greek παιάν (also πα� ...

s containing fifty-five verses each attributed to different poets praising the ancient work of the

Kural The ''Tirukkuṟaḷ'' ( ta, திருக்குறள், lit=sacred verses), or shortly the ''Kural'' ( ta, குறள்), is a classic Tamil language text consisting of 1,330 short couplets, or kurals, of seven words each. The tex ...

and its author

Valluvar Thiruvalluvar (Tamil language, Tamil: திருவள்ளுவர்), commonly known as Valluvar, was a celebrated Tamil people, Tamil poet and philosopher. He is best known as the author of the ''Tirukkuṟaḷ'', a collection of coup ...

. With the poets' time spanning across centuries starting from around 1st century CE, the collection is believed to have reached its present form by 10th century CE. With the historical details of the ancient philosopher and his work remaining obscure, much of the legend on the Kural and Valluvar as they are known today are chiefly from this work. The collection also reveals the name of the author of the Kural text as 'Valluvar' for the first time, as Valluvar himself composed the Kural text centuries earlier without indicating his name anywhere in his work. Reminiscing this,

E. S. Ariel E. S. Ariel, also referred to as Monsieur Ariel ( French for "Mr. Ariel") by his contemporaries, was a 19th-century French translator known for his French translation of the ancient Indian philosophical text of the Tirukkural. He translated sel ...

, a French scholar of the 19th century, famously said of the Tirukkural thus: ''Ce livre sans nom, par un autre sans nom'' ("The book without a name by an author without a name").

History and Dating

Traditional account

According to traditional and legendary accounts, after writing the Kural text, Valluvar left for

Madurai Madurai ( , also , ) is a major city in the Indian state of Tamil Nadu. It is the cultural capital of Tamil Nadu and the administrative headquarters of Madurai District. As of the 2011 census, it was the third largest Urban agglomeration in ...

on the advice of his friends to "triumph over the college of the doctors" at the Madurai College. On the way to

, at Idaykarlyi, he met

Avvaiyar I Avvaiyar (Tamil: ஔவையார்) was the title of more than one female poet who were active during different periods of Tamil literature. They were some of the most famous and important female poets of the Tamil canon. Abidhana Chinta ...

and

Idaikkadar Idaikaadar (Tamil: இடைக்காடர்) was a Tamil siddhar of the Sangam period. He authored verse 54 of the Tiruvalluva Maalai. Biography Unlike Idaikaadanar of the Sangam period, who was a poet by profession, Idaikaadar was a sidd ...

and revealed the purpose of his journey and they joined him, too, in his journey to the College of Madurai. Upon reaching the Madurai College, Valluvar submitted his text, calling it ''Muppāl'', before Lord Somasundara, in the hearing of the Pandiyan king and his ministers, chiefs, and scholars. This alarmed the assembly of professors. Legend has it that forty-nine professors "sat as kings of the sweet tongue" on the bench of poets, known as ''Sanga palagai'', by the tank covered with the golden lotus at the Madurai temple. The scholars there were adept at finding errors in the most skillful compositions. This is well known by the account of

Nakkirar II Nakkirar may refer to: * Nakkirar I Nakkirar I (c. 250 BCE) was a poet of the Sangam period, who composed anthologies including the Neṭunalvāṭai. He also wrote verse 7 of the Tiruvalluva Maalai. See also * Sangam literature * List of S ...

, one of the later scholar of the Madurai College lineage who even dared to say to

Lord Shiva Shiva (; sa, शिव, lit=The Auspicious One, Śiva ), also known as Mahadeva (; ɐɦaːd̪eːʋɐ, or Hara, is one of the principal deities of Hinduism. He is the Supreme Being in Shaivism, one of the major traditions within Hindu ...

, "Though you show us your frontal eye, a fault is a fault", on his appearing to favor an amateur poet named Dharumi. The assembly of scholars said to have doubted Valluvar's erudition and said to him that the bench on which they sat will make room for the best treatise in high Tamil, which shall be taken as a sign of acceptance of his work. When Valluvar laid his book thereupon, the seat immediately contracted itself to the size of the work throwing all the professors into the lotus pond. Scrambling out of the water, the forty-nine scholars pronounced a stanza each in praise of Valluvar and his work. Idaikkadar and Avvaiyar, who accompanied Valluvar in the journey, couldn't remain silent and gave their opinion in the form of poetry. With four more verses adding to the corpus, including that by divine elements such as the voices of the

Oracle An oracle is a person or agency considered to provide wise and insightful counsel or prophetic predictions, most notably including precognition of the future, inspired by deities. As such, it is a form of divination. Description The word '' ...

, Naamagal ( Goddess Saraswathi), and Iraiyanar (Lord Shiva), the collection came to be known as the Tiruvalluva Maalai or "the garland to Valluvar".

Historical account

As with the date of the Tirukkural and its author itself, the exact date of the composition of the verses of the Tiruvalluva Maalai remains unclear. All the contributors of the Tiruvalluva Maalai pre-date the period of the earliest commentators of the Kural text such as

Manakkudavar Manakkudavar (c. 10th century CE) was a Tamil language, Tamil scholar and commentator known for his Literary criticism, commentary on the Tirukkural. His is the earliest of the available commentaries on the Kural text, and hence considered to bea ...

. Historically, the time of the contributors spans several centuries starting from around 1st century CE. According to S. N. Kandasamy, the work must have been composed no later than 7th and 8th centuries CE. The verses must have been compiled into its present form by around 10th century CE.

The work

Tiruvalluva Maalai is a collection of verses said to have been composed by gods, goddesses and poets of different times, all belonging to the legendary

Tamil Sangam The Tamil Sangams (Tamil: சங்கம் ''caṅkam'', Old Tamil 𑀘𑀗𑁆𑀓𑀫𑁆, from Sanskrit ''saṅgha'') were assemblies of Tamil scholars and poets that, according to traditional Tamil accounts, occurred in the remote past. ...

. A total of 55 poets have composed their encomia in 55 verse in the collection, all written several centuries after the composition of the Kural text. With the exception of

Avvaiyar Avvaiyar (Tamil: ஔவையார்) was the title of more than one female poet who were active during different periods of Tamil literature. They were some of the most famous and important female poets of the Tamil canon. Abidhana Chinta ...

and Idaikkadar, both of whom composed their verses in Kural venpa

metre The metre (British spelling) or meter (American spelling; see spelling differences) (from the French unit , from the Greek noun , "measure"), symbol m, is the primary unit of length in the International System of Units (SI), though its pref ...

(

couplet A couplet is a pair of successive lines of metre in poetry. A couplet usually consists of two successive lines that rhyme and have the same metre. A couplet may be formal (closed) or run-on (open). In a formal (or closed) couplet, each of the ...

form), all the 53 poets have written their composition in the

Venpa Venpa or Venba ('' வெண்பா'' in Tamil) is a form of classical Tamil poetry. Classical Tamil poetry has been classified based upon the rules of metric prosody. Such rules form a context-free grammar. Every venba consists of between two ...

(

quatrain A quatrain is a type of stanza, or a complete poem, consisting of four lines. Existing in a variety of forms, the quatrain appears in poems from the poetic traditions of various ancient civilizations including Persia, Ancient India, Ancient Greec ...

) form. The Tiruvalluva Maalai refers to the Kural text mostly as ''Muppāl'', a name preferred by Valluvar himself. The name appears in 15 different places, including verses 9, 10, 11, 12, 15, 17, 18, 19, 30, 31, 39, 44, 46, 49, and 53, indicating the title of the work. Following is a sample verse in quatrain from the collection, written by 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 ...

(c. 1st century CE):

Contributors

Contributors of the Tiruvalluva Maalai include three divine poets and 52 Sangam poets. # Asariri ( the Oracle) # Naamagal ( Goddess Saraswathi) # Iraiyanar (

) # Ukkira Peruvaluthiyar #

Paranar Paranar (Tamil: பரணர்) (c. 1st century CE) was a poet of the Sangam period, to whom 84 verses of the Sangam literature have been attributed, besides verse 6 of the Tiruvalluva Maalai. Biography Paranar belonged to the Paanar caste. He ...

Nakkirar I Nakkirar I (c. 250 BCE) was a poet of the Sangam period, who composed anthologies including the Neṭunalvāṭai. He also wrote verse 7 of the Tiruvalluva Maalai. See also * Sangam literature * List of Sangam poets * Tiruvalluva Maalai ...

Mamulanar Mamulanar (Tamil: மாமூலனார்) was a poet of the Sangam period, to whom 31 verses of the Sangam literature have been attributed, including verse 8 of the Tiruvalluva Maalai. Biography Manulanar belonged to the Brahmin caste. Mam ...

# Kalladar #

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 liter ...

# Marutthuvan Dhamodharanar # Nagan Devanar # Arisil Kilar #

Ponmudiyar Ponmudiyār (Tamil: பொன்முடியார்) was a poet of the Sangam period, to whom four verses of the Sangam literature have been attributed, including verse 14 of the Tiruvalluva Maalai. Biography Ponmudiyar lived during the t ...

# Kodhamanar # Naththathanar # Mugaiyalur Sirukarunthumbiyar # Aasiriyar Nallanthuvanar #

Keerandhaiyar Keerandhaiyar (Tamil: கீரந்தையார்) was a poet of the Sangam period, to whom a sole verse of the Sangam literature has been attributed, in addition to verse 19 of the Tiruvalluva Maalai. Biography Keerandhaiyar is believed ...

Sirumedhaviyar Nanpalūr Sirumēthāviyār (Tamil: நன்பலூர் சிறு மேதாவியார்) was a poet of the Sangam period, to whom 3 verses of the Sangam literature have been attributed, including verse 20 of the Tiruvalluva Maal ...

# Nalgur Velviyar # Thoditthalai Viluthandinar # Velliveedhiyar #

Mangudi Marudhanar Māngudi Maruthanār, also known as Mānkudi Kilār, Madhurai Kānchi Pulavar, and Kānchi Pulavanār, was a poet of the Sangam period, to whom 13 verses of the Sangam literature have been attributed, including verse 24 of the Tiruvalluva Maalai ...

# Ericchalur Malaadanar # Pokkiyaar #

Mosikeeranar Mōsi Keeranār ( Tamil: மோசிகீரனார்) was a poet of the Sangam period, to whom 10 verses of the Sangam literature have been attributed, including verse 27 of the Tiruvalluva Maalai. Biography Mosikeeranar hailed from Mos ...

# Kaari Kannanar # Madurai Tamil Naganar # Baratham Paadiya Perundevanar # Uruthirajenma Kannar # Perunchithiranar # Nariveruvu Thalaiyar # Madurai Tamilaasiriyar Sengunrur Kilar #

Madurai Aruvai Vanigan Ilavettanar Madurai Aruvai Vanigan Ilavettanar (Tamil: மதுரை அறுவை வாணிகன் இளவேட்டனார்) was a poet of the Sangam period, to whom 13 verses of the Sangam literature have been attributed, including verse ...

# Kavisagara Perundevanar #

Madurai Perumarudhanar Madhurai Perumaruthanār (Tamil: மதுரைப் பெருமருதனார்) was a poet of the Sangam period, to whom a single verse of the Sangam literature has been attributed, besides verse 37 of the Tiruvalluva Maalai. Biogr ...

# Kovoor Kilar # Uraiyur Mudhukootthanar # Ilikat Perunkannanar # Seyir Kaviriyar Maganaar Saathanar # Seyalur Kodum Senkannanar # Vannakkan Saathanar # Kalathur Kilar # Nacchumanar # Akkaarakkani Nacchumanar # Nappalatthanar # Kulapathi Nayanar # Thenikkudi Keeranar # Kodi Gyalanmaani Boodhanar # Kowniyanar # Madurai Paalasiriyanar # Alangudi Vanganar #

Commentaries

There are several commentaries to the Tiruvalluva Maalai, interpreting the meaning of the verses, written over the centuries. The first commentary on the work was written in the 19th century by Tirutthanigai Saravanaperumal Aiyar.

Citations

References

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