
__NOTOC__
''Paṭṭiṉappālai'' () is a
Tamil
Tamil may refer to:
People, culture and language
* Tamils, an ethno-linguistic group native to India, Sri Lanka, and some other parts of Asia
**Sri Lankan Tamils, Tamil people native to Sri Lanka
** Myanmar or Burmese Tamils, Tamil people of Ind ...
poem in the ancient
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 ...
. It contains 301 lines, of which 296 lines are about the port city of
Kaveripoompattinam, the
early Chola
The Early Cholas were a Tamil kingdom of the Chola dynasty - pre and post Sangam period (600 BCE–300 CE). It was one of the three main kingdoms of Tamilakam. Their early capitals were Urayur or Tiruchirapalli and Kaveripattinam. Along wit ...
kingdom and the Chola king
Karikalan. The remaining 5 lines are on the proposed separation by a man who wants to move there and the separation pain of his wife who would miss her husband's love. Of the 301 lines, 153 are in the ''vanci'' meter and the rest are in ''akaval''. It is sometimes referred to as ''Vancinetumpattu'', or the "long song in the vanci meter". The poem was composed by
Katiyalur Uruttirankannanar, sometime around 1st century and 2nd century CE, states Kamil Zvelebil – a Tamil literature scholar. There are mentions of
Mahalakshmi painted on walls and considered her as the goddess of fortune and wealth. The poem explains that the high and strong walls of the city secure the king where
Mahalakshmi sits enthroned. There are mentions in ''Paṭṭiṉappālai'' that many Tamilians worshiped tall pillars or posts as
Mayon (Vishnu). There are Many mentions of Maha Vishnu throughout the poem. There are temples present even now, where
Maha Vishnu is worshiped in a pillar form. A well known example is the
Kaliyuga Varadaraja Perumal Temple.
[Dinamalar Temples, Kaliyuga Varadaraja Perumal Temple]
/ref> It mentions the worship of Maha Vishnu, Mahalakshmi and 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 ...
. Muruga was worshiped as the red god and the god of war.
The title ''Pattinappalai'' is combination of two words, ''pattinam'' (city) and ''palai'' (desert, metonymically "separation, love division"). The poem has a lengthy initial section on the harbor capital city of the ancient Cholas, Kaveripattinam, also referred to as Kavirippattinam, Kaveripumpattinam, Pugar, Puhar, or Kakanthi. This section contains a vivid description of a busy maritime coastal city, the big ships, the fishermen, the markets, its festivals and feasts, and the people. The lines about the lover's separation appear in lines 261–264 and lines 379–382. Between these, is the description of the generous Chola king and the kingdom. The husband is so moved by his wife's inconsolable pain that he postpones his move.
The poem is an important and rich source of historical information about the ancient Chola kingdom and its capital city. The ''Pattinappalai'' mentions the city's music and dance traditions, cock and ram fights, the thriving alcohol and fisheries business, the overseas and domestic trade among the Indian peninsular port cities. There is a mention of goods coming from Burma, Ceylon, northern India, and the River Ganges valley. The section on the Chola king describe the king's initial struggles to gain his throne because neighboring kingdoms had invaded the Chola territory when he was a child. The poem then describes the wars he won, the slaves he took, his return to the throne, his generosity to his people, the artists and the bards.
The ''Pattinappalai'' gives a window into the ethical premises that were idealised by the ancient Tamil society in the Chola kingdom. The peaceful lives of the people is thus described, according to JV Chellaih:
For the merchants plying their trade, some of the lines in this poem state:
This ancient poem regained popularity during 9th to 12th century CE, the later Chola empire, when the court poets used it glorify the ancient heritage and success of the dynasty centuries ago. It is quoted in Tamil literature and temple inscriptions composed during the 11th and 12th century. The ''Pattinappalai'' is notable for its mention of the early Chola kingdom as a cosmopolitan region, where Hindu and Jain monasteries and communities co-existed.
According to scholars such as Miksic, Yian, Meenakshisundararajan and others, the ''Pattinappalai'' is an early textual evidence of the significance of overseas trade that economically and culturally linked Tamil regions with southeast Asian communities in Indonesia, Thailand and Malaysia. One of the trade destinations "Kadaram" in this poem has long been proposed to be the same as modern Kedah
Kedah (), also known by its honorific Darul Aman (Islam), Aman (دار الأمان; Arabic for 'The Safe Abode') and historically as Queda, is a States and federal territories of Malaysia, state of Malaysia, located in the northwestern part of ...
in Malaysia, starting with the proposal of K A Nilakanta Sastri in his ''History of Sri Vijaya''. The poem is also an early record attesting to the cultural practice of dedicating memorial Hero stone
A hero stone (Vīragallu in Kannada, Naṭukal in Tamil) is a memorial commemorating the honorable death of a hero in battle. Erected between the second half of the first millennium BCE and the 18th century CE, hero stones are found all over In ...
s in South India (lines 88–89).
See also
* 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 ...
Notes
References
Bibliography
*
* 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,
*
*
{{DEFAULTSORT:Pattinappaalai
Sangam literature