Sangam Literature the Basics - Sangam Poems

We saw in Sangam Literature the Basic - Part 1 that the sangam poems were sung during a long period of time, by many poets. Its understood that the poems were sung by ten generations of poets, from various historical analysis. Leaving that aside until later, let me introduce the sangam poems to you. As I said these were written by various poets in various times and this led to the poems to be lost or hidden. So some kings decided to collect and save the poems with the help of some poets. Thus the poems which were found were categorized and recorded.

The shorter poems were collected into anthologies. Anthology is a collection of poems written by different poets following the same literary form. Thus the poems were read, analyzed and grouped into eight anthologies. These are called 'Ettuththogai' which means 'Eight Anthologies'. (ettu - eight, thogai - anthology)

There is a beautiful poem even to remember the names of these anthologies. Look how sweet the poem is!

Sangam Literature the Basics - Kurinji thinai

Kurinji thinai refers to the mountains and adjoining lands. It is named after the flower ‘kurinji’(குறிஞ்சி) which blooms only once in twelve years, in the mountains. What a special name for the thinai!

Kurinji flower: thanks Google

 ‘Kanthal’ (காந்தள்) is another flower which blooms in the mountain slopes and in fact it is the state flower of Tamilnadu. It is the Gloriosa Lily or commonly called the glory lily.

Image: thanks Google

The subject of the kurinji thinai poems is mainly the secret meeting of the lovers, the gossip that starts because of that and the talk about the hero getting married to the heroine. Kurinji thinai’s main sentiment is the love and union of the lovers.

Sangam Literature the Basics - Part 1

The sangam poets sang about nature, love, bravery and the life of people. The sangam poems could be categorized into two main branches, in terms of subject. One talking about the love and domestic life of people is called the 'agam'. Agam means inner, mind, self or home. Agam poems are personal in nature. Again there is a lovely convention of not using any names in these agam poems. So the poems could be applied to anyone surpassing all times. The reader can relate to the poem very closely.

The other branch talks about the public life of people, the bravery and charity of kings, and the wars. This is called 'puram' meaning the outer, public life or exterior. Puram poems refer to many kings, the names of them being explicit or implied. So all the sangam poems could be categorized into agam or puram.

Love and lifestyle of the people were dependent on the nature of the landforms. The people lived very close with the nature. Hence the agam poems are also categorized

Sangam Literature - my first post

I am passionate about literature, especially Tamil. I love the Sangam or ancient Tamil literature for it speaks about the history and life of ancient Tamils. Sangam Literature is so sweet in text and meaning that I thought it wouldn't be nice not to share it. The poems are so deep and lovely in bringing out the landscape and life of early Tamils. I think that these are significant not only for the Tamils but for all mankind, since its about ancient humans and history. Tamils are one of the earliest civilizations.

Sangam poems were written during Sangam period spanning between 300BC and 300AD. The poems were written by various poets. Those were lost until the 19th century until Mr.U.V. Swaminatha Iyer searched and discovered the palm manuscripts. He along with his teacher C.W. Thamodharam Pillai worked hard in collecting the ancient sangam poems and making it known to the world. Mr.U.V.Swaminatha Iyer is fondly called as "Tamil Thatha" meaning the 'Grandfather of the Tamils', without whom we wouldn't have known such a remarkable treasure.

So with due respect to him and all the ancient sangam poets, I embark on my journey into the sangam world. I will write about the sangam literature, the lovely poems with easy explanation in English.