Ancient Tamil music
Encyclopedia
The ancient Tamil music is the historical predecessor of the music of Tamil Nadu
during the Sangam period, which evolved into classical Carnatic music
by the 16th century.
Many poems of the classical Sangam literature
were set to music. There are various references to this ancient musical tradition found in the ancient Sangam books such as Ettuthokai
and Pattupattu
.
The early narrative poem Cilappatikaram
, belonging to the post-Sangam period (5th or 6th century) also mentions various forms of music practiced by the Tamil people.
Music was an integral part of the compositions of the Tamil Saiva saints such as Appar, Thirugnana Sambanthar and Manikkavasagar
during the Hindu
revival period between the 6th and the 10th century.
mentions the various music pertaining to the five landscapes
(thinai) of the Sangam literature. The five landscapes are associated with a particular mood of the poem and to give colour to these moods, each had a musical mood (pann
), a melodic instrument (yaazh) and a percussion instrument (parai). For example, the neithal thinai, which dealt with the incidents around the seashore and the theme of elopement, had the musical mood of sevvazhi, Vilari yaazh as the musical instrument and the navayapambai for the percussion. Tolkappiyam also mentions the musical form known as Paattu Vannam and various types of songs like Asiriapattu, Neduven pattu, Adivarai, Seer, Ahaval Osai and Vellosai, which are classified on the basis of the musical quality, metrical structure etc. Most of the Sangam age poetry utilised one or more of these meters in their compositions. Poems of the Ettuthohai anthology, such as the Natrinai
, Paripaatal
and Kaliththokai
are extensively musical in nature and utilise various panns to create the mood.
type and various percussion instruments such as murasu or muzham. Pattupattu contains a description of the yazh
, a stringed instrument. There were two types of yaazh, Periyaazh or the 'large yaazh' contained 21 strings, whereas its more compact companion Siriyaazh had only seven strings. Two other types of yaazhs, Makarayaazh with 19 strings and Sakottuyaah with seven strings are also mentioned in Pattuppattu. However we have no further information on their actual appearance, mode of playing and the kind of melody generated by these instruments.
The flute
was the most popular wind instrument during the Sangam period. Perumpanarruppatai
, one of the Pattupattu anthologies, describes the process of making the flute. The holes in the bamboo tube were bored using red-hot embers. The flute is also mentioned in the Kurincippattu
as the instrument on which the shepherds played the ambal pann. Among the other wind instruments were the Pili, a small trumpet and Kanvidutumbu a larger flute ), perhaps producing lower octaves The flute also acted as a drone providing a constant pitch for vocalists and other instrumen('as long as the trunk of an elephant'ts.
The Murasu, or the drum was the most popular percussion instrument. During festivals, the sound of Murasu conveyed joy and gaiety. Muzhavu, another percussion instrument accompanied singers. The drum was also used as the war-drum, calling people to arms. Mathuraikkanci
mentions that the murasu was one of the prized possessions captured from the defeated enemy in the battlefield. Malaipatukatam
describes the method of constructing and tuning the murasu. The sides were covered with skin, which were kept in position by leather straps. Malaipatukatam also mentions other percussion instruments such as udukkai, a palm-sized drum, Muzhavu, Siruparai and Tattai. The sound tattai resembled the croaking of a frog. This was a crude folk instrument made using a bamboo stick. Numerous slits were made across the stick and sound was produced on it by striking it on a stone or any other hard surface. In the Kurincippattu peasant women use tattai to scare the birds from the paddy field.
A well-known percussion instrument is the mridangam(mathangam). It's a double headed drum used to accompany the veena(Yaazh) and the flute among other instruments.
"sa-ri-ga-ma-pa-da-ni" of the Indian classical music were known by their Tamil names Kural, Tuttam, Kaikilai, Uzhai, Ili, Vilari and Taram. There are notations for the notes in different octaves. For example, Kurai Tuttam and Nirai Tuttam refer to the ri (rishabha) note in the lower and upper octaves respectively.
, which defines the mood of the Indian classical music was described by the Pann
. Specific panns were sung during worship and during religious and royal ceremonies. Maduraikanchi refers to women singing Sevvazhi pann to invoke the mercy of God during childbirth. In Tolkappiyam, the five landscapes of the Sangam literature had an associated Pann, each describing the mood of the song associated with that landscape.
The Sangam landscape was classified into five regions to describe the mood of the poem and to describe the intangibles of human emotions. While describing life and romance, the poets employed the background of the natural landscape and used the pann specific to that landscape to provide the mood. The neithal landscape, which is employed to convey the grief of separation of lovers had the associated sevvazhi pann expressing pathos.
and his lady-love Madavi. Cilappatikaram contains musical terminology such as, azhaku and matthirai referring to the musical pitch and the smallest fraction of an audible sound distinguishable by the human ear. From these evolved the scales. One of the first scales employed by the ancient Tamils was the mullaippann, a pentatonic scale composed of the notes sa ri ga pa da equivalent to C, D, E, G and A in the western notations. These fully harmonic
scales
, constitutes the raga Mohanam
in the Carnatic music
style. These scales can also be found in many eastern music systems such as the Chinese traditional music
.
Mullaippann further evolved into Sempaalai, a scale based on seven notes. The ancient Tamils also derived new panns by the process of modal shift of tonic and by the process of reallocating the pitch and beat of the notes. Cilappatikaram has an example of this in the chapter Arangetrukadai, where the Pann Mercharupalai is changed to derive a new Pann. The four original panns of maruthappann, kurinchippann, sevvazhi and sadari thus evolved into 103 panns with varying characterisations. Some of the panns and their equivalent Carnatic ragas were:
contains numerous allusions to music and the enjoyment of music. One famous example is the kural compares unfavourably the sweetness of the flute and the yaazh with the voice of children.
s and the Vaishna Naalayira Divyap Prabhandham
s were instrumental in the revival and the popularisation of Tamil music. In addition to the panns for the melody, the Tevaram poems used santham (rhythm) such as thaana-thana-thaanaa-thanaa in their lyrics, providing a complete musical experience to the listener.
The traditional of religious singing continued for many centuries during which singers known as Othuvars sang the Tevaram songs in temples. The musical knowledge and skills were orally passed on through generations.
. Arunagirinathar represents a remarkable blend of Tamil literary genius, a high degree of devotion to Murugan and a musical expertise. Arunagirinathar was one of the first poet to set all his compositions to reverberating music in the style of "Santham" which means setting the verses within a certain length to conform with rhythm (thala). Arunagirinathar was the pioneer in the art of setting his poems to the sweet sounds of music. Just like the seven octaves in music, Arunagirinathar, is known as a santhakkavi – musical poet, utilises certain repetitive phrases rhythmically to achieve movement and colour in his poems. By combining the Tamil hard or soft consonants and long or short vowels in different ways, Arunagirinathar produces hundreds of compound rhythmic words such as, tatta, taatta, tantha, thaantha, thaiya, thanna, thaana, thanana, etc . At the beginning of each poem in the Thiruppugazh, Arunagirinathar gives the rhythm notations.
Music of Tamil Nadu
Music of Tamil Nadu has a long tradition and history going back thousands of years. Music is a very important aspect of the culture of the Tamil people. The musical tradition evolved over a period of centuries into the classical Carnatic music and the more popular film music.-Ancient music:The...
during the Sangam period, which evolved into classical Carnatic music
Carnatic music
Carnatic music is a system of music commonly associated with the southern part of the Indian subcontinent, with its area roughly confined to four modern states of India: Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka, Kerala, and Tamil Nadu...
by the 16th century.
Many poems of the classical Sangam literature
Sangam literature
Sangam literature refers to a body of classical Tamil literature created between the years c. 600 BCE to 300 CE. This collection contains 2381 poems composed by 473 poets, some 102 of whom remain anonymous The period during which these poems were composed is commonly referred to as the Sangam...
were set to music. There are various references to this ancient musical tradition found in the ancient Sangam books such as Ettuthokai
Ettuthokai
Ettuthokai– 'The Eight Anthologies' - Classical Tamil poetic work - form part of the Pathinenmaelkanakku anthology series of the Sangam Literature...
and Pattupattu
Pattupattu
PathuPattu – The ten Idylls, is an anthology of ten mid length books and is one of the oldest surviving Tamil Poetry. This collection is considered part of the Sangam Literature and dated approximately between 300 BCE and 200 CE...
.
The early narrative poem Cilappatikaram
Cilappatikaram
Silappatikaram Silappatikaram has been dated to likely belong to the beginning of Christian era, although the author might have built upon a pre-existing folklore to spin this tale. The story involves the three Tamil kingdoms of the ancient era, the Chola, the Pandya and the Chera...
, belonging to the post-Sangam period (5th or 6th century) also mentions various forms of music practiced by the Tamil people.
Music was an integral part of the compositions of the Tamil Saiva saints such as Appar, Thirugnana Sambanthar and Manikkavasagar
Manikkavasagar
Manikkavacakar was a Tamil poet who wrote Tiruvacakam, a book of Shaiva hymns. Manikkavacakar was one of the poets of the Hindu bhakti revival: his work forms one volume of the Tirumurai, the key religious text of Tamil Shaiva Siddhanta. A minister to the Pandya king Varagunavarman II , he lived...
during the Hindu
Hindu
Hindu refers to an identity associated with the philosophical, religious and cultural systems that are indigenous to the Indian subcontinent. As used in the Constitution of India, the word "Hindu" is also attributed to all persons professing any Indian religion...
revival period between the 6th and the 10th century.
Sangam music
The Sangam age grammatical work TolkappiyamTolkappiyam
The Tolkāppiyam is a work on the grammar of the Tamil language and the earliest extant work of Tamil literature. It is written in the form of noorpaa or short formulaic compositions and comprises three books - the Ezhuttadikaram, the Solladikaram and the Poruladikaram. Each of these books is...
mentions the various music pertaining to the five landscapes
Sangam landscape
The Sangam landscape is the name given to a poetic device that was characteristic of love poetry in classical Tamil Sangam literature. The core of the device was the categorisation of poems into different tiṇais or modes, depending on the nature, location, mood and type of relationship...
(thinai) of the Sangam literature. The five landscapes are associated with a particular mood of the poem and to give colour to these moods, each had a musical mood (pann
Pann
Pann is the melolic mode used by the Tamil people in their music since the ancient times. The ancient panns over centuries evolved first into a pentatonic scale and later into the seven note Carnatic Solfege...
), a melodic instrument (yaazh) and a percussion instrument (parai). For example, the neithal thinai, which dealt with the incidents around the seashore and the theme of elopement, had the musical mood of sevvazhi, Vilari yaazh as the musical instrument and the navayapambai for the percussion. Tolkappiyam also mentions the musical form known as Paattu Vannam and various types of songs like Asiriapattu, Neduven pattu, Adivarai, Seer, Ahaval Osai and Vellosai, which are classified on the basis of the musical quality, metrical structure etc. Most of the Sangam age poetry utilised one or more of these meters in their compositions. Poems of the Ettuthohai anthology, such as the Natrinai
Natrinai
Narrinai ,a classical Tamil poetic work, is a book of Ettuthokai, a Sangam literature anthology. Natrinai contains 400 poems dealing with the five landscapes of Sangam poetry – kurinchi, mullai, marutham, neithal and paalai. This belongs to some of the oldest extant Tamil literature and is dated...
, Paripaatal
Paripaatal
Paripaatal ,a classical Tamil poetic work, is the fifth book in the Ettuthokai, a Sangam literature anthology. Paripaatal contains seventy poems on various deities of the Hindu pantheon. This is a rare example of religious poetry we find in Sangam literature and is possibly the oldest religious...
and Kaliththokai
Kaliththokai
Kalithogai ,a classical Tamil poetic work,is the sixth book of Ettuthokai, a Sangam literature anthology. Kalithogai contains one hundred and fifty poems and were written by various authors. Nachinarkiniyar, a Tamil scholar living during the sixth or the seventh century C.E...
are extensively musical in nature and utilise various panns to create the mood.
Musical instruments
Poems of the Sangam literature contain numerous mentions of the various musical instruments such as the Seerkazhi , a stringed instrument of the VeenaVeena
Veena may refer to one of several Indian plucked instruments:With frets*Rudra veena, plucked string instrument used in Hindustani music*Saraswati veena, plucked string instrument used in Carnatic musicFretless...
type and various percussion instruments such as murasu or muzham. Pattupattu contains a description of the yazh
Yazh
Yazh is a direct ancestor of modern day Veena or Lute.It was named so, because the tip of stem of this instrument was carved into the head of the animal Yali. The yazh was an open-stringed polyphonous instrument, with a wooden boat-shaped skin-covered resonator and an ebony stem. The gut strings...
, a stringed instrument. There were two types of yaazh, Periyaazh or the 'large yaazh' contained 21 strings, whereas its more compact companion Siriyaazh had only seven strings. Two other types of yaazhs, Makarayaazh with 19 strings and Sakottuyaah with seven strings are also mentioned in Pattuppattu. However we have no further information on their actual appearance, mode of playing and the kind of melody generated by these instruments.
The flute
Flute
The flute is a musical instrument of the woodwind family. Unlike woodwind instruments with reeds, a flute is an aerophone or reedless wind instrument that produces its sound from the flow of air across an opening...
was the most popular wind instrument during the Sangam period. Perumpanarruppatai
Perumpanarruppatai
Perumpanarruppatai, is a Tamil poetic work in the Pathinenmaelkanakku anthology of Tamil literature, belonging to the Sangam period corresponding to between 100 BCE – 100 CE. Perumpanarruppatai contains 500 lines of poetry in the Achiriyappa meter. The poems were written by the poet Kadiyalur...
, one of the Pattupattu anthologies, describes the process of making the flute. The holes in the bamboo tube were bored using red-hot embers. The flute is also mentioned in the Kurincippattu
Kurincippattu
Kurincippattu, is a Tamil poetic work in the Pathinenmaelkanakku anthology of Tamil literature, belonging to the Sangam period corresponding to between 100 BCE – 100 CE. "Kurincippattu" contains 261 lines of poems in the Achiriyappa meter. Kurincippattu tells the story about the love affair...
as the instrument on which the shepherds played the ambal pann. Among the other wind instruments were the Pili, a small trumpet and Kanvidutumbu a larger flute ), perhaps producing lower octaves The flute also acted as a drone providing a constant pitch for vocalists and other instrumen('as long as the trunk of an elephant'ts.
The Murasu, or the drum was the most popular percussion instrument. During festivals, the sound of Murasu conveyed joy and gaiety. Muzhavu, another percussion instrument accompanied singers. The drum was also used as the war-drum, calling people to arms. Mathuraikkanci
Mathuraikkanci
Mathuraikkanci, is a Tamil poetic work in the Pathinenmaelkanakku anthology of Tamil literature, belonging to the Sangam period corresponding to between 100 BCE – 100 CE. Mathuraikkanci contains 583 lines of poetry in the Achiriyappa meter...
mentions that the murasu was one of the prized possessions captured from the defeated enemy in the battlefield. Malaipatukatam
Malaipatukatam
Malaipatukatam, is a Tamil poetic work in the Pathinenmaelkanakku anthology of Tamil literature, belonging to the Sangam period corresponding to between 100 BCE – 100 CE. Malaipatukatam contains 583 lines of poetry in the Achiriyappa meter. The poems were written by the poet Perunkosikanaar from...
describes the method of constructing and tuning the murasu. The sides were covered with skin, which were kept in position by leather straps. Malaipatukatam also mentions other percussion instruments such as udukkai, a palm-sized drum, Muzhavu, Siruparai and Tattai. The sound tattai resembled the croaking of a frog. This was a crude folk instrument made using a bamboo stick. Numerous slits were made across the stick and sound was produced on it by striking it on a stone or any other hard surface. In the Kurincippattu peasant women use tattai to scare the birds from the paddy field.
A well-known percussion instrument is the mridangam(mathangam). It's a double headed drum used to accompany the veena(Yaazh) and the flute among other instruments.
Musical notations
In Tamil music, the solfegeSolfege
In music, solfège is a pedagogical solmization technique for the teaching of sight-singing in which each note of the score is sung to a special syllable, called a solfège syllable...
"sa-ri-ga-ma-pa-da-ni" of the Indian classical music were known by their Tamil names Kural, Tuttam, Kaikilai, Uzhai, Ili, Vilari and Taram. There are notations for the notes in different octaves. For example, Kurai Tuttam and Nirai Tuttam refer to the ri (rishabha) note in the lower and upper octaves respectively.
Moods
RagaRaga
A raga is one of the melodic modes used in Indian classical music.It is a series of five or more musical notes upon which a melody is made...
, which defines the mood of the Indian classical music was described by the Pann
Pann
Pann is the melolic mode used by the Tamil people in their music since the ancient times. The ancient panns over centuries evolved first into a pentatonic scale and later into the seven note Carnatic Solfege...
. Specific panns were sung during worship and during religious and royal ceremonies. Maduraikanchi refers to women singing Sevvazhi pann to invoke the mercy of God during childbirth. In Tolkappiyam, the five landscapes of the Sangam literature had an associated Pann, each describing the mood of the song associated with that landscape.
The Sangam landscape was classified into five regions to describe the mood of the poem and to describe the intangibles of human emotions. While describing life and romance, the poets employed the background of the natural landscape and used the pann specific to that landscape to provide the mood. The neithal landscape, which is employed to convey the grief of separation of lovers had the associated sevvazhi pann expressing pathos.
Evolution of panns
The post-Sangam period, between the third and the fifth centuries CE, Tamil music evolved to a higher sophistication [Subjective statment. There wasn't sufficient material available from earlier sources to conclude that Tamil music was less sophisticated earlier]. Cilappatikaram, written around the fifth century CE, describes music based on logical, systematic and scientific calculations in the arrangements of the dancers on the stage to represent the notes and panns. Cilappatikaram contains several chapters dedicated to music and dance, of which the most famous is the kanal vari which is a duet between the hero KovalanKovalan
Kovalan is a central character in the ancient Tamil epic Cilappatikaram.-Plot:Kovalan, the son of a wealthy merchant in Kaveripattinam, married Kannagi, the lovely daughter of another merchant. They lived together happily in the city of Kaveripattinam, until Kovalan met the courtesan Madhavi and...
and his lady-love Madavi. Cilappatikaram contains musical terminology such as, azhaku and matthirai referring to the musical pitch and the smallest fraction of an audible sound distinguishable by the human ear. From these evolved the scales. One of the first scales employed by the ancient Tamils was the mullaippann, a pentatonic scale composed of the notes sa ri ga pa da equivalent to C, D, E, G and A in the western notations. These fully harmonic
Harmonic
A harmonic of a wave is a component frequency of the signal that is an integer multiple of the fundamental frequency, i.e. if the fundamental frequency is f, the harmonics have frequencies 2f, 3f, 4f, . . . etc. The harmonics have the property that they are all periodic at the fundamental...
scales
Musical scale
In music, a scale is a sequence of musical notes in ascending and descending order. Most commonly, especially in the context of the common practice period, the notes of a scale will belong to a single key, thus providing material for or being used to conveniently represent part or all of a musical...
, constitutes the raga Mohanam
Mohanam
Mohanam is a rāgam in Carnatic music . It is an audava rāgam . It is a janya rāgam , as it does not have all the seven swaras .The equivalent of Mohanam in Hindustani music is Bhoop Mohanam is a rāgam in Carnatic music (musical scale of South Indian classical music). It is an audava rāgam (or...
in the Carnatic music
Carnatic music
Carnatic music is a system of music commonly associated with the southern part of the Indian subcontinent, with its area roughly confined to four modern states of India: Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka, Kerala, and Tamil Nadu...
style. These scales can also be found in many eastern music systems such as the Chinese traditional music
Chinese musicology
Chinese musicology is the academic study of traditional Chinese music. This discipline has a very long history. The concept of music yue stands among the oldest categories of Chinese thought, however, in the known sources it does not receive more or less clear definition until the Book of Music...
.
Mullaippann further evolved into Sempaalai, a scale based on seven notes. The ancient Tamils also derived new panns by the process of modal shift of tonic and by the process of reallocating the pitch and beat of the notes. Cilappatikaram has an example of this in the chapter Arangetrukadai, where the Pann Mercharupalai is changed to derive a new Pann. The four original panns of maruthappann, kurinchippann, sevvazhi and sadari thus evolved into 103 panns with varying characterisations. Some of the panns and their equivalent Carnatic ragas were:
- Panchamam – Ahiri
- Pazham Panchuram - SankarabharanamDheerasankarabharanamDheerashankarābharanam , commonly known as Shankarābharanam, is a rāga in Carnatic music . It is the 29th Melakarta rāga in the 72 melakarta rāga system of Carnatic music....
- Meharahkkurinchi - Neelampari
- Pazhanthakka Ragam - Arabhi
- Kurinchi - MalahariMalahariMalahari is a Carnatic raga. This raga is a janya of the 15th Melakarta raga Mayamalavagowla. This raga is known to be a morning raga which brings out a sense of calmness.Raganidhi by P. Subba Rao, Pub...
- Natta Ragam – Panthuvarali
- Inthalam - Nathanamakriya
- Thakkesi - Kambhoji
- Kausikam - BhairaviBhairavi (ragam)Bhairavi is a janya rāgam in Carnatic music . Though it is a sampoorna rāgam , it has two different dhaivathams in its scale, and hence is not classified as a melakarta rāgam .This is one of the ancient rāgams, said to have been prevalent about 1500 years ago...
- Nattappadai – GambheeranaattaiGambhiranataGambhiranata , is a rāga in Carnatic music . It is an audava rāgam . It is a janya rāga , as it does not have all the seven swaras . Gambhiranata is also known as Shuddha Nata.Raganidhi by P. Subba Rao, Pub...
Musical instruments
Cilappatikaram makes reference to five types of instruments: Tolkaruvi (lit. 'skin instruments' = percussion), Tulaikaruvi (lit. 'holed instruments' = wind instruments), Narambukaruvi (stringed instruments), Midatrukaruvi (vocalists) and Kanchakaruvi (gongs and cymbals). The flute and the yaazh were the most popular instruments, while there were numerous kinds of percussion instruments suited for various occasions. Cilappatikaram also contains detailed instructions on the art of tuning and playing the yaazh.Devotional period
Between the fifth and the sixth centuries the Tamil literature was dominated by a moralistic age during which a number of literary works of didactic nature were produced. These poets did not attach much importance to music in their compositions, being more concerned with ethics and morals of the people. However the underlying musical culture was not forgotten. For example TirukkuralTirukkuṛaḷ
Tirukkuṛaḷ , sometimes spelt 'Thirukkural, is a classic of couplets or Kurals or aphorisms celebrated by Tamils. It was authored by Thiruvalluvar, a poet who is said to have lived anytime between the 2nd and 6th centuries AD. Although the exact period of its composition is still disputed,...
contains numerous allusions to music and the enjoyment of music. One famous example is the kural compares unfavourably the sweetness of the flute and the yaazh with the voice of children.
Tevaram
Tamil music revived with the advent of the Saiva and Vaishnava saints who composed thousands of religious hymns in popular language to spread their faith among common people. Saivite nayanmars such as Appar, Thirugnana Sambanthar and Sundarar used the ancient panns to enable people to sing them in Temples. The Saiva TevaramTevaram
The Tevaram denotes the first seven volumes of the Tirumurai, the twelve-volume collection of Tamil Saivite devotional poetry. All seven volumes are dedicated to the works of the three most prominent Tamil poets - Campantar , Appar and Cuntarar...
s and the Vaishna Naalayira Divyap Prabhandham
Naalayira Divyap Prabhandham
The Nalayira Divya Prabandham is a collection of 4,000 Tamil verses composed before 8th century AD, by the 12 Alvars, and was compiled in its present form by Nathamuni during the 9th – 10th centuries. The work is the beginning of the canonization of the 12 Vaishnava poet saints, and these hymns...
s were instrumental in the revival and the popularisation of Tamil music. In addition to the panns for the melody, the Tevaram poems used santham (rhythm) such as thaana-thana-thaanaa-thanaa in their lyrics, providing a complete musical experience to the listener.
The traditional of religious singing continued for many centuries during which singers known as Othuvars sang the Tevaram songs in temples. The musical knowledge and skills were orally passed on through generations.
Thiruppugazh
In the fifteenth century poet Arunagirinathar composed a series of poems known as ThiruppugazhThiruppugazh
Thiruppugazh is a 15th century anthology of Tamil religious songs dedicated to Murugan, the son of Shiva, written by the poet-saint Arunagirinathar...
. Arunagirinathar represents a remarkable blend of Tamil literary genius, a high degree of devotion to Murugan and a musical expertise. Arunagirinathar was one of the first poet to set all his compositions to reverberating music in the style of "Santham" which means setting the verses within a certain length to conform with rhythm (thala). Arunagirinathar was the pioneer in the art of setting his poems to the sweet sounds of music. Just like the seven octaves in music, Arunagirinathar, is known as a santhakkavi – musical poet, utilises certain repetitive phrases rhythmically to achieve movement and colour in his poems. By combining the Tamil hard or soft consonants and long or short vowels in different ways, Arunagirinathar produces hundreds of compound rhythmic words such as, tatta, taatta, tantha, thaantha, thaiya, thanna, thaana, thanana, etc . At the beginning of each poem in the Thiruppugazh, Arunagirinathar gives the rhythm notations.
See also
- Sangam literatureSangam literatureSangam literature refers to a body of classical Tamil literature created between the years c. 600 BCE to 300 CE. This collection contains 2381 poems composed by 473 poets, some 102 of whom remain anonymous The period during which these poems were composed is commonly referred to as the Sangam...
- Tamil literatureTamil literatureTamil literature refers to the literature in the Tamil language. Tamil literature has a rich and long literary tradition spanning more than two thousand years. The oldest extant works show signs of maturity indicating an even longer period of evolution...
- History of Tamil NaduHistory of Tamil NaduThe region of Tamil Nadu in modern India has been under continuous human habitation since prehistoric times, and the history of Tamil Nadu and the civilization of the Tamil people are among the oldest in the world. Throughout its history, spanning the early Paleolithic age to modern times, this...
- Carnatic musicCarnatic musicCarnatic music is a system of music commonly associated with the southern part of the Indian subcontinent, with its area roughly confined to four modern states of India: Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka, Kerala, and Tamil Nadu...
- Dance forms of Tamil NaduDance forms of Tamil NaduTamil Nadu had developed the art of entertainment to its pristine heights at early age. The three modes of entertainment to its pristine heights at a very early age. The three modes of entertainment classified as Iyal , Isai and Nadagam had their roots in the rural folk theatre like Theru Koothu...
- NaattupurapaattuNaattupurapaattuNaattupurapaattu is a form of Tamil folk music.Tamil Nadu has a very ancient and rich form of folk music, some of which is disappearing due to the importance given to Carnatic music as well as the pop movie industries taking over....