Malaipatukatam
Encyclopedia
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 Perunkunrur. In praise of a minor chieftain named Nannan Venmaan. Malaipatukatam belongs to the Pattupattu
collection and follows the Arruppadtai style, a device used by most of the books in the Pattupattu collection.
Arruppatai poems read like travelogues in which poets who were returning with gifts received from a king, encourage other poets to do the same by describing in glowing terms the king and his country. This gives the opportunity to the poet, among other topics, to describe in great detail the natural beauty, fertility, and resources of the territory that has to be traversed to reach the palace of the patron.
Malaipatukatam describes the various sounds generated and echoed in a mountainous terrain and uses the analogy of an elephant for the mountain to explain these sounds. It also describes the lifestyle of the folk dancers of the ancient Tamil country
Tamil language
Tamil is a Dravidian language spoken predominantly by Tamil people of the Indian subcontinent. It has official status in the Indian state of Tamil Nadu and in the Indian union territory of Pondicherry. Tamil is also an official language of Sri Lanka and Singapore...
poetic work in the Pathinenmaelkanakku anthology of Tamil literature
Tamil literature
Tamil 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...
, 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 Perunkunrur. In praise of a minor chieftain named Nannan Venmaan. Malaipatukatam belongs to the 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...
collection and follows the Arruppadtai style, a device used by most of the books in the Pattupattu collection.
Arruppatai poems read like travelogues in which poets who were returning with gifts received from a king, encourage other poets to do the same by describing in glowing terms the king and his country. This gives the opportunity to the poet, among other topics, to describe in great detail the natural beauty, fertility, and resources of the territory that has to be traversed to reach the palace of the patron.
Malaipatukatam describes the various sounds generated and echoed in a mountainous terrain and uses the analogy of an elephant for the mountain to explain these sounds. It also describes the lifestyle of the folk dancers of the ancient Tamil country
Ancient Tamil country
The Sangam period is the classical period in the history of Tamil Nadu, Kerala and other parts of South India, spanning about the 3rd century BCE to the 3rd century CE...