Tamil literature
Encyclopedia
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. Contributors to the Tamil literature are mainly from Tamil people
from Tamil Nadu
, Sri Lankan Tamils from Sri Lanka
, and from Tamil diaspora
. Also, there have been notable contributions from Europe
an authors. The history of Tamil literature follows the history of Tamil Nadu
, closely following the social, political and cultural trends of various periods. The early Sangam
literature, starting from the period of 2nd century BCE, contain anthologies of various poets dealing with many aspects of life, including love, war, social values and religion. This was followed by the early epics and moral literature, authored by Hindu
, Jain and Buddhist authors, lasting up to the 5th century CE. From the 6th to 12th century CE, the Tamil devotional poems written by Nayanmars (sages of Shaivism
) and (Alvars
, sages of Vaishnavism
) heralded the great Bhakti movement
which later engulfed the entire Indian subcontinent. It is during this era that some of the grandest of Tamil literary classics like Kambaramayanam
and Periya Puranam
were authored and many poets were patronized by the imperial Chola and Pandya empires. The later medieval period saw many assorted minor literary works and also contributions by a few Muslim
and European authors. By having the most ancient non-Sanskritized Indian literature, Tamil literature is unique and thus has become the subject of study by scholars who wish to delineate the non-Aryan and pre-Aryan strands in Indian culture.
A revival of Tamil literature took place from the late nineteenth century when works of religious and philosophical nature were written in a style that made it easier for the common people to enjoy. The modern Tamil literary movement started with Subramania Bharathi, the mutli-faceted Indian Nationalist poet and author, and was quickly followed up by many who began to utilize the power of literature in influencing the masses. With growth of literacy, Tamil prose began to blossom and mature. Short stories and novels began to appear. Modern Tamil Literary criticism also evolved. The popularity of Tamil Cinema
has also interacted with Tamil literature in some mutually enriching ways.
Sangam literature comprises some of the oldest extant Tamil literature, and deals with love, war, governance, trade and bereavement. Unfortunately much of the Tamil literature belonging to the Sangam period had been lost. The literature currently available from this period is perhaps just a fraction of the wealth of material produced during this golden age of Tamil civilization. The available literature from this period has been broadly divided in antiquity into three categories based roughly chronology. These are: the Major Eighteen Anthology Series comprising the Eight Anthologies
and the Ten Idylls
and the Five Great Epics
. Tolkaappiyam, a commentary on grammar
, phonetics
, rhetoric
and poetics
is dated from this period.
Tamil legends hold that these were composed in three successive poetic assemblies (Sangam) that were held in ancient times on a now vanished continent
far to the south of India
. A significant amount of literature could have preceded Tolkappiyam as grammar books are usually written after the existence of literature over long periods. Tamil tradition holds the earliest Sangam poetry to be over twelve millennia old. Modern linguistic
scholarship places the poems between the first century BC and the third century AD.
Sangam age is considered by the Tamil people
as the golden era of Tamil language
. This was the period when the Tamil country was ruled by the three 'crowned kings' the Cheras
, Pandyas and the Cholas. The land was at peace with no major external threats. Asoka's conquests did not impact on the Tamil land and the people were able to indulge in literary pursuits. The poets had a much more casual relationship with their rulers than can be imagined in later times. They could chide them when they are perceived to wander from the straight and narrow. The greatness of the Sangam age poetry may be ascribed not so much to its antiquity, but due to the fact that their ancestors were indulging in literary pursuits and logical classification of the habitats and society in a systematic manner with little to draw from precedents domestically or elsewhere. The fact that these classifications were documented at a very early date in the grammatical treatise Tolkappiyam
, demonstrates the organized manner in which the Tamil language has evolved. Tolkappiyam is not merely a textbook on Tamil grammar
giving the inflection and syntax of words and sentences but also includes classification of habitats, animals, plants and human beings. The discussion on human emotions and interactions is particularly significant. Tolkappiyam divided into three chapters: orthography
, etymology
and subject matter (Porul). While the first two chapters of Tolkappiyam help codify the language, the last part, Porul refers to the people and their behavior. The grammar helps to convey the literary message on human behavior and conduct, and uniquely merges the language with its people.
The literature was classified in to the broad categories of 'subjective' (akam) and 'objective' (puram) topics to enable the poetic minds to discuss any topic under the sun, from grammar to love, within the framework of well prescribed, socially accepted conventions. Subjective topics refer to the personal or human aspect of emotions that cannot be verbalized adequately or explained fully. It can only be experienced by the individuals and includes love and sexual relationship.
Recognizing that human activities cannot take place in vacuum and are constantly influenced by environmental factors, human experiences, in general, and subjective topics in particular, are assigned to specific habitats
. Accordingly land was classified into five genres (thinai): kurinji (mountainous regions), mullai (forests), marutham (agricultural lands), neithal (seashore), paalai (wasteland). The images associated with these landscapes – birds, beasts, flowers, gods, music, people, weather, seasons – were used to subtly convey a mood, associated with an aspect of life. Kuruntokai
, a collection of poems belonging to the Ettuthokai
anthology demonstrates an early treatment of the Sangam landscape
. Such treatments are found to be much refined in the later works of Akananuru
and Paripaatal
. Paripaatal takes its name from the musical Paripaatal meter
meter utilised in these poems. This is the first instance of a work set to music. Akaval and kalippa were the other popular meters used by poets during the Sangam age.
The three centuries after the Sangam age witnessed an increase in the mutual interaction of Sanskrit
and Tamil
. A number of words and concepts relating to ethics
, philosophy
and religion
were mutually borrowed and exchanged between the languages. Around 300 CE, the Tamil land was under the influence of a group of people known as the Kalabhras
. The Kalabhras were Buddhist and a number of Buddhist authors flourished during this period. Jainism
and Buddhism
saw rapid growth. These authors, perhaps reflecting the austere nature of their faiths, created works mainly on morality and ethics. A number of Jain and Buddhist poets contributed to the creation of these didactic works as well as grammar and lexicography. The collection the minor eighteen anthology
was of this period.
The best known of these works on ethics is the Tirukkural
by Thiruvalluvar. The book is a comprehensive manual of ethics, polity and love, containing 1,330 distichs
or kural divided into chapters of ten distichs each: the first thirty-eight on ethics, the next seventy on polity and the remainder on love.
Other famous works of this period are Kalavali, Nalatiyar
, Inna Narpathu
and Iniyavai Narpathu
. The Jain texts Nalatiyar and Pazhamozhi Nanuru
each consist of four hundred poems, each of which cites a proverb
and then illustrates it with a story.
provided a great stimulus to the growth of popular devotional literature. Karaikkal Ammaiyar who lived in the sixth century CE was the earliest of these Nayanmars. The celebrated Saiva hymnists Sundaramurthi, Thirugnana Sambanthar and Thirunavukkarasar
(also known as Appar) were of this period. Of Appar's verses 3066 have survived. Sambandar sang 4,169 verses. Together these form the first six books of the Saiva canon, collected by Nambi Andar Nambi
in the tenth century. Sundarar wrote Tiruttondartokai which gives the list of sixty-two Nayanmars. This was later elaborated by Sekkilar in his Periyapuranam(4,272 verses). Manikkavasagar
, who lived around the eight century CE was a minister in the Pandya court. His Tiruvasakam
consisting of over 600 verses is noted for its passionate devotion.. These Saivite Hymns collectively called Thirumurai (திருமுறை) is described as SIXTH VEDA next to Bhagavath Geetha in Hindu Tradition.
Along with the Saiva Nayanmars, Vaishnava Alvars
were also producing devotional hymns and their songs were collected later into the Four Thousand Sacred Hymns (Naalayira Divyap Prabhandham
). The three earliest Alvars were Poygai, Pudam and Pey. Each of these wrote one hundred Venpa
s. Tirumalisai Alwar
who was a contemporary of the Pallava
Mahendravarman I
wrote such works as Naanmugantiruvadiandadi. Tirumangai Alvar who lived in the eighth century CE was a more prolific writer and his works constitute about a third of the Diyaprabhandam. Periyalvar
and his adopted daughter Andal
contributed nearly 650 hymns to the Vaishnava canon. Andal symbolised purity and love for the God and wrote her hymns addressing Vishnu
as a lover. The hymn of Andal which starts with Vaaranam Aayiram (One Thousand Elephants) tells of her dream wedding to Vishnu and is sung even today at Tamil Vaishnava weddings. Nammalvar, who lived in the ninth century, wrote Tiruvaimoli. It comprises 1,101 stanzas and is held in great esteem for its elucidation of the Upanishads. This corpus was collected by Nathamuni
, around 950 CE and formed the classical and vernacular basis for Sri Vaishnavism. These Hymns 'Naalayira Divya-p-Prabhandham' is respected at par with Vedas by Sri Vaishnavites in sanctity and holiness and hence referred to as 'Dravida Vedam' (திராவிட வேதம்).
is one of the outstanding works of general literature of this period. The authorship and exact date of the classic Cilappatikaram are not definitely known. Ilango Adigal, who is credited with this work was reputed to be the brother of the Sangam age Chera
king Senguttuvan. However we have no information of such a brother in the numerous poems sung on the Chera king. The Cilappatikaram is unique in its vivid portrayal of the ancient Tamil land. This is unknown in other works of this period. Cilappatikaram and its companion epic Manimekalai
are Buddhist in philosophy. Manimekalai was written by Sattanar who was a contemporary of Ilango Adigal. Manimekalai contains a long exposition of fallacies of logic which is considered to be based on the fifth century Sanskrit work Nyayapravesa by Dinnag. Kongu Velir, a Jain author wrote Perunkathai based on the Sanskrit Brihat-katha. Valayapathi
and Kundalakesi
are the names of two other narrative poems of this period written by a Jain and a Buddhist author respectively. These works have been lost and only a few poems of Valayapathi have been found so far.
, and these were celebrated in numerous hymns. The Prabhanda became the dominant form of poetry. The religious canons of Saiva and Vaishnava sects were beginning to be systematically collected and categorised. Nambi Andar Nambi, who was a contemporary of Rajaraja Chola I
, collected and arranged the books on Saivism into eleven books called Tirumurais. The hagiology of Saivism was standardised in Periyapuranam (also known as Tiruttondar Puranam) by Sekkilar, who lived during the reign of Kulothunga Chola II
(1133–1150 CE). Religious books on the Vaishnava sect were mostly composed in Sanskrit
during this period. The great Vaishnava leader Ramanuja
lived during the reigns of Athirajendra Chola
and Kulothunga Chola I
, and had to face religious persecution from the Cholas who belonged to the Saiva sect. One of the best know Tamil work of this period is the Ramavatharam
by Kamban
who flourished during the reign of Kulottunga III. Ramavatharam is the greatest epic in Tamil Literature, and although the author states that he followed Valmiki, his work is not a mere translation or even an adaptation of the Sanskrit epic. Kamban imports into his narration the colour and landscape of his own time. A contemporary of Kamban was the famous poetess Auvaiyar
who found great happiness in writing for young children. Her works, Athichoodi and Konraiventhan are even now generally read and taught in schools in Tamil Nadu. Her two other works, Mooturai and Nalvali were written for slightly older children. All the four works are didactic in character. They explain the basic wisdom that should govern mundane life.
Of the books on the Buddhist and the Jain faiths, the most noteworthy is the Jivaka-chintamani by the Jain ascetic Thirutakkadevar composed in the tenth century. Viruttam
style of poetry was used for the first time for the verses in this book. The five Tamil epics Jivaka-chintamani, Cilappatikaram
, Manimekalai
, Kundalakesi
and Valayapathi
are collectively known as The Five Great Epics of Tamil Literature
. There were a number of books written on Tamil grammar. Yapperungalam and Yapperungalakkarigai were two works on prosody
by the Jain ascetic Amirtasagara. Buddamitra wrote Virasoliyam, another work on Tamil grammar, during the reign of Virarajendra Chola
. Virasoliyam attempts to find synthesis between Sanskrit and Tamil grammar. Other grammatical works of this period are Nannul by Pavanandi, Vaccanandi Malai by Neminatha, and the annotations on the puram theme, Purapporul Venpamalai by Aiyanaridanar.
There were biographical and political works such as Jayamkondar's Kalingattuparani
, a semi-historical account on the two invasion of Kalinga
by Kulothunga Chola I
. Jayamkondar was a poet-laureate in the Chola court and his work is a fine example of the balance between fact and fiction the poets had to tread. Ottakuttan, a close contemporary of Kambar
, wrote three Ulas on Vikrama Chola
, Kulothunga Chola II
and Rajaraja Chola II
.
and defeated the Pandya kingdom. The collapse of the Delhi Sultanate
triggered the rise of the Bahmani Sultans in the Deccan. Vijayanagar empire rose from the ashes of the kingdoms of Hoysalas and Chalukyas and eventually conquered the entire south India. The Vijayanagar kings appointed regional governors to rule various territories of their kingdom and Tamil Nadu was ruled by the Madurai Nayaks, Thanjavur Nayaks
and Gingee Nayaks. This period saw a large output of philosophical works, commentaries, epics and devotional poems. A number of monasteries (Mathas) were established by the various Hindu sects and these began to play a prominent role in educating the people. Numerous authors were of either the Saiva or the Vaishnava sects. The Vijayanagar kings and their Nayak governors were ardent Hindus and they patronised these mathas. Although the kings and the governors of the Vijayanagar empire spoke Kannada and Telugu
they encouraged the growth of Tamil literature as we find no slowing down in the literary output during this period.
There was a large output of works of philosophical and religious in nature, such as the Sivananabodam by Meykandar. At the end of the fourteenth century Svarupananda Desikar wrote two anthologies on the philosophy os Advaita, the Sivaprakasapperundirattu. Arunagirinathar
who lived in Tiruvannamalai
in the fourteenth century wrote Tiruppugal
. Around 1,360 verses of unique lilt and set to unique metres these poems are on the god Muruga. Madai Tiruvengadunathar, an official in the court of the Madurai Nayak, wrote Meynanavilakkam on the Advaita Vedanta
. Sivaprakasar, in the early seventeenth century wrote a number of works on the Saiva philosophy. Notable among these is the Nanneri which deals with moral instructions. A considerable par to the religious and philosophical literature of the age took the form of Puranas or narrative epics. A number of these were written on the various deities of the temples in Tamil Nadu and are known as Sthala Puranas, based on legend and folklore. One of the most important of the epics was the Mahabharatam by Villiputturar. He translated Vyasa
's epic into Tamil and named it Villibharatam. Kanthapuranam on the god Murugan
was written by Kacchiappa Sivachariyar who lived in the fifteenth century. This work was based broadly on the Sanskrit Skandapurana
. Varatungarama Pandya, a Pandya king of the period was a littérateur of merit and wrote Paditrruppattanthathi. He also translated into Tamil the erotic book known as Kokkoha from Sanskrit.
This period also an age of many commentaries of ancient Tamil works. Adiyarkunallar wrote an annotation on Cilappatikaram
. Senavaraiyar wrote a commentary on the Tolkappiyam
. Then came the famous Parimelalagar whose commentary on the Tirukkural
is still considered one of the best available. Other famous annotators such as Perasiriyar and Naccinarikiniyar wrote commentaries on the various work of Sangam literature. The first Tamil dictionary was attempted by Mandalapurusha who compiled the lexicon Nigandu Cudamani. Thayumanavar
, who lived in the early eighteenth century, is famous for a number of short poems of philosophical nature.
The seventeenth century also saw for the first time literary works by Muslim and Christian authors. The population of Muslims and Christians were growing in Tamil Nadu with the influences of the Delhi Sultanate and the growing European missionaries. Syed Khader known in Tamil as Sithaakkathi, lived in the seventeenth century and was a great patron of all Tamil poets. He commissioned the creation of a biography on the Islamic prophet
Muhammad
. Omar known in Tamil as UmaruPulavar
, wrote Seerapuranam on the life of Muhammad. Costanzo Giuseppe Beschi (1680–1746), better known as Veeramamunivar, compiled the first dictionary in Tamil. His Chathurakarathi was the first to list the Tamil words in alphabetical order. Veeramamunivar is also remembered for his Christian theological epic Thembavani
on the life and teaching of Jesus Christ.
(1815–1876) was a Tamil scholar who taught Tamil at one of these monasteries. He wrote more than eighty books consisting of over 200,000 poems. He is more famous however for encouraging U.V.Swaminatha Iyer to go search for Tamil books that have been lost for centuries. Gopalakrishna Bharathi
lived during the early nineteenth century. He wrote numerous poems and lyrics set to tune in Carnatic music
. His most famous work is the Nandan Charitam on the life of Nandanar who having been born in a sociologically lower caste, faces and overcomes the social obstacles in achieving his dream of visiting the Chidambaram
temple. This work is a revolutionary social commentary considering the period in which it was written, although Gopalakrishna Bharati expanded on the story in Periyapuranam. Ramalinga Adigal (Vallalar) (1823–1874) wrote the devotional poem Tiruvarutpa is considered to be a work of great beauty and simplicity. Maraimalai Adigal
(1876–1950) advocated for the purity of Tamil and wanted to clean it of words with Sanskrit influences. One of the great Tamil poets of this period was Subramanya Bharathi. His works are stimulating in their progressive themes like freedom and feminism. Bharathy introduced a new poetic style into the somewhat rigid style of Tamil poetry writing, which had followed the rules set down in the Tolkaappiyam. His puthukkavithai (Lit.:new poetry) broke the rules and gave poets the freedom to express themselves. He also wrote Tamil prose in the form of commentaries, editorials, short stories and novels. Some of these were published in the Tamil daily Swadesamitran
and in his Tamil weekly India. Inspired by Bharathi, many poets resorted to poetry as a means of reform. Bharathidasan
was one such poet. U.V.Swaminatha Iyer, was instrumental in the revival of interest in the Sangam age literature in Tamil Nadu. He travelled all over the Tamil country, collecting, deciphering and publishing ancient books such as Cilappatikaram
, Kuruntokai
, etc. He published over 90 books and wrote En caritham, an autobiography.
writers. Its emergence was perhaps facilitated by the growing population of Tamils with a western education and exposure to popular English fiction. Mayuram Vedanayagam Pillai wrote the first Tamil novel Prathapa Mudaliar Charithram
in 1879. This was a romance with an assortment of fables, folk tales and even Greek and Roman stories, written with the entertainment of the reader as the principal motive. It was followed by Kamalambal Charitram by B.R. Rajam Iyer in 1893 and Padmavathi Charitram by A. Madhaviah in 1898. These two portray the life of Brahmins in 19th century rural Tamil Nadu, capturing their customs and habits, beliefs and rituals. Although it was primarily a powerful narration of the common man's life in a realistic style spiced with natural humour, Rajam Iyer's novel has a spiritual and philosophical undertone. Madhaviah tells the story in a more realistic way with a searching criticism of the upper caste society, particularly the sexual exploitation of girls by older men.Mr.D.Jayakanthan - the real trend setter in modern day Tamil novels.He has not only enriched the high traditions of literary traditions of Tamil language but has also made outstanding contribution towards the shaping of Indian literature. His literature presents a deep and sensitive understanding of complex human nature and is an authentic and vivid index of Indian reality. His famous novel Sila Nerangalil Sila Manithargal notable one.
Since the 1990s the post modernism writers emerged as a major figures, including Jeyamohan
, S.Ramakrishnan, Charu Nivedita. The critically acclaimed works include Vishnupuram by Jeymohan, Ubapandavam by S.Ramakrishnan, Zero degree by Charu Niveditha, Konangi ( Paazhi), yumaa vasuki - Ratha vurvu (Blood Relation), Lakshmi Manivannan ( appavin Thottathil neer payum idangal ellam ...), nakulan - ninivu-p-padhai. , and Konangi
, who mixes classical Tamil inflections with experimental sound poets.
There is another less recognized , but rich literary work - novels translated from other languages, which are ignored by Tamil pundits. The works include " Urumaatram" (Translation of Franz Kafka's Metamorphosis), Siluvayil Thongum Saathaan ( Translation of "Devil on the Cross" by Ngugi wa Thiango),Thoongum azhagigalin Illam ( Translation of "House of Sleeping Beauties"- by Yasunari Kawabata). The writers like Amarantha, Latha ramakrishnan are contributing for these works.
started by S.S. Vasan in 1929 was to help create some of the greatest Tamil novelists. Kalki Krishnamurthy
(1899–1954) serialised his short stories and novels in Ananda Vikatan and eventually started his own weekly Kalki for which he wrote the enduringly popular novels Parthiban Kanavu
, Sivagamiyin Sabadham
and Ponniyin Selvan
. Pudhumaipithan
(1906–1948) was a great writer of short stories and provided the inspiration for a number of authors who followed him. The 'new poetry or pudukkavithai pioneered by Bharathi in his prose-poetry was further developed by the literary periodicals manikkodi and ezhuttu (edited by Si Su Chellappa). Poets such as Mu Metha contributed to these periodicals. Tamil Christian poets also added to the body of Tamil literature. Tamil Muslim
poets like Pavalar Inqulab
and Rokkiah too have made significant contributions to social reforms. The pioneering fortnightly ournal Samarasam was established in 1981 to highlight and cater to the ethnic Tamil Muslim community's issues.
Another remarkable work was done in Tamil novel field by Mu.Varatharasanar.[Agal vilakku] [Karithundu]. And last but not least Akilan
the unique Tamil novelist,short story writer and a social activist is famous for his works like 'Chithirapavai' 'Vengayinmaindan' 'Pavaivilaku'.
The increasing demand of the literate public caused a number of journals and periodicals to be published and these in turn provided a platform for authors to publish their work. Rajavritti Bodhini and Dina Varthamani in 1855 and Salem Pagadala Narasimhalu Naidu's fornightlies, Salem Desabhimini in 1878 and Coimbatore Kalanidhi in 1880, were the earliest Tamil journals.
The first regular newspaper in Tamil was Swadesamitran in 1882, started by G.Subramaniya Iyer, editor and sponsor of The Hindu and founding member of the Indian National Congress. He created a whole new Tamil political vocabulary. He) was conscious that those with a knowledge of English are a small number and those with a knowledge of Indian languages the vast majority. He felt that unless our people were told about the objectives of British rule and its merits and defects in the Indian languages, our political knowledge would never develop. When Subramania Aiyer quit The Hindu 1898, he made the Swadesamitran his full-time business. In 1899, the first Tamil daily. It was to enjoy this status for 17 years.
Subramania Aiyer's "pugnacious style, never qualifying words to soften the sharp tenor of a sentence," his use of words "dipped in a paste of extra pungent green chillies," made the Swadesamitran sought by Tamils wherever they lived in the world. And the daily became even more popular when Subramania Bharati joined it in 1904. The next year, when Lala Lajpat Rai was arrested and agitation followed in the Punjab, Subramania Aiyer's attitude to the British changed and he became a trenchant political critic of the Raj. His whole political gospel can be summed up in these words: `Peaceful but tireless and unceasing effort.' Let us sweat ourselves into Swaraj, he would seem to say." Swadesamitran is credited for coining new Tamil words to deal with science, politics and administration. It had the most comprehensive budget of news among all the regional language papers of that time.
In 1917, Desabhaktan, another Tamil daily began with T.V. Kalyansundara Menon as editor. He was succeeded by V.V.S. Iyer, a colleague of the Savarkar brothers. These two editors were scholars with a natural, highly readable but polished style of writing.
The freedom movement and the advent of Gandhi also impacted Tamil journalism. Navasakthi, a Tamil periodical edited by Tamil scholar and freedom fighter V. Kalyanasundaram. C. Rajagopalachari began Vimochanam, a Tamil journal devoted to propagating prohibition at the Gandhi Ashram in Tiruchengode in Salem district.
In 1926, Dr P. Vadarajulu Naidu, who was conducting a Tamil news-cum-views weekly ‘Tamil Nadu’ started a daily with the same name. Its forceful and colluqial style gained it a wide readership but after the paper failed to take sides with the 1930 Civil Disobedience Movement, the Congress Party decided to bring out a new Tamil daily- India, edited by renowned poet Subramania Bharati. India showed great promise but could not establish itself financially, and folded up soon after Bharati was exiled to Pondicherry. All these papers were published from Madras.
In 1933, the first Tamil tabloid- the 8 page Jayabharati began at a price of ¼ anna. It closed in 1940 as the price could not sustain even its postage.
In September 1934, S. Sadanand (who was running the Free Press Journal) started the Tamil daily Dinamani with T. S. Chockalingam as editor. It was priced at 6 pies, contained bright features and was fearlessly critical. It was highly successful and its circulation eclipsed the total circulation of all other Tamil dailies. Soon ‘India’ was incorporated into Dinamani. Dinamani made a studied and conscious effort to make the contents of a newspaper intelligible even to the newly literate.
In 1935, Viduthalai was begun, but it was more of a views-paper than a news-paper.
The Non-Brahman Movement also gave an impetus to Tamil journalism. Newspapers like the ‘Bharat Devi’ were strong supporters of this movement.
Many magazines began in Tamil Nadu during the 1920s and '30s. The humour magazine Ananda Vikatan started by S.S. Vasan in 1929 was to help create some of the greatest Tamil novelists. It is still running successfully after 80 years and the Vikatan group today also publishes Chutti Vikatan, Junior Vikatan, Motor Vikatan and other special interest magazines. R. Krishnamurthy serialised his short stories and novels in Ananda Vikatan and eventually started his own weekly Kalki. The name Kalki denotes the impending tenth Avatar of Lord Vishnu in the Hindu religion, who it is said, will bring to an end the Kali Yuga and reinstate Dharma or righteoueness among the worldly beings. He used the name because he wanted to bring about liberation of India.
In 1942, Dina Thanthi (Daily Telegraph) was started in Madurai with simultaneous editions in Madras, Salem and Tiruchirappalli. It was founded by S.P. Adithanar, a lawyer trained in Britain. He modeled Thanthi on the style of an English tabloid- The Daily Mirror. He aimed to bring out a newspaper that ordinary people would read, and which would encourage a reading habit even among the newly literate. In the past, the daily newspaper which was printed in Madras reached the southern Tamil region after at least one day. Thanthi used the public bus system to distribute the paper throughout the south Tamil region and capitalized on the hunger for war news that arose after Singapore fell to the Japanese. Due to financial constraints, its Salem and Tiruchirappalli editions had to be closed down for a while. Thanthi emphasized local news, especially crime and the courts. It used photographs extensively and brought banner headlines to Tamil journalism. It could fit one story on an entire broadsheet page, mainly filled with large easy-to-read headlines. One of its biggest scoops was the murder of the editor of a scandalous film magazine by two actors. Thanthi covered the trial in Madras in detail, and its reporters phoned the daily account to the printing centre in Madurai. Thanthi was the first Tamil paper to understand the people’s fascination with crime and film stars. The paper was popular and it was said that Tamils learned to read in order to read the newspaper.
Dina Thanthi became one of the largest Tamil language dailies by circulation within a few years; it has been a leading Tamil daily since the 1960s. It has today 14 editions. It is the highest circulated Tamil daily in Bangalore and Pondicherry. It issues a book called 10th, +2 Vina Vidai Book, on every Wednesday during the second part of the year. The model question papers of all the subjects of Standard 10 and 12 are provided with answers along with the question papers of board exams that are conducted previous year.
and detective fiction
has enjoyed wide popularity in Tamil Nadu since the 1930s. Popular authors in the years before independence included Kurumbur Kuppusami and Vaduvur Duraisami Iyengar
. In the 1950s and '60s, Tamilvanan
's detective hero Shankarlal carried readers to a variety of foreign locales, while using a pure Tamil with very few Hindi or English loan words. From the 1980s to the present, leading authors include Subha
, Pattukkottai Prabakar
and Rajesh Kumar (who also writes science fiction and other genres). These writers are often extremely prolific, with hundreds or even thousands of short novels to their credit, and one or more short novel published in a monthly periodical. Indra Soundar Rajan
, another popular modern author, writes supernatural crime thrillers usually based around Hindu mythology.
In the 1950s and 60s, Chandilyan wrote a number of very popular historical romance novels set in medieval India or on medieval trade routes with Malaysia, Indonesia and Europe.
Modern romance novels are represented by the current bestselling author in the Tamil language, Ramanichandran
.
Though sales of Tamil pulp fiction have declined since the hey-day of the mid-1990s, and many writers have turned to the more lucrative television serial market, there remains a thriving scene.
has triggered a dramatic growth in the number of Tamil blog
s and specialist portals catering to political and social issues. Even Tamil literature is available as mobile books.
Literature
Literature is the art of written works, and is not bound to published sources...
in the Tamil language
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...
. 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. Contributors to the Tamil literature are mainly from Tamil people
Tamil people
Tamil people , also called Tamils or Tamilians, are an ethnic group native to Tamil Nadu, India and the north-eastern region of Sri Lanka. Historic and post 15th century emigrant communities are also found across the world, notably Malaysia, Singapore, Mauritius, South Africa, Australia, Canada,...
from Tamil Nadu
Tamil Nadu
Tamil Nadu is one of the 28 states of India. Its capital and largest city is Chennai. Tamil Nadu lies in the southernmost part of the Indian Peninsula and is bordered by the union territory of Pondicherry, and the states of Kerala, Karnataka, and Andhra Pradesh...
, Sri Lankan Tamils from Sri Lanka
Sri Lanka
Sri Lanka, officially the Democratic Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka is a country off the southern coast of the Indian subcontinent. Known until 1972 as Ceylon , Sri Lanka is an island surrounded by the Indian Ocean, the Gulf of Mannar and the Palk Strait, and lies in the vicinity of India and the...
, and from Tamil diaspora
Tamil diaspora
The Tamil diaspora is a demographic group of Tamil people of Indian or Sri Lankan origin who have settled in other parts of the world. Significant Tamil diaspora populations can be found in Malaysia, Singapore, Indonesia, the Middle East, Réunion, South Africa, Mauritius, Seychelles, Fiji, Guyana,...
. Also, there have been notable contributions from Europe
Europe
Europe is, by convention, one of the world's seven continents. Comprising the westernmost peninsula of Eurasia, Europe is generally 'divided' from Asia to its east by the watershed divides of the Ural and Caucasus Mountains, the Ural River, the Caspian and Black Seas, and the waterways connecting...
an authors. The history of Tamil literature follows the history of Tamil Nadu
History of Tamil Nadu
The 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...
, closely following the social, political and cultural trends of various periods. The early Sangam
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...
literature, starting from the period of 2nd century BCE, contain anthologies of various poets dealing with many aspects of life, including love, war, social values and religion. This was followed by the early epics and moral literature, authored by 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...
, Jain and Buddhist authors, lasting up to the 5th century CE. From the 6th to 12th century CE, the Tamil devotional poems written by Nayanmars (sages of Shaivism
Shaivism
Shaivism is one of the four major sects of Hinduism, the others being Vaishnavism, Shaktism and Smartism. Followers of Shaivism, called "Shaivas," and also "Saivas" or "Saivites," revere Shiva as the Supreme Being. Shaivas believe that Shiva is All and in all, the creator, preserver, destroyer,...
) and (Alvars
Alvars
The alwar or azhwars were Tamil poet saints of south India who lived between the sixth and ninth centuries A.D. and espoused ‘emotional devotion’ or bhakti to Visnu-Krishna in their songs of longing, ecstasy and service. Sri Vaishnava orthodoxy posits the number of alvars as ten, though there are...
, sages of Vaishnavism
Vaishnavism
Vaishnavism is a tradition of Hinduism, distinguished from other schools by its worship of Vishnu, or his associated Avatars such as Rama and Krishna, as the original and supreme God....
) heralded the great Bhakti movement
Bhakti movement
The Bhakti movement is a Hindu religious movement in which the main spiritual practice is loving devotion among the Shaivite and Vaishnava saints. The Bhakti movement originated in ancient Tamil Nadu and began to spread to the north during the late medieval ages when north India was under Islamic...
which later engulfed the entire Indian subcontinent. It is during this era that some of the grandest of Tamil literary classics like Kambaramayanam
Kambaramayanam
Ramavataram , popularly referred to as Kamba Ramayanam , is a Tamil epic that was written by Kamban during the 12th century. Based on Valmiki's Ramayana in Sanskrit, the story describes the life of King Rama of Ayodhya...
and Periya Puranam
Periya Puranam
Periya Puranam , that is, the great purana or epic, sometimes also called Tiruttontarpuranam is a Tamil poetic account depicting the legendary lives of the sixty-three Nayanars, the canonical poets of Tamil Shaivism. It was compiled during the 12th century by Sekkizhar...
were authored and many poets were patronized by the imperial Chola and Pandya empires. The later medieval period saw many assorted minor literary works and also contributions by a few Muslim
Muslim
A Muslim, also spelled Moslem, is an adherent of Islam, a monotheistic, Abrahamic religion based on the Quran, which Muslims consider the verbatim word of God as revealed to prophet Muhammad. "Muslim" is the Arabic term for "submitter" .Muslims believe that God is one and incomparable...
and European authors. By having the most ancient non-Sanskritized Indian literature, Tamil literature is unique and thus has become the subject of study by scholars who wish to delineate the non-Aryan and pre-Aryan strands in Indian culture.
A revival of Tamil literature took place from the late nineteenth century when works of religious and philosophical nature were written in a style that made it easier for the common people to enjoy. The modern Tamil literary movement started with Subramania Bharathi, the mutli-faceted Indian Nationalist poet and author, and was quickly followed up by many who began to utilize the power of literature in influencing the masses. With growth of literacy, Tamil prose began to blossom and mature. Short stories and novels began to appear. Modern Tamil Literary criticism also evolved. The popularity of Tamil Cinema
Tamil cinema
Tamil cinema is the film industry based in Chennai, Tamil Nadu, India, dedicated to the production of films in the Tamil language. It is based in Chennai's Kodambakkam district, where several South Indian film production companies are headquartered...
has also interacted with Tamil literature in some mutually enriching ways.
Sangam age
குறிஞ்சி - தலைவன் கூற்று யாயும் ஞாயும் யாரா கியரோ எந்தையும் நுந்தையும் எம்முறைக் கேளிர் யானும் நீயும் எவ்வழி யறிதும் செம்புலப் பெயனீர் போல அன்புடை நெஞ்சம் தாங்கலந் தனவே. -செம்புலப் பெயனீரார். |
Red earth and pouring rain What could my mother be to yours? What kin is my father to yours anyway? And how Did you and I meet ever? But in love our hearts have mingled as red earth and pouring rain ~Translated by AK Ramanujan (Kuruntokai Kuruntokai Kuruntokai ,a classical Tamil poetic work, is the second book of Ettuthokai, a Sangam literature anthology. Kuruntokai contains poems dealing with matters of love and separation content matter and were written by numerous authors. Nachinarkiniyar, a Tamil scholar living during the sixth or the ... - 40) A poem from the Eight Anthologies Ettuthokai Ettuthokai– 'The Eight Anthologies' - Classical Tamil poetic work - form part of the Pathinenmaelkanakku anthology series of the Sangam Literature... collection. |
Sangam literature comprises some of the oldest extant Tamil literature, and deals with love, war, governance, trade and bereavement. Unfortunately much of the Tamil literature belonging to the Sangam period had been lost. The literature currently available from this period is perhaps just a fraction of the wealth of material produced during this golden age of Tamil civilization. The available literature from this period has been broadly divided in antiquity into three categories based roughly chronology. These are: the Major Eighteen Anthology Series comprising the Eight Anthologies
Ettuthokai
Ettuthokai– 'The Eight Anthologies' - Classical Tamil poetic work - form part of the Pathinenmaelkanakku anthology series of the Sangam Literature...
and the Ten Idylls
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...
and the Five Great Epics
The Five Great Epics of Tamil Literature
The Five Great Epics of Tamil Literature are five large narrative Tamil epics according to later Tamil literary tradition. The first mention of the "Aimperumkappiyam" occurs in Mayilainathar's commentary of Nannūl. However, Mayilainathar does not mention the names of the five epics...
. Tolkaappiyam, a commentary on grammar
Grammar
In linguistics, grammar is the set of structural rules that govern the composition of clauses, phrases, and words in any given natural language. The term refers also to the study of such rules, and this field includes morphology, syntax, and phonology, often complemented by phonetics, semantics,...
, phonetics
Phonetics
Phonetics is a branch of linguistics that comprises the study of the sounds of human speech, or—in the case of sign languages—the equivalent aspects of sign. It is concerned with the physical properties of speech sounds or signs : their physiological production, acoustic properties, auditory...
, rhetoric
Rhetoric
Rhetoric is the art of discourse, an art that aims to improve the facility of speakers or writers who attempt to inform, persuade, or motivate particular audiences in specific situations. As a subject of formal study and a productive civic practice, rhetoric has played a central role in the Western...
and poetics
Poetics
Aristotle's Poetics is the earliest-surviving work of dramatic theory and the first extant philosophical treatise to focus on literary theory...
is dated from this period.
Tamil legends hold that these were composed in three successive poetic assemblies (Sangam) that were held in ancient times on a now vanished continent
Kumari Kandam
Kumari Kandam is the name of a supposed sunken landmass referred to in existing ancient Tamil literature...
far to the south of India
India
India , officially the Republic of India , is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by geographical area, the second-most populous country with over 1.2 billion people, and the most populous democracy in the world...
. A significant amount of literature could have preceded Tolkappiyam as grammar books are usually written after the existence of literature over long periods. Tamil tradition holds the earliest Sangam poetry to be over twelve millennia old. Modern linguistic
Linguistics
Linguistics is the scientific study of human language. Linguistics can be broadly broken into three categories or subfields of study: language form, language meaning, and language in context....
scholarship places the poems between the first century BC and the third century AD.
Sangam age is considered by the Tamil people
Tamil people
Tamil people , also called Tamils or Tamilians, are an ethnic group native to Tamil Nadu, India and the north-eastern region of Sri Lanka. Historic and post 15th century emigrant communities are also found across the world, notably Malaysia, Singapore, Mauritius, South Africa, Australia, Canada,...
as the golden era of Tamil language
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...
. This was the period when the Tamil country was ruled by the three 'crowned kings' the Cheras
Chera dynasty
Chera Dynasty in South India is one of the most ancient ruling dynasties in India. Together with the Cholas and the Pandyas, they formed the three principle warring Iron Age Tamil kingdoms in southern India...
, Pandyas and the Cholas. The land was at peace with no major external threats. Asoka's conquests did not impact on the Tamil land and the people were able to indulge in literary pursuits. The poets had a much more casual relationship with their rulers than can be imagined in later times. They could chide them when they are perceived to wander from the straight and narrow. The greatness of the Sangam age poetry may be ascribed not so much to its antiquity, but due to the fact that their ancestors were indulging in literary pursuits and logical classification of the habitats and society in a systematic manner with little to draw from precedents domestically or elsewhere. The fact that these classifications were documented at a very early date in the grammatical treatise Tolkappiyam
Tolkappiyam
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...
, demonstrates the organized manner in which the Tamil language has evolved. Tolkappiyam is not merely a textbook on Tamil grammar
Grammar
In linguistics, grammar is the set of structural rules that govern the composition of clauses, phrases, and words in any given natural language. The term refers also to the study of such rules, and this field includes morphology, syntax, and phonology, often complemented by phonetics, semantics,...
giving the inflection and syntax of words and sentences but also includes classification of habitats, animals, plants and human beings. The discussion on human emotions and interactions is particularly significant. Tolkappiyam divided into three chapters: orthography
Orthography
The orthography of a language specifies a standardized way of using a specific writing system to write the language. Where more than one writing system is used for a language, for example Kurdish, Uyghur, Serbian or Inuktitut, there can be more than one orthography...
, etymology
Etymology
Etymology is the study of the history of words, their origins, and how their form and meaning have changed over time.For languages with a long written history, etymologists make use of texts in these languages and texts about the languages to gather knowledge about how words were used during...
and subject matter (Porul). While the first two chapters of Tolkappiyam help codify the language, the last part, Porul refers to the people and their behavior. The grammar helps to convey the literary message on human behavior and conduct, and uniquely merges the language with its people.
The literature was classified in to the broad categories of 'subjective' (akam) and 'objective' (puram) topics to enable the poetic minds to discuss any topic under the sun, from grammar to love, within the framework of well prescribed, socially accepted conventions. Subjective topics refer to the personal or human aspect of emotions that cannot be verbalized adequately or explained fully. It can only be experienced by the individuals and includes love and sexual relationship.
Recognizing that human activities cannot take place in vacuum and are constantly influenced by environmental factors, human experiences, in general, and subjective topics in particular, are assigned to specific habitats
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...
. Accordingly land was classified into five genres (thinai): kurinji (mountainous regions), mullai (forests), marutham (agricultural lands), neithal (seashore), paalai (wasteland). The images associated with these landscapes – birds, beasts, flowers, gods, music, people, weather, seasons – were used to subtly convey a mood, associated with an aspect of life. Kuruntokai
Kuruntokai
Kuruntokai ,a classical Tamil poetic work, is the second book of Ettuthokai, a Sangam literature anthology. Kuruntokai contains poems dealing with matters of love and separation content matter and were written by numerous authors. Nachinarkiniyar, a Tamil scholar living during the sixth or the ...
, a collection of poems belonging to the Ettuthokai
Ettuthokai
Ettuthokai– 'The Eight Anthologies' - Classical Tamil poetic work - form part of the Pathinenmaelkanakku anthology series of the Sangam Literature...
anthology demonstrates an early treatment of the Sangam landscape
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...
. Such treatments are found to be much refined in the later works of Akananuru
Akananuru
Akananuru , a classical Tamil poetic work, is the seventh book in the Sangam literature anthology Ettuthokai. It contains 400 Akam poems dealing with matters of love and separation...
and 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...
. Paripaatal takes its name from the musical Paripaatal meter
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...
meter utilised in these poems. This is the first instance of a work set to music. Akaval and kalippa were the other popular meters used by poets during the Sangam age.
Didactic age
எப்பொருள் யார்யார்வாய்க் கேட்பினும் அப்பொருள் மெய்ப்பொருள் காண்ப தறிவு. |
"The mark of wisdom is to discern the truth From whatever source it is heard." - (Tirukkural Tirukkuṛaḷ 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,... - 423) |
The three centuries after the Sangam age witnessed an increase in the mutual interaction of Sanskrit
Sanskrit
Sanskrit , is a historical Indo-Aryan language and the primary liturgical language of Hinduism, Jainism and Buddhism.Buddhism: besides Pali, see Buddhist Hybrid Sanskrit Today, it is listed as one of the 22 scheduled languages of India and is an official language of the state of Uttarakhand...
and Tamil
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...
. A number of words and concepts relating to ethics
Ethics
Ethics, also known as moral philosophy, is a branch of philosophy that addresses questions about morality—that is, concepts such as good and evil, right and wrong, virtue and vice, justice and crime, etc.Major branches of ethics include:...
, philosophy
Philosophy
Philosophy is the study of general and fundamental problems, such as those connected with existence, knowledge, values, reason, mind, and language. Philosophy is distinguished from other ways of addressing such problems by its critical, generally systematic approach and its reliance on rational...
and religion
Religion
Religion is a collection of cultural systems, belief systems, and worldviews that establishes symbols that relate humanity to spirituality and, sometimes, to moral values. Many religions have narratives, symbols, traditions and sacred histories that are intended to give meaning to life or to...
were mutually borrowed and exchanged between the languages. Around 300 CE, the Tamil land was under the influence of a group of people known as the Kalabhras
Kalabhras
The Kalabhras dynasty ruled over the entire Ancient Tamil country between the 3rd and the 6th century in an era of South Indian history called the Kalabhra interregnum. The Kalabhras displaced the kingdoms of the early Cholas, early Pandayan and Chera dynasties. Information about its origin and...
. The Kalabhras were Buddhist and a number of Buddhist authors flourished during this period. Jainism
Jainism
Jainism is an Indian religion that prescribes a path of non-violence towards all living beings. Its philosophy and practice emphasize the necessity of self-effort to move the soul towards divine consciousness and liberation. Any soul that has conquered its own inner enemies and achieved the state...
and Buddhism
Buddhism
Buddhism is a religion and philosophy encompassing a variety of traditions, beliefs and practices, largely based on teachings attributed to Siddhartha Gautama, commonly known as the Buddha . The Buddha lived and taught in the northeastern Indian subcontinent some time between the 6th and 4th...
saw rapid growth. These authors, perhaps reflecting the austere nature of their faiths, created works mainly on morality and ethics. A number of Jain and Buddhist poets contributed to the creation of these didactic works as well as grammar and lexicography. The collection the minor eighteen anthology
Pathinenkilkanakku
Pathinenkilkanakku is a collection of eighteen poetic works created during the 'post Sangam period' . The poems of this collection differ from the earlier works under the Pathinenmaelkanakku collection , which are the oldest surviving Tamil Poetry. The poems are written in the Venpa meter and are...
was of this period.
The best known of these works on ethics is the Tirukkural
Tirukkuṛaḷ
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,...
by Thiruvalluvar. The book is a comprehensive manual of ethics, polity and love, containing 1,330 distichs
Couplet
A couplet is a pair of lines of meter in poetry. It usually consists of two lines that rhyme and have the same meter.While traditionally couplets rhyme, not all do. A poem may use white space to mark out couplets if they do not rhyme. Couplets with a meter of iambic pentameter are called heroic...
or kural divided into chapters of ten distichs each: the first thirty-eight on ethics, the next seventy on polity and the remainder on love.
Other famous works of this period are Kalavali, Nalatiyar
Nalatiyar
Naaladiyar is a Tamil poetic work of didactic nature belonging to the Pathinenkilkanakku anthology of Tamil literature. This belongs to the 'post Sangam period corresponding to between 100 – 500 CE. Naaladiyar contains 400 poems, each containing four lines...
, Inna Narpathu
Inna Narpathu
Inna Narpathu is a Tamil poetic work of didactic nature belonging to the Pathinenkilkanakku anthology of Tamil literature. This belongs to the 'post Sangam period corresponding to between 100 – 500 CE...
and Iniyavai Narpathu
Iniyavai Narpathu
Iniyavai Narpathu is a Tamil poetic work of didactic nature belonging to the Pathinenkilkanakku anthology of Tamil literature. This belongs to the 'post Sangam period corresponding to between 100 – 500 CE. Iniyavai Narpathu is a collection of 40 poems written by the poet Putham Sernthanar...
. The Jain texts Nalatiyar and Pazhamozhi Nanuru
Pazhamozhi Nanuru
Pazhamozhi Nanuru is a Tamil poetic work of didactic nature belonging to the Pathinenkilkanakku anthology of Tamil literature. This belongs to the 'post Sangam period' corresponding to between 100 – 500 CE. Pazhamozhi Nanuru contains 400 poems written by the poet Munrurai Araiyanaar, a Jain...
each consist of four hundred poems, each of which cites a proverb
Proverb
A proverb is a simple and concrete saying popularly known and repeated, which expresses a truth, based on common sense or the practical experience of humanity. They are often metaphorical. A proverb that describes a basic rule of conduct may also be known as a maxim...
and then illustrates it with a story.
Hindu devotional period
After the fall of the Kalabhras around 500 CE saw a reaction from the thus far suppressed Hindus. The Kalabhras were replaced by the Pandyas in the south and by the Pallavas in the north. Even with the exit of the Kalabhras, the Jain and Buddhist influence still remained in Tamil Nadu. The early Pandya and the Pallava kings were followers of these faiths. The Hindu reaction to this apparent decline of their religion was growing and reached its peak during the later part of the seventh century. There was a widespread Hindu revival during which a huge body of Saiva and Vaishnava literature was created. Many Saiva Nayanmars and Vaishnava AlvarsAlvars
The alwar or azhwars were Tamil poet saints of south India who lived between the sixth and ninth centuries A.D. and espoused ‘emotional devotion’ or bhakti to Visnu-Krishna in their songs of longing, ecstasy and service. Sri Vaishnava orthodoxy posits the number of alvars as ten, though there are...
provided a great stimulus to the growth of popular devotional literature. Karaikkal Ammaiyar who lived in the sixth century CE was the earliest of these Nayanmars. The celebrated Saiva hymnists Sundaramurthi, Thirugnana Sambanthar and Thirunavukkarasar
Thirunavukkarasar
Tirunavukkarasar , , also known as Appar was a seventh century Saivite poet-saint of Tamil Nadu, one of the most prominent of the sixty-three Nayanars. He was an older contemporary of Sambandar...
(also known as Appar) were of this period. Of Appar's verses 3066 have survived. Sambandar sang 4,169 verses. Together these form the first six books of the Saiva canon, collected by Nambi Andar Nambi
Nambiyandar Nambi
Tirunarayur Nambiyandar Nambi was an eleventh-century Shaiva scholar of Tamil Nadu in South India who compiled the hymns of Sampantar, Appar and Sundarar and was himself one of the authors of the eleventh volume of the canon of the Tamil liturgical poetry of Shiva, the Tirumurai.Nambiyandar was...
in the tenth century. Sundarar wrote Tiruttondartokai which gives the list of sixty-two Nayanmars. This was later elaborated by Sekkilar in his Periyapuranam(4,272 verses). 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...
, who lived around the eight century CE was a minister in the Pandya court. His Tiruvasakam
Tiruvasakam
Thiruvasagam is a volume of Tamil hymns composed by the ninth century Shaivite bhakti poet Manikkavacakar...
consisting of over 600 verses is noted for its passionate devotion.. These Saivite Hymns collectively called Thirumurai (திருமுறை) is described as SIXTH VEDA next to Bhagavath Geetha in Hindu Tradition.
Along with the Saiva Nayanmars, Vaishnava Alvars
Alvars
The alwar or azhwars were Tamil poet saints of south India who lived between the sixth and ninth centuries A.D. and espoused ‘emotional devotion’ or bhakti to Visnu-Krishna in their songs of longing, ecstasy and service. Sri Vaishnava orthodoxy posits the number of alvars as ten, though there are...
were also producing devotional hymns and their songs were collected later into the Four Thousand Sacred Hymns (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...
). The three earliest Alvars were Poygai, Pudam and Pey. Each of these wrote one hundred Venpa
Venpa
Venpa 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 Venpa consists of between two to twelve lines....
s. Tirumalisai Alwar
Thirumazhisai Aazhwar
Tirumazhisai-aazhvaar is one of the twelve Alvars of Vaishnavism and is so called as he was born in Thirumazhisai. This place has a temple for Jagannatha Perumal where you can see the idol of Thirumazhisai Azhwar with the eye on the thumb nail in his right leg. His asterism is makham...
who was a contemporary of the Pallava
Pallava
The Pallava dynasty was a Tamil dynasty which ruled the northern Tamil Nadu region and the southern Andhra Pradesh region with their capital at Kanchipuram...
Mahendravarman I
Mahendravarman I
Mahendravarman I was a Pallava king who ruled the Northern regions of what forms present-day Tamil Nadu in India in the early 7th century. He was the son of Simhavishnu, who defeated the Kalabhras and re-established the Pallava kingdom....
wrote such works as Naanmugantiruvadiandadi. Tirumangai Alvar who lived in the eighth century CE was a more prolific writer and his works constitute about a third of the Diyaprabhandam. Periyalvar
Periyalvar
Periyalwar or Periazhwar is the first of the 12 Alvar saints of South India, who are known for their affiliation to Vaishnava tradition of Hinduism...
and his adopted daughter Andal
Andal
Andal is the the only female Alvar of the 12 Alvar saints of South India, who are known for their affiliation to Vaishnava tradition of Hinduism. She is credited with the great Tamil works of Thirupavai and Nachiar Tirumozhi that are still recited by devotees during the Winter festival season of...
contributed nearly 650 hymns to the Vaishnava canon. Andal symbolised purity and love for the God and wrote her hymns addressing Vishnu
Vishnu
Vishnu is the Supreme god in the Vaishnavite tradition of Hinduism. Smarta followers of Adi Shankara, among others, venerate Vishnu as one of the five primary forms of God....
as a lover. The hymn of Andal which starts with Vaaranam Aayiram (One Thousand Elephants) tells of her dream wedding to Vishnu and is sung even today at Tamil Vaishnava weddings. Nammalvar, who lived in the ninth century, wrote Tiruvaimoli. It comprises 1,101 stanzas and is held in great esteem for its elucidation of the Upanishads. This corpus was collected by Nathamuni
Nathamuni
Nathamuni was a Tamil Vaishnava scholar who founded the Sri Vaishnava tradition.According to Sri Vaishnava history, Acharya Shriman Nathamunigal was born at Veera Narayana Puram near Kattumannarkoil...
, around 950 CE and formed the classical and vernacular basis for Sri Vaishnavism. These Hymns 'Naalayira Divya-p-Prabhandham' is respected at par with Vedas by Sri Vaishnavites in sanctity and holiness and hence referred to as 'Dravida Vedam' (திராவிட வேதம்).
Narrative epics
CilappatikaramCilappatikaram
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...
is one of the outstanding works of general literature of this period. The authorship and exact date of the classic Cilappatikaram are not definitely known. Ilango Adigal, who is credited with this work was reputed to be the brother of the Sangam age Chera
Chera dynasty
Chera Dynasty in South India is one of the most ancient ruling dynasties in India. Together with the Cholas and the Pandyas, they formed the three principle warring Iron Age Tamil kingdoms in southern India...
king Senguttuvan. However we have no information of such a brother in the numerous poems sung on the Chera king. The Cilappatikaram is unique in its vivid portrayal of the ancient Tamil land. This is unknown in other works of this period. Cilappatikaram and its companion epic Manimekalai
Manimekalai
Manimekalai or Maṇimekalai , written by the Tamil Buddhist poet Seethalai Saathanar is one of the masterpieces of Tamil literature. It is considered to be one of the five great epics of Tamil literature. Manimekalai is a poem in 30 cantos...
are Buddhist in philosophy. Manimekalai was written by Sattanar who was a contemporary of Ilango Adigal. Manimekalai contains a long exposition of fallacies of logic which is considered to be based on the fifth century Sanskrit work Nyayapravesa by Dinnag. Kongu Velir, a Jain author wrote Perunkathai based on the Sanskrit Brihat-katha. Valayapathi
Valayapathi
Valayapathi is a fragmentary Tamil Jain epic. Tamil literary tradition places it among the five great epics, alongside such works as the Manimekalai and Cilappatikaram.-Sources:...
and Kundalakesi
Kundalakesi
Kundalakesi is a fragmentary Tamil epic written by Nagakuthanaar. Tamil literary tradition places it among the five great epics, alongside such works as the Manimekalai and Cilappatikaram. Its time period has been estimated to be before fifth century C.E.-Sources and content:Of the five great...
are the names of two other narrative poems of this period written by a Jain and a Buddhist author respectively. These works have been lost and only a few poems of Valayapathi have been found so far.
Medieval literature
The medieval period was the period of the Imperial Cholas when the entire south India was under a single administration. The period between the eleventh and the thirteenth centuries, during which the Chola power was at its peak, there were relatively few foreign incursions and the life for the Tamil people was one of peace and prosperity. It also provided the opportunity for the people to interact with cultures beyond their own, as the Cholas ruled over most of the South India, Sri Lanka and traded with the kingdoms in southeast Asia. The Cholas built numerous temples, mainly for their favourite god SivaShiva
Shiva is a major Hindu deity, and is the destroyer god or transformer among the Trimurti, the Hindu Trinity of the primary aspects of the divine. God Shiva is a yogi who has notice of everything that happens in the world and is the main aspect of life. Yet one with great power lives a life of a...
, and these were celebrated in numerous hymns. The Prabhanda became the dominant form of poetry. The religious canons of Saiva and Vaishnava sects were beginning to be systematically collected and categorised. Nambi Andar Nambi, who was a contemporary of Rajaraja Chola I
Rajaraja Chola I
Raja Raja Chola I born Arunmozhi Thevar , popularly known as Raja Raja the Great, is one of the greatest emperors of the Tamil Chola Empire of India who ruled between 985 and 1014 CE...
, collected and arranged the books on Saivism into eleven books called Tirumurais. The hagiology of Saivism was standardised in Periyapuranam (also known as Tiruttondar Puranam) by Sekkilar, who lived during the reign of Kulothunga Chola II
Kulothunga Chola II
Kulothunga Chola II was a 12th century king of the Chola Dynasty of the Tamil people of South India. He succeeded his father Vikrama Chola to the throne in 1135 CE. Vikrama Chola made Kulothunga his heir apparent and coregent in 1133 CE, so the inscriptions of Kulothunga II count his reign from...
(1133–1150 CE). Religious books on the Vaishnava sect were mostly composed in Sanskrit
Sanskrit
Sanskrit , is a historical Indo-Aryan language and the primary liturgical language of Hinduism, Jainism and Buddhism.Buddhism: besides Pali, see Buddhist Hybrid Sanskrit Today, it is listed as one of the 22 scheduled languages of India and is an official language of the state of Uttarakhand...
during this period. The great Vaishnava leader Ramanuja
Ramanuja
Ramanuja ; traditionally 1017–1137, also known as Ramanujacharya, Ethirajar , Emperumannar, Lakshmana Muni, was a theologian, philosopher, and scriptural exegete...
lived during the reigns of Athirajendra Chola
Athirajendra Chola
Athirajendra Chola reigned for a very short period of few months as the Chola king succeeding his father Virarajendra Chola. His reign was marked by civil unrest, possibly religious in nature, in which he was killed...
and Kulothunga Chola I
Kulothunga Chola I
Kō Rājakēsarivarman Abaya Kulōthunga Chōla was one of the greatest kings of the Chola Empire. He was one of the sovereigns who bore the title Kulottunga, literally meaning the exalter of his race.-Early life:...
, and had to face religious persecution from the Cholas who belonged to the Saiva sect. One of the best know Tamil work of this period is the Ramavatharam
Kambaramayanam
Ramavataram , popularly referred to as Kamba Ramayanam , is a Tamil epic that was written by Kamban during the 12th century. Based on Valmiki's Ramayana in Sanskrit, the story describes the life of King Rama of Ayodhya...
by Kamban
Kambar
Kambar was a medieval Tamil poet and the author of the Tamil Ramayanam known as Kambaramayanam, the Tamil version of Ramayana. Kambar also authored other literary works in Tamil such as Erezhupathu,Silaiezhupathu, Kangai Puranam and Sarasvati Anthati.-Life:Kambar belonged to the Ochchan or Occhan...
who flourished during the reign of Kulottunga III. Ramavatharam is the greatest epic in Tamil Literature, and although the author states that he followed Valmiki, his work is not a mere translation or even an adaptation of the Sanskrit epic. Kamban imports into his narration the colour and landscape of his own time. A contemporary of Kamban was the famous poetess Auvaiyar
Auvaiyar
The Avvaiyars "respectable women" was the title of more than one poet who was active during different periods of Tamil literature. The Avvaiyar were some of the most famous and important female poets of the Tamil canon. Abithana Chintamani states that there were three female poets titled...
who found great happiness in writing for young children. Her works, Athichoodi and Konraiventhan are even now generally read and taught in schools in Tamil Nadu. Her two other works, Mooturai and Nalvali were written for slightly older children. All the four works are didactic in character. They explain the basic wisdom that should govern mundane life.
Of the books on the Buddhist and the Jain faiths, the most noteworthy is the Jivaka-chintamani by the Jain ascetic Thirutakkadevar composed in the tenth century. Viruttam
Viruttam
A viruttam or virutham is a Hindu devotional verse sung in Carnatic music concerts. Viruttams do not possess a set tala and are solely improvised using one or more ragams. It is one of many forms of manodharma in Carnatic music.A viruttam usually precedes rendition of a song...
style of poetry was used for the first time for the verses in this book. The five Tamil epics Jivaka-chintamani, 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...
, Manimekalai
Manimekalai
Manimekalai or Maṇimekalai , written by the Tamil Buddhist poet Seethalai Saathanar is one of the masterpieces of Tamil literature. It is considered to be one of the five great epics of Tamil literature. Manimekalai is a poem in 30 cantos...
, Kundalakesi
Kundalakesi
Kundalakesi is a fragmentary Tamil epic written by Nagakuthanaar. Tamil literary tradition places it among the five great epics, alongside such works as the Manimekalai and Cilappatikaram. Its time period has been estimated to be before fifth century C.E.-Sources and content:Of the five great...
and Valayapathi
Valayapathi
Valayapathi is a fragmentary Tamil Jain epic. Tamil literary tradition places it among the five great epics, alongside such works as the Manimekalai and Cilappatikaram.-Sources:...
are collectively known as The Five Great Epics of Tamil Literature
The Five Great Epics of Tamil Literature
The Five Great Epics of Tamil Literature are five large narrative Tamil epics according to later Tamil literary tradition. The first mention of the "Aimperumkappiyam" occurs in Mayilainathar's commentary of Nannūl. However, Mayilainathar does not mention the names of the five epics...
. There were a number of books written on Tamil grammar. Yapperungalam and Yapperungalakkarigai were two works on prosody
Prosody (linguistics)
In linguistics, prosody is the rhythm, stress, and intonation of speech. Prosody may reflect various features of the speaker or the utterance: the emotional state of the speaker; the form of the utterance ; the presence of irony or sarcasm; emphasis, contrast, and focus; or other elements of...
by the Jain ascetic Amirtasagara. Buddamitra wrote Virasoliyam, another work on Tamil grammar, during the reign of Virarajendra Chola
Virarajendra Chola
Virarajendra Chola was one of the most under-rated Chola kings, mainly because a major part of his life was spent in the apprenticeship of his two elder brothers Rajadhirajan Chola I and Rajendra Chola-II, who along with Virarajendra Chola himself were the illustrious sons of their Chakravarti...
. Virasoliyam attempts to find synthesis between Sanskrit and Tamil grammar. Other grammatical works of this period are Nannul by Pavanandi, Vaccanandi Malai by Neminatha, and the annotations on the puram theme, Purapporul Venpamalai by Aiyanaridanar.
There were biographical and political works such as Jayamkondar's Kalingattuparani
Kalingattuparani
Kalingattuparani is a 12th century Tamil poem and a war song by Jayamkondar, celebrating the victory of Kulottunga Chola I over the Kalinga king, Anantavarman Chodaganga in the Chola-Kalinga war. It gives a vivid and a graphic description of battle scenes. It is hailed as one of the master-pieces...
, a semi-historical account on the two invasion of Kalinga
Kalinga (India)
Kalinga was an early state in central-eastern India, which comprised most of the modern state of Orissa/Utkal , as well as the Andhra region of the bordering state of Andhra Pradesh. It was a rich and fertile land that extended from the river Damodar/Ganges to Godavari and from Bay of Bengal to...
by Kulothunga Chola I
Kulothunga Chola I
Kō Rājakēsarivarman Abaya Kulōthunga Chōla was one of the greatest kings of the Chola Empire. He was one of the sovereigns who bore the title Kulottunga, literally meaning the exalter of his race.-Early life:...
. Jayamkondar was a poet-laureate in the Chola court and his work is a fine example of the balance between fact and fiction the poets had to tread. Ottakuttan, a close contemporary of Kambar
Kambar
Kambar was a medieval Tamil poet and the author of the Tamil Ramayanam known as Kambaramayanam, the Tamil version of Ramayana. Kambar also authored other literary works in Tamil such as Erezhupathu,Silaiezhupathu, Kangai Puranam and Sarasvati Anthati.-Life:Kambar belonged to the Ochchan or Occhan...
, wrote three Ulas on Vikrama Chola
Vikrama Chola
Kōpparakēsarivarman Vikrama Chola was a 12th century king of the Chola empire. He succeeded his father Kulothunga Chola I to the throne in 1120 C.E. A insscription of his from Sidlaghatta in Karnataka mentions the Saka date 1042...
, Kulothunga Chola II
Kulothunga Chola II
Kulothunga Chola II was a 12th century king of the Chola Dynasty of the Tamil people of South India. He succeeded his father Vikrama Chola to the throne in 1135 CE. Vikrama Chola made Kulothunga his heir apparent and coregent in 1133 CE, so the inscriptions of Kulothunga II count his reign from...
and Rajaraja Chola II
Rajaraja Chola II
Rajaraja Chola II succeeded his father Kulothunga Chola II to the Chola throne in 1150 C.E. He was made his heir apparent and coregent in 1146 C.E and so the inscriptions of Rajaraja II count his reign from 1146 C.E...
.
Vijayanagar and Nayak period
The period from 1300 CE to 1650 was a period of constant change in the political situation of Tamil Nadu. The Tamil country was invaded by the armies of the Delhi SultanateDelhi Sultanate
The Delhi Sultanate is a term used to cover five short-lived, Delhi based kingdoms or sultanates, of Turkic origin in medieval India. The sultanates ruled from Delhi between 1206 and 1526, when the last was replaced by the Mughal dynasty...
and defeated the Pandya kingdom. The collapse of the Delhi Sultanate
Delhi Sultanate
The Delhi Sultanate is a term used to cover five short-lived, Delhi based kingdoms or sultanates, of Turkic origin in medieval India. The sultanates ruled from Delhi between 1206 and 1526, when the last was replaced by the Mughal dynasty...
triggered the rise of the Bahmani Sultans in the Deccan. Vijayanagar empire rose from the ashes of the kingdoms of Hoysalas and Chalukyas and eventually conquered the entire south India. The Vijayanagar kings appointed regional governors to rule various territories of their kingdom and Tamil Nadu was ruled by the Madurai Nayaks, Thanjavur Nayaks
Thanjavur Nayaks
Thanjavur Nayaks were the rulers of Thanjavur principality of Tamil Nadu between the 16th to the 17th century C.E. The Nayaks were subordinates of the imperial Vijayanagara emperors, and were appointed as provincial governors by the Vijayanagar Emperor who divided the Tamil country into three...
and Gingee Nayaks. This period saw a large output of philosophical works, commentaries, epics and devotional poems. A number of monasteries (Mathas) were established by the various Hindu sects and these began to play a prominent role in educating the people. Numerous authors were of either the Saiva or the Vaishnava sects. The Vijayanagar kings and their Nayak governors were ardent Hindus and they patronised these mathas. Although the kings and the governors of the Vijayanagar empire spoke Kannada and Telugu
Telugu language
Telugu is a Central Dravidian language primarily spoken in the state of Andhra Pradesh, India, where it is an official language. It is also spoken in the neighbouring states of Chattisgarh, Karnataka, Maharashtra, Orissa and Tamil Nadu...
they encouraged the growth of Tamil literature as we find no slowing down in the literary output during this period.
There was a large output of works of philosophical and religious in nature, such as the Sivananabodam by Meykandar. At the end of the fourteenth century Svarupananda Desikar wrote two anthologies on the philosophy os Advaita, the Sivaprakasapperundirattu. Arunagirinathar
Arunagirinathar
Arunagirinathar was Tamil poet who lived during the 15th century in Tamil Nadu, India. He was the creator of Tiruppugazh, a book of poems in Tamil in praise of the Hindu God Murugan. He was a member of the Isai Vellalar community....
who lived in Tiruvannamalai
Tiruvannamalai
Thiruvannamalai is a pilgrimage Temple city and special grade municipality in Thiruvannamalai district in the Indian state of Tamil Nadu. It is the headquarters of the Thiruvannamalai district. Thiruvannamalai is home to the Annamalaiyar Temple located at the foot of the Annamalai hill and...
in the fourteenth century wrote Tiruppugal
Thiruppugazh
Thiruppugazh is a 15th century anthology of Tamil religious songs dedicated to Murugan, the son of Shiva, written by the poet-saint Arunagirinathar...
. Around 1,360 verses of unique lilt and set to unique metres these poems are on the god Muruga. Madai Tiruvengadunathar, an official in the court of the Madurai Nayak, wrote Meynanavilakkam on the Advaita Vedanta
Advaita Vedanta
Advaita Vedanta is considered to be the most influential and most dominant sub-school of the Vedānta school of Hindu philosophy. Other major sub-schools of Vedānta are Dvaita and ; while the minor ones include Suddhadvaita, Dvaitadvaita and Achintya Bhedabheda...
. Sivaprakasar, in the early seventeenth century wrote a number of works on the Saiva philosophy. Notable among these is the Nanneri which deals with moral instructions. A considerable par to the religious and philosophical literature of the age took the form of Puranas or narrative epics. A number of these were written on the various deities of the temples in Tamil Nadu and are known as Sthala Puranas, based on legend and folklore. One of the most important of the epics was the Mahabharatam by Villiputturar. He translated Vyasa
Vyasa
Vyasa is a central and revered figure in most Hindu traditions. He is also sometimes called Veda Vyasa , or Krishna Dvaipayana...
's epic into Tamil and named it Villibharatam. Kanthapuranam on the god Murugan
Murugan
Murugan also called Kartikeya, Skanda and Subrahmanya, is a popular Hindu deity especially among Tamil Hindus, worshipped primarily in areas with Tamil influences, especially South India, Singapore, Sri Lanka, Malaysia, Mauritius and Reunion Island. His six most important shrines in India are the...
was written by Kacchiappa Sivachariyar who lived in the fifteenth century. This work was based broadly on the Sanskrit Skandapurana
Skanda Purana
The Skanda Purana is the largest Mahapurana, a genre of eighteen Hindu religious texts. The text is devoted mainly to the lilas of Kartikeya , a son of Shiva and Parvati. It also contains a number of legends about Shiva, and the holy places associated with him...
. Varatungarama Pandya, a Pandya king of the period was a littérateur of merit and wrote Paditrruppattanthathi. He also translated into Tamil the erotic book known as Kokkoha from Sanskrit.
This period also an age of many commentaries of ancient Tamil works. Adiyarkunallar wrote an annotation on 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...
. Senavaraiyar wrote a commentary on the Tolkappiyam
Tolkappiyam
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...
. Then came the famous Parimelalagar whose commentary on the Tirukkural
Tirukkuṛaḷ
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,...
is still considered one of the best available. Other famous annotators such as Perasiriyar and Naccinarikiniyar wrote commentaries on the various work of Sangam literature. The first Tamil dictionary was attempted by Mandalapurusha who compiled the lexicon Nigandu Cudamani. Thayumanavar
Thayumanavar
Thayyumanavar was a Tamil philosopher and Hindu saint. Thayumanavar articulated the Saiva Siddhanta philosophy. He wrote several Tamil hymns of which 1454 are available. His first three songs were sung 250 years ago at the Congress of Religions in Trichinopoly...
, who lived in the early eighteenth century, is famous for a number of short poems of philosophical nature.
The seventeenth century also saw for the first time literary works by Muslim and Christian authors. The population of Muslims and Christians were growing in Tamil Nadu with the influences of the Delhi Sultanate and the growing European missionaries. Syed Khader known in Tamil as Sithaakkathi, lived in the seventeenth century and was a great patron of all Tamil poets. He commissioned the creation of a biography on the Islamic prophet
Prophet
In religion, a prophet, from the Greek word προφήτης profitis meaning "foreteller", is an individual who is claimed to have been contacted by the supernatural or the divine, and serves as an intermediary with humanity, delivering this newfound knowledge from the supernatural entity to other people...
Muhammad
Muhammad
Muhammad |ligature]] at U+FDF4 ;Arabic pronunciation varies regionally; the first vowel ranges from ~~; the second and the last vowel: ~~~. There are dialects which have no stress. In Egypt, it is pronounced not in religious contexts...
. Omar known in Tamil as UmaruPulavar
Umaru Pulavar
Umaru Pulavar was a Tamil Muslim poet from Tamil Nadu, India. Umaru Pulavar was born in 1642 in the town of Ettayapuram in Thoothukudi district. He is celebrated as one of the greatest Islamic Poets of India.-Early life:...
, wrote Seerapuranam on the life of Muhammad. Costanzo Giuseppe Beschi (1680–1746), better known as Veeramamunivar, compiled the first dictionary in Tamil. His Chathurakarathi was the first to list the Tamil words in alphabetical order. Veeramamunivar is also remembered for his Christian theological epic Thembavani
Thembavani
Thembavani , one of the Tamil classics, a poetical work of Veeramamunivar , on the life of Jesus Christ. This Tamil Divina Commedia is divided into thirty-six cantos, containing 3,615 stanzas. "It is," says Baumgartner, "the noblest epic poem in honor of St. Joseph written in any literature, East...
on the life and teaching of Jesus Christ.
Modern era
During the eighteenth and the nineteenth century Tamil Nadu witnessed some of the most profound changes in the political scene. The traditional Tamil ruling clans were superseded by European colonists and their sympathisers. The Tamil society underwent a deep cultural shock with the imposition of western cultural influences. The Hindu religious establishments attempted to stem the tide of change and to safeguard the Tamil cultural values. Notable among these were the Saiva monasteries at Tiruvavaduthurai, Dharmapuram, Thiruppananthal and Kundrakudi. Meenakshi Sundaram PillaiMeenakshi Sundaram Pillai
Meenakshi Sundaram Pillai or Mahavidhvan Meenakshisundaram Pillai is an eminent Tamil scholar and is the teacher of U. V...
(1815–1876) was a Tamil scholar who taught Tamil at one of these monasteries. He wrote more than eighty books consisting of over 200,000 poems. He is more famous however for encouraging U.V.Swaminatha Iyer to go search for Tamil books that have been lost for centuries. Gopalakrishna Bharathi
Gopalakrishna Bharathi
Gopalakrishna Bharati was a Tamil poet and a composer of Carnatic music. He wrote a katAkALatcEpam , NantanAr Carittiram , two other works in this genre, and many independent kritis....
lived during the early nineteenth century. He wrote numerous poems and lyrics set to tune in 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...
. His most famous work is the Nandan Charitam on the life of Nandanar who having been born in a sociologically lower caste, faces and overcomes the social obstacles in achieving his dream of visiting the Chidambaram
Chidambaram
Chidambaram is a fast growing industrial city in Eastern part of Tamil Nadu and the taluk headquarters of the Cuddalore district. It is located in 58 km from Pondicherry, 60 km from Karaikal, and 240 km south of Chennai by rail...
temple. This work is a revolutionary social commentary considering the period in which it was written, although Gopalakrishna Bharati expanded on the story in Periyapuranam. Ramalinga Adigal (Vallalar) (1823–1874) wrote the devotional poem Tiruvarutpa is considered to be a work of great beauty and simplicity. Maraimalai Adigal
Maraimalai Adigal
Maraimalai Adigal was an eminent Tamil orator and writer. He was a devout Hindu as a staunch follower of Saivism. He has authored more than 100 books, including works on original poems and dramas, but most famous are his books on his research into Tamil literature. Most of his literary works were...
(1876–1950) advocated for the purity of Tamil and wanted to clean it of words with Sanskrit influences. One of the great Tamil poets of this period was Subramanya Bharathi. His works are stimulating in their progressive themes like freedom and feminism. Bharathy introduced a new poetic style into the somewhat rigid style of Tamil poetry writing, which had followed the rules set down in the Tolkaappiyam. His puthukkavithai (Lit.:new poetry) broke the rules and gave poets the freedom to express themselves. He also wrote Tamil prose in the form of commentaries, editorials, short stories and novels. Some of these were published in the Tamil daily Swadesamitran
Swadesamitran
Swadesamitran was the first Tamil language newspaper owned and operated by Indians. It was published from Chennai . It was founded by G Subramania Aiyer who also served as the papers first editor. It was founded as a sister paper of The Hindu which Aiyer had also founded two years earlier in 1879...
and in his Tamil weekly India. Inspired by Bharathi, many poets resorted to poetry as a means of reform. Bharathidasan
Bharathidasan
Bharathidasan was a twentieth century Tamil poet and rationalist whose literary works handled mostly socio-political issues. His writings served as a catalyst for the growth of the Dravidian movement in Tamil Nadu...
was one such poet. U.V.Swaminatha Iyer, was instrumental in the revival of interest in the Sangam age literature in Tamil Nadu. He travelled all over the Tamil country, collecting, deciphering and publishing ancient books such as 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...
, Kuruntokai
Kuruntokai
Kuruntokai ,a classical Tamil poetic work, is the second book of Ettuthokai, a Sangam literature anthology. Kuruntokai contains poems dealing with matters of love and separation content matter and were written by numerous authors. Nachinarkiniyar, a Tamil scholar living during the sixth or the ...
, etc. He published over 90 books and wrote En caritham, an autobiography.
Tamil novel
The novel as a genre of literature arrived in Tamil in the third quarter of nineteenth century, more than a century after it became popular with EnglishEnglish language
English is a West Germanic language that arose in the Anglo-Saxon kingdoms of England and spread into what was to become south-east Scotland under the influence of the Anglian medieval kingdom of Northumbria...
writers. Its emergence was perhaps facilitated by the growing population of Tamils with a western education and exposure to popular English fiction. Mayuram Vedanayagam Pillai wrote the first Tamil novel Prathapa Mudaliar Charithram
Prathapa Mudaliar Charithram
Prathapa Mudaliar Charithram , written in 1857 and published in 1879, was the first novel in the Tamil language. Penned by Mayuram Vedanayagam Pillai, it was a landmark in Tamil literature, which had hitherto seen writings only in poetry...
in 1879. This was a romance with an assortment of fables, folk tales and even Greek and Roman stories, written with the entertainment of the reader as the principal motive. It was followed by Kamalambal Charitram by B.R. Rajam Iyer in 1893 and Padmavathi Charitram by A. Madhaviah in 1898. These two portray the life of Brahmins in 19th century rural Tamil Nadu, capturing their customs and habits, beliefs and rituals. Although it was primarily a powerful narration of the common man's life in a realistic style spiced with natural humour, Rajam Iyer's novel has a spiritual and philosophical undertone. Madhaviah tells the story in a more realistic way with a searching criticism of the upper caste society, particularly the sexual exploitation of girls by older men.Mr.D.Jayakanthan - the real trend setter in modern day Tamil novels.He has not only enriched the high traditions of literary traditions of Tamil language but has also made outstanding contribution towards the shaping of Indian literature. His literature presents a deep and sensitive understanding of complex human nature and is an authentic and vivid index of Indian reality. His famous novel Sila Nerangalil Sila Manithargal notable one.
Since the 1990s the post modernism writers emerged as a major figures, including Jeyamohan
Jeyamohan
B. Jeyamohan or Jayamohan is a noted Tamil and Malayalam writer and literary critic from Nagercoil in the south Indian state of Tamil Nadu....
, S.Ramakrishnan, Charu Nivedita. The critically acclaimed works include Vishnupuram by Jeymohan, Ubapandavam by S.Ramakrishnan, Zero degree by Charu Niveditha, Konangi ( Paazhi), yumaa vasuki - Ratha vurvu (Blood Relation), Lakshmi Manivannan ( appavin Thottathil neer payum idangal ellam ...), nakulan - ninivu-p-padhai. , and Konangi
Konangi
Konangi is the pen name of the Tamil writer Ilango. He was born and currently lives in Kovilpatti, Tamil Nadu. He has published five short story collections and two novels. His works are characterised by extremely dense imageries and emphasis on language rather than the plot...
, who mixes classical Tamil inflections with experimental sound poets.
There is another less recognized , but rich literary work - novels translated from other languages, which are ignored by Tamil pundits. The works include " Urumaatram" (Translation of Franz Kafka's Metamorphosis), Siluvayil Thongum Saathaan ( Translation of "Devil on the Cross" by Ngugi wa Thiango),Thoongum azhagigalin Illam ( Translation of "House of Sleeping Beauties"- by Yasunari Kawabata). The writers like Amarantha, Latha ramakrishnan are contributing for these works.
Periodicals
The increasing demand of the literate public caused a number of journals and periodicals to be published and these in turn provided a platform for authors to publish their work. Rajavritti Bodhini and Dina Varthamani in 1855 and Salem Pagadala Narasimhalu Naidu's fornightlies, Salem Desabhimini in 1878 and Coimbatore Kalanidhi in 1880, were the earliest Tamil journals. In 1882, G. Subramaniya Iyer started the newspaper Swadesamitran. It became the first Tamil daily in 1889. This was the start of many journals to follow and many novelists began to serialise their stories in these journal. The humour magazine Ananda VikatanAnanda Vikatan
Ananda Vikatan ஆனந்த விகடன் is the leading Tamil language weekly magazine published from Chennai, India. It is part of the Vikatan group which also publishes Junior Vikatan , Chutti Vikatan , Aval Vikatan , Naanayam Vikatan , Sakthi Vikatan , Motor Vikatan and Pasumai Vikatan Ananda Vikatan ஆனந்த...
started by S.S. Vasan in 1929 was to help create some of the greatest Tamil novelists. Kalki Krishnamurthy
Kalki Krishnamurthy
Kalki was the pen name of R. Krishnamurthy , a noted Tamil writer, film & music critic, Indian independence activist and journalist from Tamil Nadu, India.- Biography:...
(1899–1954) serialised his short stories and novels in Ananda Vikatan and eventually started his own weekly Kalki for which he wrote the enduringly popular novels Parthiban Kanavu
Parthiban Kanavu
Parthiban Kanavu is a famous Tamil novel written by Kalki Krishnamurthy.-Plot summary:This novel deals with the attempts of the son of Chola king Parthiban, Vikraman, to attain independence from the Pallava ruler, Narasimhavarman.The Cholas remain vassals of the Pallavas...
, Sivagamiyin Sabadham
Sivagamiyin sabadham
Sivagamiyin sabatham is a Tamil historical novel written by Kalki in 1944. Believed by some to be one of the first historical novels in Tamil it was originally serialized in the weekly Kalki for about 12 years. This was later published as a novel...
and Ponniyin Selvan
Ponniyin Selvan
Ponniyin Selvan is a 2400 page 20th-century Tamil historical novel written by Kalki Krishnamurthy. Written in 5 volumes, this narrates the story of Arulmozhivarman , one of the kings of the Chola Dynasty during the 10th-11th century CE period.-Historical background:Ponniyin Selvan is a historical...
. Pudhumaipithan
Pudhumaipithan
Pudhumaipithan also spelt as Pudumaipithan or Puthumaippiththan, is the pseudonym of C. Viruthachalam , one of the most influential and revolutionary writers of Tamil fiction. His works were characterized by social satire, progressive thinking and outspoken criticism of accepted conventions...
(1906–1948) was a great writer of short stories and provided the inspiration for a number of authors who followed him. The 'new poetry or pudukkavithai pioneered by Bharathi in his prose-poetry was further developed by the literary periodicals manikkodi and ezhuttu (edited by Si Su Chellappa). Poets such as Mu Metha contributed to these periodicals. Tamil Christian poets also added to the body of Tamil literature. Tamil Muslim
Tamil Muslim
Tamil Muslim refers to those Muslims who have Tamil as their mother tongue. There are around 500,000 in Malaysia which is 2.6% of the total population of Malaysia and 20,000 in Singapore.Tamil Muslims are largely urban traders rather than farmers...
poets like Pavalar Inqulab
Inkulab
Makkal Pavalar Inkulab is a rationalist Tamil poet/writer, activist, and Communist with Marxist Leninist inclination. He retired as a professor of Tamil at The New College, Chennai, Tamil Nadu. His birth name is Shahul Hameed and a known follower of Periyar.His poems espousing rationality have...
and Rokkiah too have made significant contributions to social reforms. The pioneering fortnightly ournal Samarasam was established in 1981 to highlight and cater to the ethnic Tamil Muslim community's issues.
Another remarkable work was done in Tamil novel field by Mu.Varatharasanar.[Agal vilakku] [Karithundu]. And last but not least Akilan
Akilan
Akilan was a Tamil author noted for his realistic and creative writing style. Akilan was a freedom fighter, novelist, short-story writer, journalist, satirist, travel writer, playwright, script-writer, orator and critic.He is also a children's novelist....
the unique Tamil novelist,short story writer and a social activist is famous for his works like 'Chithirapavai' 'Vengayinmaindan' 'Pavaivilaku'.
Tamil Journalism
The first Tamil periodical was published by the Christian Religious Tract Society in 1831- The Tamil Magazine.The increasing demand of the literate public caused a number of journals and periodicals to be published and these in turn provided a platform for authors to publish their work. Rajavritti Bodhini and Dina Varthamani in 1855 and Salem Pagadala Narasimhalu Naidu's fornightlies, Salem Desabhimini in 1878 and Coimbatore Kalanidhi in 1880, were the earliest Tamil journals.
The first regular newspaper in Tamil was Swadesamitran in 1882, started by G.Subramaniya Iyer, editor and sponsor of The Hindu and founding member of the Indian National Congress. He created a whole new Tamil political vocabulary. He) was conscious that those with a knowledge of English are a small number and those with a knowledge of Indian languages the vast majority. He felt that unless our people were told about the objectives of British rule and its merits and defects in the Indian languages, our political knowledge would never develop. When Subramania Aiyer quit The Hindu 1898, he made the Swadesamitran his full-time business. In 1899, the first Tamil daily. It was to enjoy this status for 17 years.
Subramania Aiyer's "pugnacious style, never qualifying words to soften the sharp tenor of a sentence," his use of words "dipped in a paste of extra pungent green chillies," made the Swadesamitran sought by Tamils wherever they lived in the world. And the daily became even more popular when Subramania Bharati joined it in 1904. The next year, when Lala Lajpat Rai was arrested and agitation followed in the Punjab, Subramania Aiyer's attitude to the British changed and he became a trenchant political critic of the Raj. His whole political gospel can be summed up in these words: `Peaceful but tireless and unceasing effort.' Let us sweat ourselves into Swaraj, he would seem to say." Swadesamitran is credited for coining new Tamil words to deal with science, politics and administration. It had the most comprehensive budget of news among all the regional language papers of that time.
In 1917, Desabhaktan, another Tamil daily began with T.V. Kalyansundara Menon as editor. He was succeeded by V.V.S. Iyer, a colleague of the Savarkar brothers. These two editors were scholars with a natural, highly readable but polished style of writing.
The freedom movement and the advent of Gandhi also impacted Tamil journalism. Navasakthi, a Tamil periodical edited by Tamil scholar and freedom fighter V. Kalyanasundaram. C. Rajagopalachari began Vimochanam, a Tamil journal devoted to propagating prohibition at the Gandhi Ashram in Tiruchengode in Salem district.
In 1926, Dr P. Vadarajulu Naidu, who was conducting a Tamil news-cum-views weekly ‘Tamil Nadu’ started a daily with the same name. Its forceful and colluqial style gained it a wide readership but after the paper failed to take sides with the 1930 Civil Disobedience Movement, the Congress Party decided to bring out a new Tamil daily- India, edited by renowned poet Subramania Bharati. India showed great promise but could not establish itself financially, and folded up soon after Bharati was exiled to Pondicherry. All these papers were published from Madras.
In 1933, the first Tamil tabloid- the 8 page Jayabharati began at a price of ¼ anna. It closed in 1940 as the price could not sustain even its postage.
In September 1934, S. Sadanand (who was running the Free Press Journal) started the Tamil daily Dinamani with T. S. Chockalingam as editor. It was priced at 6 pies, contained bright features and was fearlessly critical. It was highly successful and its circulation eclipsed the total circulation of all other Tamil dailies. Soon ‘India’ was incorporated into Dinamani. Dinamani made a studied and conscious effort to make the contents of a newspaper intelligible even to the newly literate.
In 1935, Viduthalai was begun, but it was more of a views-paper than a news-paper.
The Non-Brahman Movement also gave an impetus to Tamil journalism. Newspapers like the ‘Bharat Devi’ were strong supporters of this movement.
Many magazines began in Tamil Nadu during the 1920s and '30s. The humour magazine Ananda Vikatan started by S.S. Vasan in 1929 was to help create some of the greatest Tamil novelists. It is still running successfully after 80 years and the Vikatan group today also publishes Chutti Vikatan, Junior Vikatan, Motor Vikatan and other special interest magazines. R. Krishnamurthy serialised his short stories and novels in Ananda Vikatan and eventually started his own weekly Kalki. The name Kalki denotes the impending tenth Avatar of Lord Vishnu in the Hindu religion, who it is said, will bring to an end the Kali Yuga and reinstate Dharma or righteoueness among the worldly beings. He used the name because he wanted to bring about liberation of India.
In 1942, Dina Thanthi (Daily Telegraph) was started in Madurai with simultaneous editions in Madras, Salem and Tiruchirappalli. It was founded by S.P. Adithanar, a lawyer trained in Britain. He modeled Thanthi on the style of an English tabloid- The Daily Mirror. He aimed to bring out a newspaper that ordinary people would read, and which would encourage a reading habit even among the newly literate. In the past, the daily newspaper which was printed in Madras reached the southern Tamil region after at least one day. Thanthi used the public bus system to distribute the paper throughout the south Tamil region and capitalized on the hunger for war news that arose after Singapore fell to the Japanese. Due to financial constraints, its Salem and Tiruchirappalli editions had to be closed down for a while. Thanthi emphasized local news, especially crime and the courts. It used photographs extensively and brought banner headlines to Tamil journalism. It could fit one story on an entire broadsheet page, mainly filled with large easy-to-read headlines. One of its biggest scoops was the murder of the editor of a scandalous film magazine by two actors. Thanthi covered the trial in Madras in detail, and its reporters phoned the daily account to the printing centre in Madurai. Thanthi was the first Tamil paper to understand the people’s fascination with crime and film stars. The paper was popular and it was said that Tamils learned to read in order to read the newspaper.
Dina Thanthi became one of the largest Tamil language dailies by circulation within a few years; it has been a leading Tamil daily since the 1960s. It has today 14 editions. It is the highest circulated Tamil daily in Bangalore and Pondicherry. It issues a book called 10th, +2 Vina Vidai Book, on every Wednesday during the second part of the year. The model question papers of all the subjects of Standard 10 and 12 are provided with answers along with the question papers of board exams that are conducted previous year.
Popular Fiction
CrimeCrime fiction
Crime fiction is the literary genre that fictionalizes crimes, their detection, criminals and their motives. It is usually distinguished from mainstream fiction and other genres such as science fiction or historical fiction, but boundaries can be, and indeed are, blurred...
and detective fiction
Detective fiction
Detective fiction is a sub-genre of crime fiction and mystery fiction in which an investigator , either professional or amateur, investigates a crime, often murder.-In ancient literature:...
has enjoyed wide popularity in Tamil Nadu since the 1930s. Popular authors in the years before independence included Kurumbur Kuppusami and Vaduvur Duraisami Iyengar
Vaduvur Duraisami Iyengar
Vadavur Duraisami Iyengar was a Tamil writer of detective fiction in the 1940s.His protagonist, Digambara Samiar, was a sanyasi or holy man on a mission to fight crime.-References:...
. In the 1950s and '60s, Tamilvanan
Tamilvanan
Tamilvanan was a Tamil language author and publisher based in Chennai. He was the founding editor of the widely influential magazine Kalkandu , which published fiction, articles about state politics and Tamil cinema, and pages of factoids...
's detective hero Shankarlal carried readers to a variety of foreign locales, while using a pure Tamil with very few Hindi or English loan words. From the 1980s to the present, leading authors include Subha
Subha
Subha may refer to:* Subha , the Tamil detective novelists* Misbaha, Muslim prayer beads, also known as subhaThe subha is made up of three sets of thirty-three beads and one large one making one hundred in total. They are often made from wood or plastic. The ninety-nine beads are used to say the...
, Pattukkottai Prabakar
Pattukkottai Prabakar
Pattukkottai Prabakar is a prolific writer of Tamil crime and detective fiction. He has also worked as a screenwriter in the Tamil film industry, and also for Paramapadham, the first Tamil-language "mega-serial" to be shown on Doordarshan....
and Rajesh Kumar (who also writes science fiction and other genres). These writers are often extremely prolific, with hundreds or even thousands of short novels to their credit, and one or more short novel published in a monthly periodical. Indra Soundar Rajan
Indra Soundar Rajan
Indra Soundar Rajan is the pen name of P. Soundar Rajan, a well-known Tamil author of short stories, novels, television serials, and screenplays. He lives in Madurai.He is something of an expert on South Indian Hindu traditions and mythological lore...
, another popular modern author, writes supernatural crime thrillers usually based around Hindu mythology.
In the 1950s and 60s, Chandilyan wrote a number of very popular historical romance novels set in medieval India or on medieval trade routes with Malaysia, Indonesia and Europe.
Modern romance novels are represented by the current bestselling author in the Tamil language, Ramanichandran
Ramanichandran
Ramanichandran is a prolific Tamil romance novelist, and presently the best-selling author in the Tamil language.She has written 125 novels, most of which first appeared serialized in magazines like Kumudam and Aval Vikatan and were later brought out in book format by Arunodhayam...
.
Though sales of Tamil pulp fiction have declined since the hey-day of the mid-1990s, and many writers have turned to the more lucrative television serial market, there remains a thriving scene.
New Media
The rise of the InternetInternet
The Internet is a global system of interconnected computer networks that use the standard Internet protocol suite to serve billions of users worldwide...
has triggered a dramatic growth in the number of Tamil blog
Blog
A blog is a type of website or part of a website supposed to be updated with new content from time to time. Blogs are usually maintained by an individual with regular entries of commentary, descriptions of events, or other material such as graphics or video. Entries are commonly displayed in...
s and specialist portals catering to political and social issues. Even Tamil literature is available as mobile books.
See also
- List of Tamil poets
- Tamil historical novelsTamil historical novelsTamil literature of South India has a long history spanning close to two millennia. Through most of its history, though, it was expressed in the form of poetry...
- Sri Lankan Tamil LiteratureSri Lankan Tamil literatureSri Lankan Tamil literature or Ceylon Tamil literature refers to Tamil literature produced in the current day country of Sri Lanka by various Tamil speaking communities such as the Sri Lankan Tamils, Indian Tamils of Sri Lanka and Sri Lankan Muslims...
- Tamil mythologyTamil mythologyTamil mythology means the stories and sacred narratives belonging to the Tamil people. This body of mythology is a mix of elements from the Southern Hindu peoples and Indus Valley cultures with Vedic and orthodox Hindu aspects of the Sanskritic tradition....