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Ramayana In Tamil Literature
Ramayana is one of the ancient Indian epics, with the first work being dated by scholars to around the 3rd century BC. The original set in Sanskrit consists of 24,000 verses, and there are several variations in the story narrated in South Asian and South East Asian cultures, across India, Thailand and Indonesia, with several versions re-written in various Asian and Indian languages. The earliest known written version of Ramayana in the Tamil language, in the 12th century AD, by Kambar as Ramavataram (popularly known as Kamba Ramayanam). Sangam Literature The age of Sangam literature (Tamil: சங்க இலக்கியம், caṅka ilakkiyam) refers to the ancient Tamil literature written up to AD 100. Purananuru The earliest reference to the story of the Ramayana is found in the Purananuru which is dated from 1st century BCE and 5th century CE. Purananuru 378, attributed to the poet UnPodiPasunKudaiyar, written in praise of the Chola king IlanCetCenni. The poem mak ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Ramayana
The ''Rāmāyana'' (; sa, रामायणम्, ) is a Sanskrit literature, Sanskrit Indian epic poetry, epic composed over a period of nearly a millennium, with scholars' estimates for the earliest stage of the text ranging from the 8th to 4th centuries BCE, and later stages extending up to the 3rd century CE. ''Ramayana'' is one of the two important epics of Hinduism, the other being the ''Mahabharata, Mahābhārata''. The epic, traditionally ascribed to the Maharishi Valmiki, narrates the life of Sita, the Princess of Janakpur, and Rama, a legendary prince of Ayodhya city in the kingdom of Kosala. The epic follows his fourteen-year exile to the forest urged by his father King Dasharatha, on the request of Rama's stepmother Kaikeyi; his travels across forests in the South Asia, Indian subcontinent with his wife Sita and brother Lakshmana, the kidnapping of Sita by Ravana – the king of Lanka, that resulted in war; and Rama's eventual return to Ayodhya to be crowned kin ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Dhanushkodi
Dhanushkodi is an abandoned town at the south-eastern tip of Pamban Island of the state of Tamil Nadu in India. It is south-east of Pamban and is about west of Talaimannar in Sri Lanka. The town was destroyed during the 1964 Rameswaram cyclone and remains uninhabited in the aftermath. Today only a few vendors and restaurants can be seen at Dhanushkodi during the day along with the ruins of the long destroyed town. Geography Dhanushkodi is on the tip of Pamban island, separated from the mainland by the Palk Strait. Transport The National Highway completed the 9.5-km-long road – 5 km from Mukuntharayar Chathiram to Dhanushkodi and 4.5 km from Dhanushkodi to Arichamunai. Until 2016, Dhanushkodi was reachable either on foot along the seashore or in jeeps. In 2016, a road was completed from the village of Mukundarayar Chathiram. A metre gauge railway line connected Mandapam on mainland India to Dhanushkodi. Boat mail express ran from Chennai Egmore to Dhanushkodi till 19 ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
South India
South India, also known as Dakshina Bharata or Peninsular India, consists of the peninsular southern part of India. It encompasses the Indian states of Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka, Kerala, Tamil Nadu, and Telangana, as well as the union territories of Lakshadweep and Puducherry, comprising 19.31% of India's area () and 20% of India's population. Covering the southern part of the peninsular Deccan Plateau, South India is bounded by the Bay of Bengal in the east, the Arabian Sea in the west and the Indian Ocean in the south. The geography of the region is diverse with two mountain ranges – the Western and Eastern Ghats – bordering the plateau heartland. The Godavari, Krishna, Kaveri, Tungabhadra, Periyar, Bharathappuzha, Pamba, Thamirabarani, Palar, and Vaigai rivers are important perennial rivers. The majority of the people in South India speak at least one of the four major Dravidian languages: Tamil, Telugu, Malayalam and Kannada (all 4 of which are among ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Vaishnavism
Vaishnavism ( sa, वैष्णवसम्प्रदायः, Vaiṣṇavasampradāyaḥ) is one of the major Hindu denominations along with Shaivism, Shaktism, and Smartism. It is also called Vishnuism since it considers Vishnu as the sole Para Brahman, supreme being leading all other Hindu deities, i.e. ''Mahavishnu''. Its followers are called Vaishnavites or ''Vaishnava''s (), and it includes sub-sects like Krishnaism and Ramaism, which consider Krishna and Rama as the supreme beings respectively. According to a 2010 estimate by Johnson and Grim, Vaishnavism is the largest Hindu sect, constituting about 641 million or 67.6% of Hindus. The ancient emergence of Vaishnavism is unclear, and broadly hypothesized as a History of Hinduism, fusion of various regional non-Vedic religions with Vishnu. A merger of several popular non-Vedic theistic traditions, particularly the Bhagavata cults of Vāsudeva, Vāsudeva-krishna and ''Gopala-Krishna, Gopala-Krishna'', and Narayana, ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Ahalya
In Hinduism, Ahalyā ( sa, अहल्या, IAST: Ahalyā) also known as Ahilya, is the wife of the sage Gautama Maharishi. Many Hindu scriptures say that she was seduced by Indra (the king of gods), cursed by her husband for infidelity, and liberated from the curse by Rama (7th avatar of the god Vishnu). Created by the god Brahma as the most beautiful woman, Ahalyā was married to the much older Gautama. In the earliest full narrative, when Indra comes disguised as her husband, Ahalyā sees through his disguise but nevertheless accepts his advances. Later sources often absolve her of all guilt, describing how she falls prey to Indra's trickery. In all narratives, Ahalyā and Indra are cursed by Gautama. The curse varies from text to text, but almost all versions describe Rāma as the eventual agent of her liberation and redemption. Although early texts describe how Ahalyā must atone by undergoing severe penance while remaining invisible to the world and how she is ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Kanyakumari
Kanniyakumari (; , referring to Devi Kanya Kumari), also known as Cape Comorin, is a city in Kanniyakumari district in the state of Tamil Nadu, India. It is the southern tip of the Indian subcontinent and the southernmost city in mainland India, thus referred to as 'The Land's End'. The city is situated south of Thiruvananthapuram city, and about south of Nagercoil, the headquarters of Kanniyakumari district. Kanniyakumari is a popular tourist destination and pilgrimage centre in India. Notable tourist spots include its unique sunrise and sunset points, the Thiruvalluvar Statue and Vivekananda Rock Memorial off the coast. Lying at the tip of peninsular India, the town is bordered on the west, south and east by the Laccadive Sea. It has a coastal line of stretched on the three sides. On the shores of the city is a temple dedicated to Goddess Kanniyakumari (the virgin Goddess), after which the town is named.https://thehinduimages.com/details-page.php?id=157918128 ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Chithalai Chathanar
Satthanar or Chithalai Satthanar ( ta, சாத்தனார் or சீத்தலைச் சாத்தனார், ''cītalai cāttanār'') was the Tamil poet who composed the epic Manimekalai. A total of 11 verses of the Sangam literature have been attributed to Satthanar, including verse 10 of the Tiruvalluva Maalai. Etymology Pronounced ''Sa-tha-naar,'' the name is derived from ( ta, சாத்து, ''sāttu'') meaning Buddhist monk. Applying this principle to the name Maturai Kulavāṇikan Cāttan, the author of Manimekalai, we see that the two appellations Maturai and Kulavanikan were prefixed to his name in order to distinguish him from another poet of Maturai with the same name and from a third who lived elsewhere. Several examples could be cited of this system of nomenclature which prevailed during the early days. Biography Satthanar hailed from a place known as Seerthandalai, later came to be known as Seethalai. He was a grain merchant at Madurai and he ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Manimekalai
''Maṇimēkalai'' ( ta, மணிமேகலை, ), also spelled ''Manimekhalai'' or ''Manimekalai'', is a Tamil- Buddhist epic composed by Kulavāṇikaṉ Seethalai Sataṉar probably around the 6th century. It is an "anti-love story", a sequel to the "love story" in the earliest Tamil epic '' Silappadikaram'', with some characters from it and their next generation. The epic consists of 4,861 lines in ''akaval'' meter, arranged in 30 cantos. The title ''Manimekalai'' is also the name of the daughter of Kovalan and Madhavi, who follows in her mother's footsteps as a dancer and a Buddhist nun. The epic tells her story. Her physical beauty and artistic achievements seduces the Chola prince Udayakumara. He pursues her. She, a nun of Mahayana Buddhism persuasion, feels a commitment to free herself from human ties. She rejects his advances, yet finds herself drawn to him. She hides, prays and seeks the help of her mother, her Buddhist teacher Aravana Adikal and angels. They ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Poompuhar
Puhar (also known as Poompuhar) is a town in the Mayiladuthurai district in the southern Indian state of Tamil Nadu. It was once a flourishing ancient port city known as Kaveri Poompattinam, which is described in Sangam literature like Silappadikaram, Manimekalai, Pattinapalai and Akananuru as the capital of the Early Chola kings in Tamilakam. Puhar is located near the mouth of the Kaveri river, on the sea coast. It is mentioned in the Periplus of the Erythraean Sea. It has now been established by marine archaeological research (conducted by the National institute of marine archaeology, Goa) that much of the town was washed away by progressive erosion and floods. In the 1960s and 1970s, archaeological research was conducted under the leadership of the noted archaeologist K. V. Soundararajan. Submerged wharves and several meter lengths of pier walls excavated in recent times have corroborated the literary references to Poompuhar. It was rebuilt several times after that. Ancient ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Madhavi (Silappatikaram)
Madhavi is an important character in the ''Silapathikaram'', one of the epics in Tamil literature. Silapathikaram is the first Kappiyam (epic) among the five in Tamil literature. It belongs to the Sangam Period. Madhavi was born in a lineage of courtesans, and was an accomplished dancer. Madhavi is one of the three main characters in Silappatikaram, along with Kannagi and Kovalan. Plot Madhavi was the daughter of a dancer, Chitrapahti; they were believed to have a long ancestry, starting with the apsara Urvashi. Madhavi was rigorously trained in music, dance and composition of poems. Kovalan, the son of a wealthy merchant and the husband of Kannagi, met Madhavi in a performance in Chozha king Karikalan's court. Enamoured of her beauty, he fell in love with her. Eventually, Kovalan left his wife and moved in with Madhavi, with whom he stayed for a year. Madhavi bore him a daughter Manimekalai. However, after spending all his money on Madhavi, he realised his mistakes and returned ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Kannagi (Tamil Mythology)
Kannagi ( ta, கண்ணகி) sometimes spelled Kannaki, is a legendary Tamil woman who forms the central character of the Tamil epic '' Cilappatikaram''. Kannagi is described as the chaste woman who stays with her husband despite his unfaithfulness, their attempt to rebuild their marriage after her husband had lost everything but repented, how her husband is falsely framed then punished without the due checks and processes of justice. Kannagi proves and protests the injustice, then curses the king and city of Madurai leading to the death of the unjust Pandyan King of Madurai, who had wrongfully put her husband Kovalan to death. The society that had made her suffer, suffers in retribution as the city Madurai is burnt to the ground because of her curse. In the Chera (Kerala) and Tamil tradition, Kannagi has been deified as the symbol – sometimes as goddess – of chastity, with sculptures or reliefs in Hindu temples iconographically reminding the visitor of her breaking h ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Kovalan
Kovalan ( ta, கோவலன்) is a central character in Ilango Adigal's '' Silappatikaram,'' one of the ancient Tamil epics. Family Father : Machattuvan Wife : Kannagi Lover : Madhavi Daughter : Manimekalai (Mother: Madhavi) Narrative Puharkkandam Kovalan, the son of a wealthy merchant, Machattuvan, married Kannagi, the daughter of another merchant, Manayakan. At the time of his marriage, he was sixteen years old. They lived together happily in the city of Kaveripattinam, until Kovalan met the courtesan Madhavi and fell in love with her. In his infatuation, he completely forgot his wife and spent his time and parental wealth with Madhavi. During the annual festival in the honour of Indra, there was a misunderstanding between Kovalan and Madhavi. As a result, the penniless Kovalan returned to Kannagi, who welcomed him whole-heartedly. Realising his mistake, he decided to start a new life by migrating to Madurai with Kannagi. Accompanied by a Buddhist nun, they s ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
