The ''Akananuru'' (, literally "four hundred [poems] in the akam genre"), sometimes called ''Nedunthokai'' (''lit.'' "anthology of long poems"), is a classical Tamil literature, Tamil poetic work and one of the Eight Anthologies (''Ettuthokai'') in the Sangam literature. It is a collection of 400 love poems with invocatory poem dedicated to Shiva. The collected poems were composed by 144 poets, except 3 poems which are by anonymous author(s). The poems range between 13 and 31 lines, and are long enough to include more details of the subject, episode and its context. According to Kamil Zvelebil – a Tamil literature and history scholar, they are "one of the most valuable collections" from ancient Tamil history perspective. The ''Akananuru'' anthology is notable for its mathematical arrangement: the odd number poems are dedicated to ''palai'' (arid landscape); poem number ten and its multiples (10, 20, 30, etc., up to 400) are ''neytal'' (coastal landscape); poems bearing number 2 and then in increments of 6 followed by 4 (that is number 8, 12, 18, 22, 28, etc.) belong to the ''kuṟiñci'' (mountainous landscape); poems bearing number 4 and then in increments of 10 (14, 24, 34, 44, etc.) are ''mullai'' (pastoral forests); poems with number 6 and then in increments of 10 (16, 26, 36, etc.) are ''marutam'' (riverine farmlands). The anthology was compiled by Uruttiracanman, the son of Maturai Uppurikuti Kilan under the patronage of the Pandyan king Ukkiraperuvaluti. The ''Akananuru'' poems offer many valuable cultural insights as well as historically significant evidence and allusions. For example, poem 69, 281 and 375 mention the Maurya Empire, poems 251 and 265 allude to the Nanda Empire, Nandas, the poem 148 mentions Greek-Romans (Yavanas) as trading gold for pepper through Muziris – an ancient Kerala port near Kochi, and a number of poems echo the Hindu puranic legends about Parasurama, Rama, Krishna and others. According to Alf Hiltebeitel – an Indian Religions and Sanskrit Epics scholar, the ''Akanaṉūṟu'' has the earliest known mentions of some stories such as "Krishna stealing sarees of Gopis" which is found later in north Indian literature, making it probable that some of the ideas from Tamil Hindu scholars inspired the Sanskrit scholars in the north and the ''Bhagavata Purana'', rather than vice versa. According to Kamil Zvelebil – a scholar of Tamil literature and history, a few poems in the ''Akananuru'' were probably composed sometime between 1st century BCE and 2nd century CE, the middle layer between 2nd and 4th century CE, while the last layers were completed sometime between 3rd and 5th century CE. Other names for ''Akananuru'' include ''Ahappattu'', ''Ahananuru'', and ''Agananuru''.

Authors

As many as 145 poets are said to have contributed to Akananuru collection. Perunthevanaar, who translated the Mahabharata, Mahabharatham into Tamil, is one of the authors. Rudrasarman compiled this anthology at the behest of the Pandya king Ukkiraperuvazhuthi.

Date

The ''Akananuru'' poems were likely composed later in the Sangam period than other akam poetry based on the linguistic evidence, the introduction of mathematical arrangement, and given the mention of overseas trade and north Indian dynasties. According to Takanobu Takahashi, the ''Akananuru'' poems were composed over several centuries, likely from 1st to 3rd century CE. Other scholars such as Vaiyapuri Pillai chronologically place the ''Akanaṉūṟu'' after the ''Narrinai'' and ''Kuṟuntokai'' anthologies. According to Kamil Zvelebil, except for a few ''Akananuru'' poems such as 10, 35, 140 which were probably completed between 1st century BCE and 2nd century CE, while few poems are believed to be composed around the late 2nd century BCE based on the mentions of the Maurya and the Nanda empire. Most of the ''Akananuru'' was likely composed sometime between the 2nd and 5th century CE.

Poetic characteristics

Aganaṉūṟu book comes under the ''Agam'' category in its subject matter. The poems of this anthology are of the ''Akaval'' meter (poetry), meter. Akananuru contains 401 stanzas and is divided into three sections # ''Kalintruyanainirai'' (களிற்றுயானைநிறை), 121 stanzas # ''Manimidaipavalam'' (மணிமிடைபவளம்), 180 stanzas # ''Nittilakkovai'' (நித்திலக்கோவை), 100 stanzas

English Translations

Bharathidasan University has published a full translation of all the 400 songs by A. Dakshinamurthy in 3 volumes in 1999:

Ramayana Reference

Akanaṉūṟu has a reference to the Ramayana in poem 70. The poem places a triumphant Rama at Dhanushkodi, sitting under a Banyan tree, involved in some secret discussions, when the birds are chirping away. This seems to indicate that the story of the Ramayana was familiar in the Tamil lands before the Ramavataram, Kamba Ramayanam of the 12th century.

References