Kainnilai (Tamil:கைந்நிலை), and Innilai (Tamil:இன்னிலை) are

Tamil Tamil may refer to: * Tamils, an ethnic group native to India and some other parts of Asia **Sri Lankan Tamils, Tamil people native to Sri Lanka also called ilankai tamils **Tamil Malaysians, Tamil people native to Malaysia * Tamil language, nativ ...

poetic works belonging to the Eighteen Lesser Texts (''Pathinenkilkanakku'') anthology of

Tamil literature 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 T ...

. These two books together form the eighteenth book in the anthology, belonging to the 'post

Sangam period The Sangam period or age (, ), particularly referring to the third Sangam period, is the period of the history of ancient Tamil Nadu, Kerala and parts of Sri Lanka (then known as Tamilakam) spanning from c. 6th century BCE to c. 3rd century CE. ...

' corresponding to between 100 and 500 CE. ''Kainnilai'' contains sixty poems written by the poet Pullangkaathanaar(புல்லங்காட) and ''Innilai'' contains 45 poems and was written by the poet Poigayaar(பொய்கையார). The poems of ''Innilai'' deal with the ethical concepts of ''aram'' – propriety, ''porul'' – wealth, ''inpam'' – love and ''veedu'' – salvation. In this respect it is similar to ''

Tirukkural The ''Tirukkuṟaḷ'' ( ta, திருக்குறள், lit=sacred verses), or shortly the ''Kural'' ( ta, குறள்), is a classic Tamil language text consisting of 1,330 short couplets, or kurals, of seven words each. The tex ...

'' which also concerns with these concepts. ''Kainnilai'' is available in a much-damaged condition with many of its poems only partially available. ''Kainnilai'' deals with the subjective (''agam'') concepts. ''Agam'' in the

Sangam literature The Sangam literature (Tamil: சங்க இலக்கியம், ''caṅka ilakkiyam'';) historically known as 'the poetry of the noble ones' (Tamil: சான்றோர் செய்யுள், ''Cāṉṟōr ceyyuḷ'') connotes ...

denotes the subject matters that deal with the intangibles of life such as human emotions, love, separation, lovers' quarrels, etc. The poems of ''Kainnilai'' are categoriesed into twelve poems for each of the five ''thinai'', or landscape of Sangam poetry and describe in detail the situation and emotions specific to each landscape. The five landscapes of Sangam poetry are ''mullai'' – forest, ''kurinji'' – mountains, ''marutham'' – farmland, ''paalai'' – arid land and ''neithal'' – seashore.

References

* Mudaliyar, Singaravelu A., Apithana Cintamani, An encyclopaedia of Tamil Literature, (1931) - Reprinted by Asian Educational Services, New Delhi (1983) * http://tamilnation.org/literature/ * https://www.projectmadurai.org/pm_etexts/utf8/pmuni0051.html ''Kainnilai''and ''innilai'' eText at Project madurai Sangam literature {{India-lit-stub