In Tamil poetics, thinnais (

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 ...

: திணை tiṇai "genre", "type") is a type of poetical mode or theme. A thinai consists of a complete poetical landscape - a definite time, place, season in which the poem is set - and background elements characteristic of that landscape - including flora and fauna, inhabitants, deities and social organisation. These collectively provide imagery for extended poetic

metaphor A metaphor is a figure of speech that, for rhetorical effect, directly refers to one thing by mentioning another. It may provide (or obscure) clarity or identify hidden similarities between two different ideas. Metaphors are often compared wi ...

s ("

ullurai Ullurai ( Tamil உள்ளுறை ''uḷḷuṟai'' literally, "inner meaning") is a type of extended allusion or metaphor used in classical Tamil poetry. Five types of ullurai are described in the Tolkappiyam, an early treatise on grammar an ...

", literally "inner meaning"), which set the mood of the poem. Classical authors recognised two broad categories of thinais. Akam thinais (literally, "the inner genre") consisted of modes used in love poetry, associated with specific aspects of a relationship or specific stages in the development of a relationship. Puram thinais (literally, "the outer genre") consisted of modes that corresponded closely to the akam modes, but were used in heroic, philosophical and moral poetry, to describe the stages of a battle or particular patterns of thought. Later commentators added further categories, such as akappuram, which consisted of modes that mixed elements of akam and puram poetry, and purappuram, which consisted of modes used for peripheral puram themes. The five tinais were kurinji (hilly/mountain region), palai ( parched/dry lands), mullai (pastoral tract), marutam (wet/ agricultural lands) and neital (coastal area). Recent literary studies on Tinai gave birth to Tinai Poetics, the native Indian theory similar to

ecocriticism Ecocriticism is the study of literature and ecology from an interdisciplinary point of view, where literature scholars analyze texts that illustrate environmental concerns and examine the various ways literature treats the subject of nature. It wa ...

, which is based on the Tinai concept of Classical Tamil Literature.

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* * * * * * * * * * Tamil poetics {{Tamil-stub

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