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Sangams
The Tamil Sangams (Tamil: சங்கம் ''caṅkam'', Old Tamil 𑀘𑀗𑁆𑀓𑀫𑁆, from Sanskrit ''saṅgha'') were assemblies of Tamil scholars and poets that, according to traditional Tamil accounts, occurred in the remote past. Scholars believe that these assemblies were originally known as ''kooṭam'' or "gathering," which was also a name for Madurai. Three assemblies are described. The legend has it that the first two were held in cities since "taken by the sea", and the third was held in the present-day city of Madurai. The Sangam period extended from roughly 200 BCE to 200 CE (early Chola period before the interregnum), when the earliest extant works of Tamil literature were written (also known as Sangam literature).Kamil Veith Zvelebil, ''Companion Studies to the History of Tamil Literature'', pp12See K.A. Nilakanta Sastry, ''A History of South India,'' OUP (1955) pp 105 However, the name ''Sangam'' and the associated legends probably derive from a mu ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
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 the ancient Tamil literature and is the earliest known literature of South India. The Tamil tradition and legends link it to three literary gatherings around Madurai and Kapāṭapuram ( Pandyan capitals): the first over 4,440 years, the second over 3,700 years, and the third over 1,850 years before the start of the common era. Scholars consider this Tamil tradition-based chronology as ahistorical and mythical. Most scholars suggest the historical Sangam literature era spanned from c. 300 BCE to 300 CE, while others variously place this early classical Tamil literature period a bit later and more narrowly but all before 300 CE. According to Kamil Zvelebil – a Tamil literature and history scholar, the most acceptable range for the Sanga ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Kumari Kandam
Kumari Kandam is a mythical continent, believed to be lost with an ancient Tamil civilization, supposedly located south of present-day India in the Indian Ocean. Alternative names and spellings include ''Kumarikkandam'' and ''Kumari Nadu''. In the 19th century, some European and American scholars speculated the existence of a submerged continent called Lemuria to explain geological and other similarities between Africa, Australia, the Indian subcontinent and Madagascar. A section of Tamil revivalists adapted this theory, connecting it to the Pandyan legends of lands lost to the ocean, as described in ancient Tamil and Sanskrit literature. According to these writers, an ancient Tamil civilisation existed on Lemuria, before it was lost to the sea in a catastrophe. In the 20th century, the Tamil writers started using the name ''Kumari Kandam'' to describe this submerged continent. Although the Lemuria theory was later rendered obsolete by the continental drift ( plate tec ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
First Sangam
The First Sangam period () or the First Academy, also known as the Head Sangam period (), was a legendary period in the history of Ancient Tamilakam said to be the foremost of Tamil Sangams, known in the Tamil language as கூடல் (koodal) or 'gathering'. It is the first of three Tamil Sangams of Classical Tamil literature. While most historians accept the historicity of this literature, they also understand that some literary academies would have held Pandyan patronage. This is not to be confused with the historical Third Sangam period which lasted roughly from 600 BCE to 300 CE. Formation It was said to be located in ''Then Madurai'' under the patronage of 89 Pandya kings, during this period. It is said to have lasted for 4,440 years, and this would put the First Sangam between 9600 BCE to 5200 BCE. Some are of the opinion that Agathiyar was the head of the Head Sangam period. However, this is unlikely as the first mention of him is from Ptolemy and no Sangam work ref ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Tamil Culture
Tamil culture is the culture of the Tamil people. Tamil culture is rooted in the arts and ways of life of Tamils in India, Sri Lanka, Malaysia, Singapore, and across the globe. Tamil culture is expressed in language, literature, music, dance, theatre, folk arts, martial arts, painting, sculpture, architecture, sports, media, comedy, cuisine, costumes, celebrations, philosophy, religions, traditions, rituals, organizations, science, and technology. Language and literature Tamils have strong attachment to the Tamil language, which is often venerated in literature as "''Tamil̲an̲n̲ai''", "the Tamil mother". It has historically been, and to large extent still is, central to the Tamil identity. Like the other languages of South India, it is unrelated to the Indo-European languages of northern India. The Tamil language preserves many features of Proto-Dravidian, though modern-day spoken Tamil in Tamil Nadu freely uses loanwords from Sanskrit and English and vice versa. Als ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Madurai
Madurai ( , also , ) is a major city in the Indian state of Tamil Nadu. It is the cultural capital of Tamil Nadu and the administrative headquarters of Madurai District. As of the 2011 census, it was the third largest Urban agglomeration in Tamil Nadu after Chennai and Coimbatore and the 44th most populated city in India. Located on the banks of River Vaigai, Madurai has been a major settlement for two millennia and has a documented history of more than 2500 years. It is often referred to as "Thoonga Nagaram", meaning "the city that never sleeps". Madurai is closely associated with the Tamil language. The third Tamil Sangam, a major congregation of Tamil scholars said to have been held in the city. The recorded history of the city goes back to the 3rd century BCE, being mentioned by Megasthenes, the Greek ambassador to the Maurya empire, and Kautilya, a minister of the Mauryan emperor Chandragupta Maurya. Signs of human settlements and Roman trade links dating back to ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Third Sangam
The Third Sangam ( Tamil: மூன்றாம் சங்கம், ''Moondram Sangam'') (Malayalam: മൂന്നാം സംഘം, ''Moonnam Sangam'') or the Third Academy, also known as the Madurai College of Antiquity, was a historical assembly and the last of the three Tamil Sangams. Established under the aegis of 49 Pandyan kings with 449 participating poets, it ran for 1850 years, ending around the time that Christianity emerged. All surviving Sangam literature comes from this particular Sangam. The seat of the Third Sangam was the city of Madurai Madurai ( , also , ) is a major city in the Indian state of Tamil Nadu. It is the cultural capital of Tamil Nadu and the administrative headquarters of Madurai District. As of the 2011 census, it was the third largest Urban agglomeration in .... See also * List of Sangam poets * Dravida Sangha * Religion in ancient Tamil country * Sangam landscape * Madurai Tamil Sangam Citations References * ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Iraiyanar Akapporul
Iraiyaṉār Akapporuḷ, or Kaḷaviyal eṉṟa Iraiyaṉār Akapporuḷ, literally "Iraiyanar's treatise on the love-theme, called 'The study of stolen love'" ( ta, களவியல் என்ற இறையனார் அகப்பொருள்) is an early mediaeval work on Tamil poetics, specifically, on the literary conventions associated with the akam tradition of Tamil love poetry. The date of the work is uncertain, but it is generally taken to have been composed between the fifth and eighth centuries. The Akapporul consists of a set of sixty nūṟpās – terse epigrams written in verse which codify rules – attributed to Iraiyanar. The received text of the accompanied by a long prose treatise on akam poetics attributed to Nakkiraṉār, which is structured as a commentary on the nūṟpās, but significantly expands on them and introduces several new ideas. The work as a whole occupies an important place in the history of Tamil literature for several rea ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
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 Tamil people from South India, including the land now comprising Tamil Nadu, Kerala, Sri Lankan Tamil people, Eelam Tamils from Sri Lanka, as well as the Tamil diaspora. The history of Tamil literature follows the history of Tamil Nadu, closely following the social, economical, political and cultural trends of various periods. The early Sangam Literature, Sangam literature, dated before 300 BCE, contain anthologies of various poets dealing with many aspects of life, including love, war, social values and religion.Akananuru (1, 15, 31, 55, 61, 65, 91, 97, 101, 115, 127, 187, 197, 201, 211, 233, 251, 265, 281, 311, 325, 331, 347, 349, 359, 393, 281, 295), Kurunthogai (11), and Natrinai (14, 75) are dated before 300 BCE. This was followed by t ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
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. It was named after the famous Sangam academies of poets and scholars centered in the city of Madurai. The First Sangam to be located in ''Then Madurai'' under the patronage of 89 Pandya kings, during this period. It is said to have lasted for 4,440 years, and this would put the First Sangam between 9600 BCE to 5200 BCE. In Old Tamil language, the term Tamilakam (''Tamiḻakam'', '' Purananuru'' 168. 18) referred to the whole of the ancient Tamil-speaking area, corresponding roughly to the area known as southern India today, consisting of the territories of the present-day Indian states of Tamil Nadu, Kerala, parts of Andhra Pradesh, parts of Karnataka and northern Sri Lanka also known as Eelam. History According to Tamil legends ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Kanyakumari District
Kanniyakumari district is one of the 38 districts in Tamil Nadu state and the southernmost district in mainland India. It stands second in terms of population density among the districts of Tamil Nadu. It is also the richest district in Tamil Nadu in terms of per capita income, and also tops the state in Human Development Index (HDI), literacy, and education. The district's headquarters is Nagercoil. Kanniyakumari district has a varied topography with the sea on three sides and the mountains of the Western Ghats bordering the northern side. Except for a small stretch of land to the east of Kanniyakumari town, almost the entire district is sandwiched between the Western Ghats and the Arabian Sea – the only district in Tamilnadu state facing the Arabian Sea. Geologically, the landmass of the district is much younger when compared to the rest of the state – faulted as late as 2.5 million years during the Miocene, after which numerous transgression, as well as regression of s ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Dravida Sangha
Dravida Sangha was established in 470 CE by a Jain monk named Vajranandi in the city of Madurai in present-day Tamil Nadu Tamil Nadu (; , TN) is a state in southern India. It is the tenth largest Indian state by area and the sixth largest by population. Its capital and largest city is Chennai. Tamil Nadu is the home of the Tamil people, whose Tamil languag .... Madurai at that time was under the sway of the Kalabhra rule. The Jain Dravida Sangha aimed at creating a casteless society, inspired by the Jain school of thought. The Dravida Sangha was also one of the first groups to espouse a Dravidian identity among Tamils and other south Indians. According to Prof. George L. Hart, who holds the endowed Chair in Tamil Studies by University of California, Berkeley, and has written that the legend of Tamil Sangam (literary assembly) was based on the Jain assembly (Sangham) at Madurai: :"There was a Jaina assembly called a Sa(n)gha established about 604 AD in Maturai." ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Agastya
Agastya ( kn, ಅಗಸ್ತ್ಯ, ta, அகத்தியர், sa, अगस्त्य, te, అగస్త్యుడు, ml, അഗസ്ത്യൻ, hi, अगस्त्य) was a revered Indian sage of Hinduism. In the Indian tradition, he is a noted recluse and an influential scholar in diverse languages of the Indian subcontinent. He and his wife Lopamudra are the celebrated authors of hymns 1.165 to 1.191 in the Sanskrit text '' Rigveda'' and other Vedic literature. Agastya is considered to be the father of Siddha medicine. Agastya appears in numerous itihasas and Puranas including the major ''Ramayana'' and ''Mahabharata''. He is one of the seven most revered rishis (the Saptarishi) in the Vedic texts, and is revered as one of the Tamil Siddhar in the Shaivism tradition, who invented an early grammar of the Old Tamil language, Agattiyam, playing a pioneering role in the development of Tampraparniyan medicine and spirituality at Saiva centres ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
