Irattaipulavar (meaning The twin poets) or Irattaiyar were brothers born in Alandurai of

Chola Nadu Chola Nadu is an ancient region spanning on the current state of Tamil Nadu and union territory of Puducherry in southern India. It encompasses the lower reaches of the Kaveri River and its delta, and formed the cultural homeland and political ...

during 14th century in the Sengunthar Kaikola Mudaliar community . The elder, called Mudhusuriyar 'Old Sun' was born lame; the younger, Ilanjchuriyar 'Young Sun,' was blind. They went about as wanderers, the blind man carrying his lame brother on the shoulders, complementing each other in poetry as in life, one man completing extempore what the other began. They were contemporaries of Kalamegam.

Literary works

There were hundreds of tanippatals (meaning solitary stanzas) composed by The Twins in this way to meet about emergencies. They had composed Ekambaranatharula celebrating the famous Saiva shrine in

Kanchi Kanchipuram (IAST: '; ), also known as Kanjeevaram, is a stand alone city corporation, satellite nodal city of Chennai in the Indian state of Tamil Nadu in the Tondaimandalam region, from Chennaithe capital of Tamil Nadu. Known as the ''Ci ...

, the Tillaikkalampakam of 100 stanzas, added with kappuvenpa on Lord Nataraja of

Chidambaram Chidambaram is a major town and municipality in Cuddalore district in the Indian state of Tamil Nadu, on the banks of the Vellar River where it meets the Bay of Bengal. It is the headquarters of the Chidambaram taluk. The town is believed to b ...

, which was interesting and important for the history of the Tamil language. Their Amatturkkalampakam contains 101 stanzas apart from a kappuviruttam.

Sources

Tamil literature, Volume 2, Part 1 By

Kamil Zvelebil Kamil Václav Zvelebil (November 17, 1927 – January 17, 2009) was a Czech scholar in Indian literature and linguistics, notably Tamil, Sanskrit, Dravidian linguistics and literature and philology. Life and career Zvelebil studied at the C ...

References

Indian male poets Indian Shaivite religious leaders 14th-century Indian poets {{India-poet-stub