Nacchar (), also known as Nakkar, was a
Tamil
Tamil may refer to:
People, culture and language
* Tamils, an ethno-linguistic group native to India, Sri Lanka, and some other parts of Asia
**Sri Lankan Tamils, Tamil people native to Sri Lanka
** Myanmar or Burmese Tamils, Tamil people of Ind ...
poet
A poet is a person who studies and creates poetry. Poets may describe themselves as such or be described as such by others. A poet may simply be the creator (thought, thinker, songwriter, writer, or author) who creates (composes) poems (oral t ...
, scholar, and commentator known for his
commentary on the ''
Thirukkural
The ''Tirukkuṟaḷ'' (), or shortly the ''Kural'' (), is a classic Tamil language text on commoner's morality consisting of 1,330 short couplets, or kurals, of seven words each. The text is divided into three books with aphoristic teaching ...
''.
He was among the canon of
ten medieval commentators
The Ten Medieval Commentators (Tamil: உரையாசிரியர்கள் பதின்மர்) were a canonical group of Tamil scholars whose commentaries on the ancient Indian didactic work of the Kural are esteemed by later schol ...
of the Kural text most highly esteemed by modern scholars. However, his work has been lost along with other four ancient commentators, namely,
Dhamatthar,
Dharumar,
Thirumalaiyar, and
Mallar.
Biography
Nacchar is often incorrectly believed by some as
Nachinarkiniyar
__NOTOC__
Nacciṇārkkiṇiyar, also spelled Naccinarkkiniyar or Nachinarkiniyar, was a 14th-century Tamil and Sanskrit scholar famous for his commentaries on Sangam literature and post-Sangam medieval Tamil literature. His commentary on some of t ...
, another medieval Tamil poet. However, several scholars deny this, citing that an ancient verse praising the poet Nachinarkiniyar does not mention that he has written commentary on the Tirukkural. Moreover, Nachinarkiniyar lived in the 14th century, about three centuries later than Nacchar. Scholars also opine that the similarity between the two names lead to this incorrect conclusion by some.
See also
*
Ten Medieval Commentators
The Ten Medieval Commentators (Tamil: உரையாசிரியர்கள் பதின்மர்) were a canonical group of Tamil scholars whose commentaries on the ancient Indian didactic work of the Kural are esteemed by later schol ...
*
Bhashya
Bhashya () is a "commentary" or "exposition" of any primary or secondary text in ancient or medieval Indian literature. Common in Sanskrit literature, ''Bhashyas'' are also found in other Indian languages such as Tamil. Bhashyas are found in variou ...
*
Commentaries in Tamil literary tradition
Commentaries to literary works remain one of the most important and telling aspects of the Tamil language, Tamil Tamil literature, literary tradition. Commentaries to ancient Tamil works have been written since the medieval period and continue to ...
References
Further reading
* M. Arunachalam (2005). Tamil Ilakkiya Varalaru, Padhinaindhaam Nootraandu
istory of Tamil Literature, 15th century
*
* D. M. Vellaivaaranam (1983). Tirukkural Uraikotthu. Thiruppananthal Shri Kasimadam Publications.
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Tirukkural
Tamil poets
Tirukkural commentators
Ten medieval commentators
Medieval Tamil poets
Tamil-language writers
Tamil scholars
Scholars from Tamil Nadu
11th-century Indian scholars