Dr Radhika Jaidev
(continuation from the previous issue)
References to nature and physical landscapes in Sangam literature Premalatha (1985) informs us that there were several works of literature that combine music and dance in the pre-Christian era, the most important of which is known as Isainunukam, which roughly translated means, the subtleties or intricacies of music. Premalatha (1985) surmises that Isainunukam is likely to have dealt with the science of music because the work itself is lost. Thus, we can only speculate that similar works such as Mudunarai Perungkurrugu (Seyirriyam, Pirisai) and Sirisai must have dealt with “great or major modes and lesser or minor modes in music and the minute as well as precise divisions of musical scale” through the reference made to them and their contents in later anthologies (Premalatha, 1985 p. 88). The earliest available Tamil classical works with references to music are the literary works of the Sangam period. Among them, two important works were the Ettutogai, a collection of eight anthologies and the Pathupattu or an anthology of ten poems. The Ettutogai as the name itself suggests (‘Ettu’ meaning eight) comprised eight anthologies They were Natrinai, Kurunthogai, Ainkurunooru, Kaliththogai, Aganaanooru, Padhitruppaththu and Puranaanooru. A point to note is that the poems in these anthologies were not all composed at the same time and there is no known record to show how far apart in time they were composed. What has been documented, however, is that they were compiled into anthologies much later, based on their common themes or thinai.
A thinai roughly translates as an overarching theme or ‘poetic landscape’ that depicts a specific time, place and season in which the poem is set. The background elements are characteristic of that landscape including the flora, fauna, inhabitants, deities and social organization. Classical poets broadly categorized two types of thinai, namely, Akam thinai (that which depicted the inner self, love, feelings, emotions) and Puram thinai (that which dealt with war, heroism, philosophy and morals). Consequently, Akam thinai was associated with love poetry, relationships or specific stages in the development of a relationship while Puram thinai described war, different stages of battle or particular patterns of thought. Later literarians superimposed both themes to produce akappuram poetry that contained mixed elements of akam and puram poetry, and then purappuram, which contained peripheral puram themes. Here is an example of a Kurunthogai, verse 40 by Sempulapeyaneerar. The poet’s name itself refers to red soil and pouring rain, a possible reflection of the weather conditions and landscape of the area he hailed from and these references are also present in the poem itself (Fig 5). Tamil English Translation by A.K. Ramanujan Translation by George L. Hart
What could be my mother be to yours? What kin is my father to yours anyway? And how did you and I meet ever? But in love our hearts are as red earth and pouring rain: mingled beyond parting.
My mother and yours, what were they to each other? My father and yours, how were they kin? I and you, how do we know each other? and yet like water that has rained on red fields, our hearts in their love have mixed together.Fig. 5 Red Earth and Pouring Rain (Kurunthogai 40)
This is one of the more famous poems of the Kurunthogai collection and it has been translated into English by A.K Ramanujan in his book entitled, The Interior Landscape: Classical Tamil Love Poems (1967) and by George L.Hart in his book entitled, The Poems of Ancient Tamil, Their Milieu and their Sanskrit Counterparts (1975). In fact, this particular poem has been incorporated in modern day Tamil film or cinema songs in its original form and as a figurative concept – the mixing of “red earth and pouring rain” conveying the union of two people in love. That such an ancient poem has touched the hearts of people in the 20th and 21st centuries, can only be attributed to the superiority of the composition and its timeless relevance to human emotions and relationships. The pervasive influence of nature in several of these literary works can also be seen in the Tolkapiyam. The Tolkapiyam is not only the earliest comprehensive text on the Tamil grammatical system, it is also the earliest known authority on ancient Tamil civilization, culture and most of ancient Tamil music system (Premalatha, 1985).
It is from the Tolkapiyam that we know that the southern part of the country was divided into four main regions or distinctive physical landscape, vegetation and crops. These were mullai (Fig. 6) or the pastoral region, kurinchi (Fig. 7) or region of hilly terrain, marutham (Fig. 8) or arable lands and coastal belts or neithal (Fig. 9). To these was added, much later, a fifth description of landscape, namely, wasteland, arid land or palai.
(to be continued)
Photo Credit: Mr Sivakumaran