PATTUPPĀṬṬIL AḶAPEṬAI VAṬIVAṄKAḶ [ALAPEDAI FORMAT IN PATTUPADDU POEM

Abstract

The Sangam literature provides very valuable information on the social, economic and political life of the Tamil society. Sanga kaalam (Sangam age) is considered to be the Golden Age of Tamil Literature. The study aims to collect and quantify the scales found in the decimal texts and to classify their types such as verbal, melody, and verbal scales, to distinguish the scales from the following places first, middle, and last, and to look at the measurements at the high level and to identify and measure the measurements in the decimal. The Ten Idylls, known as Pattuppāṭṭu or Ten Lays, is an anthology of ten longer poems in the Sangam literature – the earliest known Tamil literature. They range between about 100 and 800 lines, and the collection includes the celebrated Nakkīrar's Tirumurukāṟṟuppaṭai (lit. "Guide to Lord Murukan"). The collection was termed as "Ten Idylls" during the colonial era, though this title is considered "very incorrect" by Kamil Zvelebil – a scholar of Tamil literature and history. He suggests "Ten Lays" as the more apt title. Five of these ten ancient poems are lyrical, narrative bardic guides (arruppatai) by which poets directed other bards to the patrons of arts such as kings and chieftains. The others are guides to religious devotion (Murugan) and to major towns, sometimes mixed with akam- or puram-genre poetry.