Sharks in Sangam Literary Fishermen's Lives and Contemporary Fishermen's Lives

Abstract

The Sangam literature consists of texts that explain the internal lives of peoples from five ancient Tamil land divisions. In this anthology, Neythal explains the life of the sea and the fishermen who are dependent on the sea and also describes the sea creatures of marine life. Records of fishes are also found among these species. 18 types of fish are found in this way. Similarly, the writer conducted a field survey of fishermen living in Pamban village in Rameswaram circle, Ramanathapuram district, and found 204 types of fish. The five types of fish found in Sangam literature are lobster fish, codfish, shark fish, swordfish, and sawshark fish, and they are found in the lives of modern fishermen. The main occupation of fishermen is fishing. These fishing methods were documented in Sangam literature by poets of the time. Sharks mentioned in Sangam literature are also found among fishermen living in four places: Pondicherry, Cuddalore District, Mandapam, and Pampan (Ramanathapuram District). Here, the names of these sharks, their types, their habitats, characteristics of sharks, hunting of sharks, food of sharks, breeding patterns, worship of sharks, and other uses of sharks have been investigated.