Ancient Tamil Research Articles

Analysis of Theological principles in Sangam Literatures

From the time of the birth of mankind to the present day, the thought of God has existed. The highest principle of human life is the devotional principle of love and worship of God. Just as food is needed to grow the body, godly thought is needed to perfect life. The process essays of man to reach God are called worship. Worship is the conversion of the individual into a social life and making him loving, gracious and disciplined. Greeting the deity and the belief that the deity will protect us; It is seen from the time of Tholkappiyar to the present day. The people of the Sangam age have lived with faith and devotion. They prayed to the gods to help them in the success of their efforts, to avoid harm, and to make life longer in this world and the hereafter. During the Sangam period, the faith in God did not take shape. God worship started as a natural worship in the early days and grew into an ancient cult and has evolved into religion today. During the Sangam period, there were five types of land systems namely Kurinji, Mullai, Marudham, Neytal and Palai. It is also known from ancient Tamil literature and the grammar of the people of the land that they worshipped their respective deities. Lord Muruga as the land god of Kurinji, Indra as the god of Maruthanila, Varuna as the land god of Neytal and The Land God of Palai can be seen through the Sangappas. In sangam literature, there are stories about the deities Shiva, Murugan, Thirumal, kotravai, Indra and Thirumagal and the methods of worshipping them.

Omen - a word and its meaning

Words are always coined, and the people accept them as per the circumstances. Some of those words are used in the literature. Many words which are used in literature become obsolete. Even so, some words are still used by the people. In that sense, the word nimittam, which means Omen, has been used by people from ancient times. This research aims to explore the meaning of the word with its different terminologies. Books such as Tolkappiyam, Silappathikaram, Perungkatai and Kambaramayanam mention that the purpose of the word is to say what will happen in the future. The word is also used in other forms such as Nimittu, nimittiyam. Cakuṉam, puḷ, kuṟi, cōtiṭam, ētu, cōtaṉam are the synonyms of this word. Duraisamy Pillai comments, the word sakunam is derived from sokinam. It can be seen that the word sakunam refers first to the bird and then to the sakunam associated with the bird and all sorts of sakunam (omens) throughout the time. Bull, another word, is used by the people of ancient times. This word denotes the name of this bird, which has been mentioned in ancient Tamil literature such as Naṟṟiṇai, puṟanāṉūṟu, perumpāṇāṟṟuppaṭai, malaipaṭukaṭām Later, like the word sakunam, it denotes the signs of bird, after some time, it is named for all kinds of signs. One can see the use of the word in Kalingathu Parani. Thus this article tries to explore the various terms which mean nimittam.

Status of Home Head woman from a sociological point of view

The sweetness of domestic life begins with the labor of mankind. The connection and happiness of the human relationship is due to the combination of the two hearts. The Ancient Tamil community has observed that although sexual desire is a fundamental characteristic of living organisms, morality, honesty and high character should be practiced in them. This article focuses on the sociological interpretation of the immoral attacks of the leader in tamil poems created by promoting morality, the physiological lying characteristics of the leader and the psychological implications they create.

TAMIZHİ: Historical Tamil-Brahmi Script Recognition Using CNN and MobileNet

Computational epigraphy is the study of an ancient script where the computer science and mathematical model is relatively built for epigraphy. The Tamil-Brahmi inscriptions are the most ancient of the extant written of the Tamil. The inscriptions furnish valuable information on many aspects of life in the ancient Tamil country from a period anterior to the literary age of Sangam. The recognition of the script and systematic analysis of the script is required. The recognition of this script is complex, containing various curves for a single character and the style of writing overlap with curves and lines. Generating corpus of the script is necessary, since it is the initial step for computational epigraphy. The archaeological department has supported the raw data that helped to develop a corpus of Tamizhi. In this article, we have implemented a convolution neural network in various ways, i.e., (i) Training the CNN model from scratch a Softmax classifier in a sequential model (ii) using MobileNet: Transfer learning paradigm from a pre-trained model on a Tamizhi dataset (iii) Building Model with CNN and SVM (iv) SVM for evaluation of best accuracy to recognize handwritten Brahmi characters. To train the CNN Model an extensive TAMIZHİ handwritten Brahmi Dataset of 1lakh and 90,000 isolated samples for the character has been created and deployed. The designed dataset consists of 9 vowels and 18 consonants and 209 class so researchers can use machine learning. MobileNet outperformed among all the models implemented with the accuracy of 68.3%, whereas other algorithm ranges from 58% to 67% with respect to the Tamizhi dataset. MobileNet model is trained and tested for the dataset of vowels (8 class), consonants (18 class), and consonants vowels (26 class) with the accuracy of 98.1%, 97.7%, 97.5%, respectively.

An Analysis of Sangam Tamil Society’s Ethical Framework as Instructed in Puṟanāṉūṟu

Puṟanāṉūṟu is a historical document that serves as a record of the rich cultural heritage of the ancient Tamil civilization. It is filled with ethical guidelines that will serve as guidelines to live by till the end of human civilization. Seventeen poems in Puṟanāṉūṟu are considered a part of the Poruṇmoḻikkāñci section. This essay will analyse the ethical guidelines given to rulers on how to rule and to citizens on how to be good citizens.

Food thy be medicine – A perspective from ancient Tamils

The global burden of epidemic diseases coupled with lifestyle based non communicable disorders has compelled us to revisit our ancestral way of living with a hope for salvage and to improve our present quality of life. Our historical literatures reveal some interesting facts from our rich heritage about our ancestors and their secrets for longevity, especially of Siddhars and Sages who lived amongst us across several decades. The present study has explored relevant scriptures of ancient sages like Agasthiyar and Theraiyar. Their prescriptions were analyzed from a scientific perspective based on its composition, consumption, regional prevalence, processing techniques etc and their significance of incorporating them in present day diet modifications for major and minor illnesses. In present scenario customized dietary therapy is being highly recommended for various illnesses upon diagnosing the cause and to effectively recover optimal health. Hence the study is felt necessary and need of the hour to revive our historical culinary recipes/ practices for a healthier society.

Mother Goddess Worship in Ancient Tamil Literature

An ancient Tamil people worship begin from nature; Even though the first worship starts from women, women become as a God for their extreme quality of maternity. In ancient Tamil literature (Sangam Literature, Epic literature, Nilakesi etc.), the Number of evidences are found for the mother Goddess worship of ancient Tamil peoples. This Research articles give detailed explanation about the mother Goddess worship. The aim and objectines of this article is to find out the mother Goddess worship with the evidences of ancient Tamil Literature. In this research articles Descriptive Criticism, Historical Criticism and Analytical Criticism are applied.

Atheism is the cult of the grave

The Superman was afraid of nature and began to worship. In its aftermath, the warrior who guarded the tribal society was worshiped as a deity. In the course of time, heroic worship became a planting ceremony. Later, idolatry took root because of racism. However, the purpose of this study is to show that the Nadukars, which were celebrated by the ancient Tamils, are still worshiped as idols.

Vedic principles in Sangam literature

Sangam literary texts have praised many Rig, Yajur, Sama and Atharvana Vedas. The four Vedas speak of the praise of God, the sacrificial rites, the mantras of veneration, witchcraft, and mantras for controlling all that man fears in practical life. Aiṅkuṟunūṟu, kuṟuntokai, patiṟṟuppattu, paripāṭal, kalittokai, akanāṉūṟu are explored. Ancient Tamil Nadu accepted the Rig, Yajur, Sama and Atharvana Vedas with great respect. This article examines the Sangam literature as a definitive proof of the greatness of following the divine morality.

Ancient Tamil and Science: A View

Scientific research seems to unravel the mystery of the many effects we have around us. The main essence of this research is reflected in Tamil literature. Many scientists are philosophers. Unravel the many knots that are puzzling.

Kurunthogai Leader and Sigmund Freud’s Theory

All the ancient Tamil poets of the ancient time were intrigued by the nature of the world without compromising on it. They were amazed at the beauty of the world. Instead of distorting the nature of the world in a way that suited their mental state, they enjoyed expanding and explaining their memory to suit their knowledge through the beauty of the worldly nature. Thus it is the Sangam literatures that add pride to Tamil literature. One of those descriptions is that the hero of Kurunthogai and it explains his feelings. The mental unity of the lovers is the lifeblood of the Agathinai. If the stolen norm of stolen lovers is marriage, it is called morality. (C. Maheswari, Society in Paripathal, pp. 4, 5). Thus, this review article reveals how songs that highlight the leader’s psychology have been incorporated and explored into the psychological theory of psychologist Sigmund Freud.

Recognition of Ancient Tamil Characters from Epigraphical inscriptions using Raspberry Pi based Tesseract OCR

Optical Character Recognition (OCR) is the process of identification of the printed text using photoelectric devices and computer software. It converts the inscribed text on the stones into machine encoded format. OCR is widely used in machine learning process like cognitive computing, machine translation, text to speech conversion and text mining.OCR is mainly used in the research fields like Character Recognition, Artificial Intelligence and Computer Vision. In this research, the recognition process is done using OCR, the inscribed character is processed using Raspberry Pi device on which it recognizes characters using Artificial Neural Network. This work mainly focuses on the recognition of ancient Tamil characters inscribed on stones to modern Tamil characters belong to 9th and 12th century characters. The input image is subjected to gray scale conversion process and enhanced using adaptive thresholding process. The output image is subjected to thinning process to reduce the pixel size of the image. Then the characters are classified using Artificial Neural Network Architecture and the classified characters are mapped to modern Tamil character using Unicode. The Artificial Neural Network has input layer, hidden layer of 15 neurons and output layer of 1 neuron to classify the characters. The accuracy of the constructed system for the recognition of epigraphical inscriptions is calculated. The above process is carried out in raspbian environment using python process.

Emphasis of Welfare State in Valluvam

The relationship between literature and politics is a reciprocal one. The core theme of literature makes a positive impact on individual and society. Literature was considered as a powerful tool to explore the moral, ethical and social values which brought notable changes in the socio – political sphere. In this context, Thirukkural is most important universally accepted literature as it reveals the ethical values of politics and administrative system found in the erstwhile Tamil society like elements of state, fortification, excellence of army, factors for good governance, qualities of a king, minister, avoidance of faults, etc. Thirukkural is a timeless Tamil Classic written approximately 2,000 years ago by the great thinker and philosopher - Saint Thiruvalluvar. Ethical and political principles of a very high standard are expressed in the Thirukkural in a lucid and precise manner which also applicable to the present day democratic governance. Out of the three, the second part ‘Porul’, (Wealth) is a treatise on political philosophy and administrative practices as well as on economy. It is directly addressed to the leader or the Ruler. As such this paper attempts to highlight the administrative thoughts of Thiruvalluvar in the context of good governance and welfare politics that existed in ancient Tamil society.

Theories and Principles of Theology in the Kuruntokai

The Kuruntokai of the ancient Tamil deities worshipped by Murugan, Surthaivam, Korravai, Kollipaavai and others is known from the Kuruntokai. The Velan fanaticism is found in the Sangam literature. This study is conducted in a way that explains the principles of theology found in the Sangam literature. The story of the Velan rampage, the worship of Korravai, the surat worship and the dance of women in the short story has explained this article.

Greek, Tamil and Sanskrit: Comparison between the Myths of Herakles (related with Iole and Deianira) and Rama in Hinduism

The Greek Historian Arrian has said that the Indians worshipped Greek Herakles. So the myths related with Greek Herakles need to be compared with the myths of the Indian Gods. There are many myths related with Herakles. The myth related with Iole and Deianira has resemblance with the myth of Rama in Hinduism and Buddhism. The word Rama which is connected with sea is mentioned in the Hebrew Bible. This word came into existence in the ancient Tamil literature called Sanga Ilakkiam through the trade that happened among the people of Greek, Hebrew and Tamil. The myths of Rama that occurred in the Tamil Sangam literature later developed as epics in Sanskrit, Tamil and other languages. Further the myths of Rama also found place in religions such as the Hinduism and the Buddhism. The resemblance between Herakles, in connection with Iole and Deianira, and Rama are synonymous. Hence the Greek Herakles is portrayed as Rama in Hinduism and Buddhism. Keywords: Arrian, Buddhism, Herakles, Rama, Tamil Sangam

Women’s in Sīvaka Cinthamani

Ancient Tamils wrote epics with the fundamental objectives worthy of human pursuit, i.e., Aram (Ethics), Porul (Economy), Inbam (Joy) and vīdu (Heaven). Though the epics are not happenings of facts, they teach livelihood for generations. As Valluvar says ‘what is greater than women?’ Women perform the important part in Tamil society. They have capacity to administer family as well as the country efficiently. In Sīvaka Cinthamani, Thiruthakka Thevar establishes the hero Sivakan to the core. But depicts the women characters a little lesser than him. Women are attributed with gentleness. This research tries to bring out the excellence of such women.

Kongu Cultural Values in the Epic

Among the ancient Tamil literatures, which speaks of the pride of Tamilians, the epic, ‘Perunkadhai’ which originated from the land of Kongu excels in describing the traditional values of Kongu. They include abiding to justice, living with good deeds, speaking the truth, truth alone triumphs, forbidding adultery, sowing good deeds will bring you good things, as you sow so you reap, karma is a boomerang and other numerous moral quoting’s were implemented in the lives of the Tamilians. The educated women from the Kongu Velir were called as ‘Manakiyar’ in the Perunkadhai- as like the mother of the bride send her off with the valuables out of her love. This example is said to be a ‘natural aspect of mothers’ by Kongu people.

Meditation to Mediate Emotional Swings of Breast Cancer Survivors

Cancer has gradually occupied a bigger space in mortality count. It’s reported that every four minutes a person is affected by cancer. Women had taken over men; mainly 1 in 30 women are affected by breast cancer. Breast cancer has cancer. Breast cancer has a great impact on emotional & social perspectives. More than an organ it’s a symbol of beauty and motherhood. In Ancient Tamil literatures, mainly sanga literatures at many instances poets have glorified the beauty of women, donating breast, hair, waist line & motherhood. Though difficult we still can survive with one kidney, one eye, leg and hand but in breast cancer it is tragedy. The pain of hair due to chemotherapy, losing a breast and beauty seems to be higher than pain caused by the disease. They undergo a lot of mood swings and emotional imbalances, to build in resilience and to enhance their livelihood meditation. Yoga helps than to beat over fatigue. It also helps manage the side effects of cancer treatment and helps manage the emotional add-ons such us mental fatigue, depression. Yoga is mainly recommended for the psycho-social wellbeing along with family counselling. The yogic package mainly had pranayama practice, meditation and few asanas. Regular practice if continued by breast cancer survivor even after the cancer cure will have lifelong benefits. The purpose of writing this article is to create awareness among women of my own motherland-Tamil Nadu to stay conscious and undergo regular screening as women are the true lights of our nation.

Humanist but not Radical: The Educational Philosophy of Thiruvalluvar Kural

Humanist ideas in education have been promoted by both Western thinkers and classical wisdom texts of Asia. Exploring this connection, I examine the educational philosophy of an iconic ancient Tamil (Indian) text, the Thiruvalluvar Kural, by juxtaposing it with a contemporary humanist classic, Paulo Freire’s Pedagogy of the Oppressed. As this comparative study reveals, both texts offer humanist visions of relevance to education, politics, and society. Notably, however, the Kural takes what might be described as a more mainstream humanist stance vis-à-vis Freire’s radical humanist approach. Nevertheless, both educational philosophies share a common humanist bond representing important breakthroughs within their own given contexts. More specifically, the Kural supports a shift in consciousness and social practices away from caste rigidity, superstition, and pre-humanist beliefs while Freire championed transitioning from rigid, top-down and alienating educational delivery models and economic systems to learning processes and societies that are more democratized, dialogic and egalitarian.

புறநானூறு காட்சிப்படுத்தும் பழந்தமிழர்களின் ‘பூதவியல்சார்’ சிந்தனைகள்

Ancient Tamils feared natural disasters such as floods, wildfires and landslides and began to worship land, water, fire, air and sky to protect themselves. As an extension of this, the Five elements in nature are worshiped as deities named Varna Bhagavan, Vayu Bhagavan, Surya Bhagavan and Bhumadevi. Later, the ancient tamils, who knew that the world operated through the Five elements in nature. They began to refer the Five elements in nature as a metaphor for gift, mercy, valor, patience, and so on. In the Sangam literature the songs are recorded according to the imagination. The ancient people know the scientific messages from the atom to the universe.