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<div>{{Use dmy dates|date=August 2019}}<br />
{{Sangam literature}}<br />
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'''''Malaipaṭukaṭām''''' ({{lang-ta|மலைபடுகடாம்}}) is an ancient [[Tamil language|Tamil]] poem in the ''[[Pattuppāṭṭu]]'' anthology of the [[Sangam literature]].{{sfn|Kamil Zvelebil|1974|pp=24–25}} Authored by Perunkunrur Perunkaucikanar, it consists of 583{{refn|group=note|Zvelebil states it has 583 lines.{{sfn|Kamil Zvelebil|1973|p=59}}{{sfn|JV Chelliah|1946|pp=283–284}} Other scholars such as Fred Clothey state that the ''Malaipaṭukaṭām'' has many more lines.<ref name="Clothey2019">{{cite book|author=Fred W. Clothey|title=The Many Faces of Murukan: The History and Meaning of a South Indian God. With the Poem Prayers to Lord Murukan|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=PC2aDwAAQBAJ&pg=PA34 |year=2019| publisher=Walter De Gruyter| isbn=978-3-11-080410-2|page=34}}</ref> According to Chellaih, the poem has 763 lines.{{sfn|JV Chelliah|1946|pp=325}}}} lines that describe the nature scenes, the people and the culture of mountain countryside under king [[Nannan]].{{sfn|Kamil Zvelebil|1973|p=59}}{{sfn|JV Chelliah|1946|pp=283–284}} The poem is dated approximately to 210 CE by Kamil Zvelebil – a Tamil literature scholar.{{sfn|Kamil Zvelebil|1974|p=25}}<br />
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The title of the poem ''Malaipatukatam'', also spelled ''Malaipadukadam'',{{sfn|JV Chelliah|1946|pp=283–284}} is found in lines 347–348 of the poem in the context of "roaring elephants in rut".{{sfn|JV Chelliah|1946|pp=283–284}} The title has been interpreted in two ways. Some scholars translate it as "the secretion oozing from the mountains", while others as "the sound of ''katam'' which arises in the mountains". Either is metonymically interpreted as "the Echo of the Mountains".{{sfn|Kamil Zvelebil|1974|pp=24–25}}{{sfn|Kamil Zvelebil|1973|p=59}} The poem is also known as '''''Kūttarāṟṟupaṭai''''' (Kuttararruppatai), ''lit.'' "Guide to the Dancing Minstrels", a title that suggests that it is an ''arruppatai''-genre poem.{{sfn|Kamil Zvelebil|1974|pp=24–25}}<br />
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The ''Malaipatukatam'' is known for its similes, some of which are also found in other Sangam poems.{{sfn|Kamil Zvelebil|1974|pp=24–25}} It paints a vivid picture of the hilly region (near [[Chengam]], then called Chenkama), the people, the troupes of actors and their musical instruments.{{sfn|JV Chelliah|1946|pp=283–284}} The poem describes the beauty of the female singers and dancers. Other lines present the valor of virtues king Nannan.{{sfn|JV Chelliah|1946|pp=283–284}} His capital city is described, along with a long catalog-like description of the birds, animals, trees, flowers, and fruits found in the hilly kingdom.{{sfn|JV Chelliah|1946|pp=283–284}} <br />
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The guide outlines some natural dangers faced by troupes as they travel from one performance site to another, and the generous hospitality they will receive from villagers along their way.{{sfn|JV Chelliah|1946|pp=283–284}} It mentions servings of alcohol made from rice that is aged in bamboos, a meal of rice, buttermilk, ''avarai'' beans and tamarind gravy.<ref>{{cite book|author1=Rayson K. Alex|author2=S. Susan Deborah|title=Ecodocumentaries: Critical Essays |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=CdaCDQAAQBAJ&pg=PA196 |year=2016|publisher=Palgrave Macmillan |isbn=978-1-137-56224-1|page=196}}</ref> A few lines in the ''Malaipatukatam'' mention the shepherds, the fishermen and the farmers along the [[Cheyyar River]] (Seyaru).{{sfn|JV Chelliah|1946|pp=283–284}} The women in these regions, states the poem, sing songs as they pound and husk the grains.<ref>{{cite book|author=Vijaya Ramaswamy|title=Women and Work in Precolonial India: A Reader|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=TzxwDQAAQBAJ&pg=PT107|year=2016|publisher=SAGE Publications|isbn=978-93-5150-740-6|pages=107–108}}</ref><br />
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The lengthy poem mentions the Hindu god [[Vishnu]] primarily though there are also references to [[Shiva]], his son [[Murugan]] – the god of war (line 651),<ref name="Clothey2019"/> and the king as Shiva's devotee. The poem alludes to the "great god" and "god who drank poison" (likely Shiva) and pillars that were worshipped (likely [[lingam]]).{{sfn|JV Chelliah|1946|pp=11, 284–286, 297, 326–327}}<ref>{{cite book|author=C. Vaittiyaliṅka_n|title=Fine Arts and Crafts in Pattuppāṭṭu and Eṭṭuttokai|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=HUcGAAAAMAAJ|year=1977|publisher=Annamalai University|page=235}}</ref> The ''Malaipatukatam'' uses the word ''ool'' (Sanskrit: karma).{{sfn|JV Chelliah|1946|pp=284–286}} It also mentions the goddess of wealth, [[Lakshmi]] in lines 463–464 and the "god on whose breast she sits enthroned".{{sfn|JV Chelliah|1946|pp=297, 326–327}}<br />
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==See also==<br />
* [[Chera dynasty]]<br />
* [[Sangam literature]]<br />
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==Notes==<br />
{{reflist|group=note}}<br />
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==References==<br />
{{reflist}}<br />
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===Bibliography===<br />
{{ref begin|30em}}<br />
*{{cite book|author= JV Chelliah|title= Pattupattu - Ten Tamil Idylls (Tamil Verses with Englilsh Translation)| year= 1946|url = https://archive.org/details/PattupattuTenTamilIdylls_20180715/page/n1| publisher= Tamil University (1985 print)}}<br />
* {{cite book |author=Edward Jewitt Robinson |title=Tamil Wisdom: Traditions Concerning Hindu Sages and Selections from Their Writings |url=https://archive.org/details/tamilwisdomtradi0000robi|year=2001 |publisher=Asian Educational Services |location = New Delhi}}<br />
* Mudaliyar, Singaravelu A., Apithana Cintamani, An encyclopaedia of Tamil Literature, (1931) - Reprinted by Asian Educational Services, New Delhi (1983)<br />
* {{cite book|title=Tamil Literature|last=Pillai|first=M. S. Purnalingam|year=1994|pages=115|publisher=Asian Educational Services|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=QIeqvcai5XQC&pg=PA115|isbn=81-206-0955-7}}<br />
* {{cite book|title=The archaeology of seafaring in ancient South Asia|last=Ray|first=Himanshu Prabha |year=2003|publisher=Press Syndicate of the University of Cambridge|location=Cambridge|url= https://books.google.com/books?id=iHHzP4uVpn4C |isbn=9780521011099}}<br />
* Selby, Martha Ann (2011) Tamil Love Poetry: The Five Hundred Short Poems of the Aiṅkuṟunūṟu, an Early Third-Century Anthology. Columbia University Press, {{ISBN|9780231150651}}<br />
*{{cite book|author=Takanobu Takahashi|title=Tamil Love Poetry and Poetics|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=wgCHuVGyZoEC|year=1995|publisher=BRILL Academic|isbn=90-04-10042-3}}<br />
* {{cite book|author=Kamil Zvelebil|title=The Smile of Murugan: On Tamil Literature of South India|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=degUAAAAIAAJ|year=1973|publisher=BRILL|isbn=90-04-03591-5}}<br />
* {{cite book|author=Kamil Zvelebil|title=Tamil Literature|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=OQ33i496MsIC|year=1974| publisher=Otto Harrassowitz Verlag|isbn= 978-3-447-01582-0}}<br />
* {{cite book|title=Companion studies to the history of Tamil literature|last=Zvelebil|first=Kamil|author-link=Kamil Zvelebil|year=1992|pages=73|publisher=BRILL|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=qAPtq49DZfoC&pg=PA73|isbn=90-04-09365-6}}<br />
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