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Perumpāṇāṟṟuppaṭai
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Perumpāṇāṟṟuppaṭai (Tamil: பெரும்பாணாற்றுப்படை, lit. "guide for bards with the large lute") is an ancient Tamil poem in the Pattuppattu anthology of the Sangam literature.[1] It contains 500 lines in the akaval meter.[2] It is one of five arruppatai genre poems and was a guide to other bards seeking a patron for their art. Set as a praise for chieftain Tonataiman Ilantiraiyan of the Kanchi territory, it was composed by Uruttirankannanar sometime around 190–200 CE, states Kamil Zvelebil – a Tamil literature scholar.[3][4] While the poem is from the 2nd century, it was likely added to the Pattuppāṭṭu anthology in the 4th or 5th century CE, states Dennis Hudson – an Indologist and World Religions scholar.[5]
The Perumpāṇāṟṟuppaṭai poem, also referred to as Perumpanattrupadai,[6] is named after perumpanar – a class of minstrels who sang their bards while playing a large lute.[7] The poem provides a detailed description of the five tinai (landscapes) of Kanchi territory: mountainous (kurinci), forested (palai), pastoral (mullai), farmlands (marutam), coastal (neytal).[7][8] The capital city of Kanchipuram is described as a city of ancient might, fame, prosperity and abounding in religious festivals.[2]
The poem is a source of cultural and sociological information about ancient Kanchipuram and nearby regions, along with the government and economic systems under Tamil chieftains.[2][9] Of sociological interest are the distinctive lifestyles of robbers who are described in Perumpanattrupadai as living in fortified villages, while the lifestyle of hunters, fishermen, farmers, and herdsmen are described to be different.[2] The poem mentions Neerpayattu as a thriving seaport, the city of Kanchi as having suburbs, the ruler as someone generous to the bards.[9] The chieftain Ilantiraiyan is of historic importance since he is mentioned in other Sangam literature, such as in Purananuru and Natrinai, as well as described as a poet that adds to his own fame.[10]
In the cultural context, the poem mentions a yupa post (a form of Vedic altar) and a Brahmin village.[11] Vedas are recited by these Brahmins, and even their parrots are mentioned in the poem as those who sing the Vedic hymns. People in these Vedic villages did not eat meat, nor raise fowls. They ate rice, salad leaves boiled in ghee, pickles and vegetables.[12] Elsewhere, the hunters are described as meat-eaters, herdsmen relied on milk, yoghurt and ghee, fishermen ate a variety of fish, while farmers ate the meat of domestic fowl, beans, fruits and farm produce. Rice was a staple in all landscapes.[13] Rice was also a major part of any offerings to the gods in temples and on festivals, according to several lines in the poem, such as over lines 267–269.[14]
The Perumpanattrupadai mentions Vishnu and describes him as the god who is "tall, dark-skinned" and as one from whom "the four-faced god was born" (a Puranic legend about Brahma being born from Vishnu's navel).[11] The poem also mentions a mother goddess (Parvati, Uma), whom it alludes to as "beauteous queen whose great womb bore the red god" (Murugan). In its similes, it mentions the Ganges river, the Pandavas of the Mahabharata, and the Yoga adept rishis (sages).[15] According to Hudson, the poem is notable that it explicitly mentions three temples and alludes to one additional temple for these gods.[5] The similes used in the poem are those found in the Vedic and Puranic mythologies of Hinduism.[5]
In the context of government structure and economic activity, the poem mentions the Kanchi king surrounding himself with counselors, as having a fair system to adjudicate disputes and deliver justice, someone who was ruthless against his enemies and robbers. He rode lotus-topped chariot.[13] His coastal regions had lighthouses and other infrastructure to guide the ships, swan-shaped lamps were imported from the yavanas (Greek-Romans, or foreigners to Tamil region), farmers using bullocks as aid to agriculture, blacksmith using bellows made from animal skin (kollan),[16] the production of salt and its export, pepper trade, and merchant highways guarded by soldiers.[13][17]
A variety of religious festivals and sports are mentioned in the poem, in which both men and women participated.[18] The poem has at least 73 similes.[19]
See also[edit]
Notes[edit]
References[edit]
- ↑ Kamil Zvelebil 1973, pp. 29, 56–57.
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 2.2 2.3 Kamil Zvelebil 1973, pp. 56–57.
- ↑ Kamil Zvelebil 1974, p. 23.
- ↑ Kamil Zvelebil 1973, p. 42 Chart 4.
- ↑ 5.0 5.1 5.2 D. Dennis Hudson (2008). Martha Ann Selby and Indira Viswanathan Peterson (ed.). Tamil Geographies: Cultural Constructions of Space and Place in South India. State University of New York Press. pp. 89–93. ISBN 978-0-7914-7945-2.
- ↑ JV Chelliah 1946, p. 97.
- ↑ 7.0 7.1 Kamil Zvelebil 1973, p. 57.
- ↑ K. Sivathamby (1974). "Early South Indian Society and Economy: The Tinai Concept". Social Scientist. 3 (5): 20–37. doi:10.2307/3516448. JSTOR 3516448.
- ↑ 9.0 9.1 JV Chelliah 1946, pp. 97–101.
- ↑ JV Chelliah 1946, pp. 97–98.
- ↑ 11.0 11.1 JV Chelliah 1946, pp. 98–99.
- ↑ JV Chelliah 1946, pp. 98–100.
- ↑ 13.0 13.1 13.2 JV Chelliah 1946, pp. 99–100.
- ↑ Monica Smith (2006). "The Archaeology of Food Preference". American Anthropologist. 108 (3): 480–493.
- ↑ JV Chelliah 1946, pp. 98–103.
- ↑ R Thapar (1994). Indian Journal of History of Science. National Institute of Sciences of India. p. 468.
- ↑ Vinod Chandra Srivastava (2008). History of Agriculture in India, Up to C. 1200 A.D. Concept Publishing Company. pp. 619–620. ISBN 978-81-8069-521-6.
- ↑ JV Chelliah 1946, pp. 100–101.
- ↑ JV Chelliah 1946, p. 102.
Bibliography[edit]
- JV Chelliah (1946). Pattupattu - Ten Tamil Idylls (Tamil Verses with Englilsh Translation). Tamil University (1985 print).
- U. V. Swaminatha Aiyar (1950). Pattuppattu with a commentary by Naccinarkkiniyar (4th Edition). UV Swaminathaiyer Library.
- Shu HikoSaka (2000). Tamil poetry through the ages, 2. Pattuppattu: Ten idylls. Institute of Asian Studies. OCLC 633702288.
- Edward Jewitt Robinson (2001). Tamil Wisdom: Traditions Concerning Hindu Sages and Selections from Their Writings. New Delhi: Asian Educational Services.
- Mudaliyar, Singaravelu A., Apithana Cintamani, An encyclopaedia of Tamil Literature, (1931) - Reprinted by Asian Educational Services, New Delhi (1983)
- Pillai, M. S. Purnalingam (1994). Tamil Literature. Asian Educational Services. p. 115. ISBN 81-206-0955-7.
- Ray, Himanshu Prabha (2003). The archaeology of seafaring in ancient South Asia. Cambridge: Press Syndicate of the University of Cambridge. ISBN 9780521011099.
- 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
- Takanobu Takahashi (1995). Tamil Love Poetry and Poetics. BRILL Academic. ISBN 90-04-10042-3.
- Eva Maria Wilden (2014). Manuscript, Print and Memory: Relics of the Cankam in Tamilnadu. Walter de Gruyter. ISBN 978-3-11-035276-4.
- Kamil Zvelebil (1973). The Smile of Murugan: On Tamil Literature of South India. BRILL. ISBN 90-04-03591-5.
- Kamil Zvelebil (1974). Tamil Literature. Otto Harrassowitz Verlag. ISBN 978-3-447-01582-0.
- Zvelebil, Kamil (1992). Companion studies to the history of Tamil literature. BRILL. p. 73. ISBN 90-04-09365-6.