Cangam

Question 1

What are the major divisions of Cangam works?

Answer 1

Tolkāppiyam
Ettu Thokai (8 anthologies)
Pathu pattu
18 shorter works

Question 2

What are the Thinai?

Answer 2

Five phases of love found in Tolkappiyam
mullai - patient waiting, forests and pastures
Kurinci- lover’s union, mountains
Marutam- unfaithfulness (sulking in silence), countryside
Neytal- love in separation and anxiety in love, seashore
Palai- elopement/ hardship/separation, wasteland

Question 3

Who was Camināta Aiyer?

Answer 3

Camināta Aiyer (1855-1942)
Scholar, who in 1880 met a judge in Kumbakōnam who introduced him to the older texts, this he is one of those credited with retrieving nearly the nearly lost Cangam corpus and twin epics and bringing them into print

Question 4

which of the seven types of love do not fit into the Akam thinai scheme? (With maybe one exception)

Answer 4

Kaikkila- unrequited love, one-sided

Peruntina- (referred to in Tolkāppiyam as the “major type”) - mismatched/forced loveless marriage (Ramanujan 235-236)

Question 5

According to the Tolkāppiyam what are the three over arching important things in Akam poetry?

Answer 5

Mutal- ‘first thing’ time and place - i.e. the landscapes (listed as four with pālai a fifth addition). Time divided like mullai is associated with rainy season and evening
Karu- ‘native element’- flora, fauna, tribes, arts, styles of instruments
Uri- human feelings which are set in mutal and karu

Question 6

Which are the Five deities associated with Akam Thinai?

Answer 6

Mullai - Māyōn 'the dark one" Visnu
Kuriñci - Cēyōn "'the red one' Murukan
Marutam - Vēntan - Indra
Neytal - Varunan (wind)
Pālai - Korravai (according to later writers)