Purananuru facts for kids

The Purananuru (Tamil: புறநானூறு, Puṟanāṉūṟu) is an ancient collection of Tamil poems. Its name means "four hundred poems about public life." People sometimes call it Puram or Purappattu. It's part of the famous Eight Anthologies from the Sangam literature period in Tamil literature.

This collection has 400 brave poems. They tell stories about kings, battles, and everyday life in ancient Tamil lands. Sadly, two poems are lost, and some others are only partly left. Many different poets wrote these poems – 157 of them! Some poets were unknown, and at least 10 were women. Scholars believe these poems were written between the 2nd and 5th centuries CE, though a few might be older.

The Purananuru is a very varied collection. About 138 poems praise 43 kings from different kingdoms: 18 from the Chera dynasty (in today's Kerala), 13 from the Chola dynasty, and 12 from the early Pandya dynasty. Another 141 poems celebrate 48 chieftains (local leaders). These poems talk about their brave actions. About 109 poems tell tales of unknown heroes, possibly from old Tamil stories passed down by word of mouth. Some poems also share wise sayings or moral lessons. The poems often focus on war, brave deeds, and the challenges and changes that come with battles between kingdoms near rivers like Kaveri, Periyar, and Vaigai.

The Purananuru is a very important source for understanding the history and society of ancient Tamil Nadu during the Sangam era. It gives us a look at Tamil life before major influences from other parts of India. Life back then often centered around the king. The poems also show that ancient Tamils had different social groups. This collection is mostly about the ancient Tamil ideas on kingship, the many wars in the Tamil-speaking regions, and the courage of warriors. These poems celebrate war and describe virtues like loyalty, courage, and honor for fighters.

The poems in Purananuru use many interesting words and comparisons. They mention the huge Himalayas, gods like Shiva and Vishnu, the ancient Vedas (holy texts), and even the epic story of the Ramayana.

What is in the Collection?

Among the eight Sangam collections, Purananuru and Pathitrupathu focus on public life. This includes kings, wars, great deeds, generosity, and ideas about right and wrong. While Pathitrupathu is only about the glory of Chera kings, Purananuru covers many different topics in its 397 poems. As mentioned, two of the original 400 poems are missing, and some poems are incomplete.

How the Poems are Structured

The Purananuru has 400 poems, including a special opening prayer poem. Each poem can be short, from 4 lines, or longer, up to 40 lines. Poems 267 and 268 are lost, and some poems are only partly left. We don't know who wrote 14 of the poems. The other 157 poets included men and women, and even kings and poor people. The oldest book with notes on these poems has comments on the first 266 poems. A scholar named Nachinarkiniyar, who lived in the 11th–12th century, wrote a complete explanation for all the poems.

Main Topics of the Poems

The Purananuru poems are about the "puram" side of Sangam literature. This means they deal with war, politics, and public life. Many poems praise kings and chieftains. Some poems are sad songs, called elegies, written to honor a hero who died in battle. These poems show strong feelings and emotions.

Purananuru is special for a few reasons:

• It talks about the king and his believed power over nature, like bringing rain or good crops.
• It shows the ancient Tamil belief in the power of a woman's purity, called karpu (chastity).
• It mentions the belief in doing good deeds by performing Yagams (religious ceremonies).
• It also talks about Brahmins being pure because they recite the holy Four Vedas.
• It describes the old system of social groups (kuti or kudi) that existed in Tamil kingdoms.

Here's how the poems are generally ordered by topic:

• Prayer to Shiva (Poem 1)
• Praise for kings (Poems 2-64)
• Poems about kings dying, messengers, poets, brave kings, how captives were treated, and the speed of war (Poems 65-173)
• Poems with moral lessons (Poems 182-195)
• Poems about kings who were not generous to poets (Poems 196–211)
• More about kings dying, the sadness of widows, youth versus old age, cattle raids, memorial stones, and combat (Poems 213–282)
• Poems about war (Poems 283–314)
• Poems about kings who were kind to the poor (Poems 315–335)
• Poems about how life doesn't last forever and death is certain (Poems 336–367)
• A low-caste drummer asking the king for gifts (Poems 368–400)

Who Wrote Them?

As mentioned, 157 poets wrote the collected poems. We don't know who wrote 14 of them. At least 10 of the poets were women. Some of the poets, like Kapilar and Nakkirar, also wrote poems found in other ancient collections.

How the Poems are Arranged

The poems in Purananuru seem to be arranged in a specific way. The poems at the beginning talk about the three main kings of ancient Tamil Nadu: Chola, Chera, and Pandya. The middle part focuses on lesser kings and local chieftains, who were under these three main kingdoms. There's a short section (poems 182-195) with poems that teach lessons. The final part describes the general scenes of war and its effects. Some parts even mention kingdoms trying to stop wars by sending a Brahmin (a wise person) to the battlefield to speak to the warriors and stop the fighting.

Landscapes and Themes

Just like "akam" (love) poems are grouped by "thinais" or landscapes based on their mood, "puram" (public life) poems are also grouped into seven "thinais" based on their subject. These are:

• Vetchi: When a king starts a war by attacking and stealing the enemy's cattle.
• Vanchi: When a king invades enemy land.
• Uzhingai: When a king surrounds an enemy's fort.
• Thumbai: When two armies meet on the battlefield.
• Vaakai: When the king wins the battle.
• Paataan: When a poet praises the king for his victory.
• Kanchi: When a poet sings about how short human life is.

However, Purananuru doesn't strictly follow this system. The notes with each poem mention eleven different "thinais." Based on what the poems are about, these themes include:

A palm leaf manuscript with ancient Tamil text

• Vetchi
• Karanthai
• Vanchi
• Nochchi
• Thumpai
• Vaakai
• Kanchi
• Paadaan
• Kaikkilai
• Perunthinai
• Pothuviyal

Kaikkilai and Perunthinai are usually about love poems. But in Purananuru, they appear in the context of war. For example, poems 83, 84, and 85 are called kaikkilai thinai, which means unreturned love. They describe a noblewoman's love for King Cholan Poravai Kopperunarkilli. Similarly, poems 143 to 147 are perunthinai, meaning unsuitable love, and are about King Pekan leaving his wife.

Pothuviyal is a general category for poems that don't fit elsewhere. In Purananuru, it's mostly used for poems that teach lessons or sad songs for dead heroes.

A Sense of Realism

The songs in Purananuru feel very real and immediate, which is unique for old literature. It seems the poets wrote or sang these poems right when events were happening, not years later. Some poems are like conversations where the poet asks, begs, scolds, or praises the king.

For example, in poem 46, the poet Kovur Kizhaar talks to the Chola king Killivalavan. He asks the king to save the children of a defeated enemy. These children are about to be trampled by an elephant. The poet says, "O king, you come from a family of kings who cut their own flesh to save a pigeon! Look at these children; they are so innocent they've stopped crying and are just looking at the elephant's swinging trunk with wonder. Please have pity on them..." This vivid description makes it seem like the poet was right there, seeing everything. Many other poems also mention Cholas coming from a line of kings who saved a pigeon. This makes scholars think the Cholas claimed to be descendants of King Shibi Chakravarthy, a legendary hero who sacrificed himself to save a dove.

Another poem, by Mudinagarayar, praises the Chera king Uthayan Cheralaathan for feeding the armies at the Kurukshetra war. This is a bit confusing because that war happened much earlier than the Chera king lived. Based on this one poem, some people tried to say Purananuru poems were from around 1000 BCE or even older.

A Look into History

Each Purananuru poem has a note attached to it. This note tells who wrote the poem, what it's about, the name of the king or chieftain it relates to, and why the poem was written.

From these notes, and sometimes from the poems themselves, we learn the names of many kings, chieftains, and the poets they supported. It's been hard to put these names in order and figure out who lived at the same time. To make it even more confusing, some historians say these notes were added later and might not be completely accurate for history.

However, a careful study of when the kings, chieftains, and poets lived, based on these notes, suggests that these poems describe events over about four or five generations, which is roughly 120 to 150 years. When trying to get historical facts from these poems, we need to remember that they were written casually and collected for poetry, not as a history book.

Some attempts to date the Purananuru poems based on the mention of the Mahabharata war haven't been successful. A more reliable way to date these poems is by looking at mentions of foreign trade and the presence of Greek and Roman merchants in the port of Musiri (poem 343). This suggests a date between 200 BCE and 150 CE for these poems. This idea is supported by a mention of the Ramayana in poem 378 and a reference to the Maurya empire in poem 175, which points to a date around 187 BCE. Putting these ideas together, it seems the poems were written around the 2nd century BCE.