99 Tamil Flowers – Kurunjipaatu – Introdution/Index
Before starting the blog I have to confess that the amount of hours I have spent to create this whole series is close to if not more time I have devoted for my course projects in my Masters. Around 75- 80 hours of work has been put into this blog to make it as accurate as possible. This is one of a kind material available in the web.
First I would like you to watch this video. This is Surya from Poovellam Kettuppar.
He mentions name of 100 flowers and nearly most of the flowers he has mentioned is taken from a poem from Sangam Literature.
Kapilar , one of the greatest poets in Sangam era had mentioned 99 flowers found in the Kurunji region(Mountainous region).Below are the lines from Kurunji paatu
வள் இதழ்
ஒண் செங் காந்தள், ஆம்பல், அனிச்சம்,
தண் கயக் குவளை, குறிஞ்சி, வெட்சி,
செங் கொடுவேரி, தேமா, மணிச்சிகை,
உரிது நாறு அவிழ் தொத்து உந்தூழ், கூவிளம், 65
எரி புரை எறுழம், சுள்ளி, கூவிரம்,
வடவனம், வாகை, வான் பூங் குடசம்,
எருவை, செருவிளை, மணிப் பூங் கருவிளை,
பயினி, வானி, பல் இணர்க் குரவம்,
பசும்பிடி, வகுளம், பல் இணர்க் காயா, 70
விரி மலர் ஆவிரை, வேரல், சூரல்,
குரீஇப் பூளை, குறுநறுங் கண்ணி,
குருகிலை, மருதம், விரி பூங் கோங்கம்,
போங்கம், திலகம், தேங் கமழ் பாதிரி,
செருந்தி, அதிரல், பெருந் தண் சண்பகம், 75
கரந்தை, குளவி, கடி கமழ் கலி மா,
தில்லை, பாலை, கல் இவர் முல்லை,
குல்லை, பிடவம், சிறுமாரோடம்,
வாழை, வள்ளி, நீள் நறு நெய்தல்,
தாழை, தளவம், முள் தாள் தாமரை, 80
ஞாழல், மௌவல், நறுந் தண் கொகுடி,
சேடல், செம்மல், சிறுசெங்குரலி,
கோடல், கைதை, கொங்கு முதிர் நறு வழை,
காஞ்சி, மணிக் குலைக் கள் கமழ் நெய்தல்,
பாங்கர், மராஅம், பல் பூந் தணக்கம், 85
ஈங்கை, இலவம், தூங்கு இணர்க் கொன்றை,
அடும்பு, அமர் ஆத்தி, நெடுங் கொடி அவரை,
பகன்றை, பலாசம், பல் பூம் பிண்டி,
வஞ்சி, பித்திகம், சிந்துவாரம்,
தும்பை, துழாஅய், சுடர்ப் பூந் தோன்றி, 90
நந்தி, நறவம், நறும் புன்னாகம்,
பாரம், பீரம், பைங் குருக்கத்தி,
ஆரம், காழ்வை, கடி இரும் புன்னை,
நரந்தம், நாகம், நள்ளிருள் நாறி,
மா இருங் குருந்தும், வேங்கையும், பிறவும், 95
அரக்கு விரித்தன்ன பரு ஏர்அம் புழகுடன்,
When I was reading Kurunjipaatu, I wondered how all these 99 flowers would look like. Then I decided I would try to make a blog on these 99 flowers like I have done before for few other flowers in my wordlist series. But this one was more arduous work than I thought.
Methodology:
I have used Nachinarkuiniyar commentary to identify flower names which is not in usage now. I have used Tamil Lexicon to find the scientific names/Latin names. Using google images I have found images for the flowers. Since Google images is not a very accurate source, I have gone through various other websites to confirm the common name and the scientific/latin name. The list here is mostly accurate and I have mentioned comments in the places I have varied from Lexicon or Nachinarkiniyar commentary. Some flowers mentioned here are categories (it could mean lot of flowers) rather than a flower itself. I have created disambiguation page for these flowers. Finally for serious readers I have provided a further study page which have link to more details on each flower. I have tried to provide common name, scientific name and alternate Tamil name for each entry. If any reader finds any discrepancies please inform me so that I can update it.
Lot of efforts is put into this blog so please leave your comments on this blog.
31. குறுநறுங்கண்ணி kuṟu-naṟu-ṅ-kaṇṇi
47. கஞ்சங்குல்லை kañcaṅ-kullai (page 643)
49. செங்கருங்காலி ceṅ-karuṅkāli
61. சிறுசெங்குரலி ciṟu-ceṅ-kurali
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Ancient and Unique Nature of Tamil – Part 3
Unique Nature of Tamil
According to Dr.Zvelebil Tamil literature possesses at least two unique features.
- Tamil literature in its beginnings and in its first and most vigorous bloom, is almost independent of Sanskrit and Aryan influences.
- Tamil Literature is the only literature which is classical and modern.
Tamil is the only literary Dravidian Language whose Meta Language is Tamil. The meta Language of Tamil is always been Tamil and never Sanskrit.With conscious effort Tamil can be used without any Sanskrit origin word. This is observed by A.K.Ramanujan when he says, “In most Indian languages,the technical gobbledygook is Sanskrit;in Tamil,the gobbledygook is ultra-Tamil.”[13]
Tamil is probably the only ancient language in India which bears the reflection of life style and emotion of an entire people who lived in that period. Though its heroes were idealized and heroic as Kailasapathy observes “What is pertinent is the fact that both poems (akam,puram) are dealing with aristocratic society- a society dominated by warlike chiefs.” [14]
Kamil Zvelebil accepts this fact but also points out that these Old Tamil heroes were very close to the land, the economic basis of existence, though he probably did not do any manual work himself; he did not live in huge castles, but in villages in big houses called manai,akam,il and only occasionally in small fortress(very similar to present day village headmen, who are associated with day to day activities of the village and are not isolated from the common man).
Kailasapathy also points out that slaves, servants, errand men etc. are not entitled to be portrayed as the heroes in the poems treating the five divisions of Mutual Love. He also gives references from Tolkappiyam and works of commentators like Ilampuranar and Nachinarkiniyar[15].
Zvelebil observes that though these heroes were Idealized men and women; it wasn’t essentially life of sacerdotal or ruling nobility, of priestly class, of nuns, monks, or of elite group or groups of society. These poems have captured the basic human experience in the best possible way making it one of the truly classical piece of literature.
Zvelebil also points out the difference between Tamil literature from other literatures of India “it (Sangam literature) is very different all strata of Sanskritic literature – from the Vedic literature which is literature of sacerdotal class, from the great epics which are the literature of the ruling barons, from the classical literature which is par excellence the literature of the “man about town”, of the naagarika; it is also different from the Buddhist and Jaina texts, since these are mostly the literature of the monastic orders,of monks and nuns.However this does not mean that it is ,in its finished form, as we have it “popular” literature of folk literature.”[16]
The poets of the Sangam age include 20 women contributing 140 poems. The poets also belonged to all classes of the society- princes, chieftains, peasants, brahmins, merchants, potters, black smiths and carpenters by birth. [17]
Both Kailasapathy and Zvelebil agree on the basic fact that the early poetry of the Tamils is founded on a secular, oral bardic tradition – in sharp contrast to the Vedic poetry and comparable rather with the Greek or Welsh bardic literature. The essential philosophies of the early Tamils were also different from that of the Sanskrit, Vedic literature.(Scope this topic beyond this article, hence I am avoiding going into details.)
Dr.Zvelebil observes that the poets of Ancient Tamils to the present day writers have mastered the technique of suggestion, of allusion, of interference and wordplay, of complex use of imagery and multiple overtones [18].
To end this essay I would like to quote A.K.Ramanujan opinion on Sangam literature, “In their antiquity and in their contemporaneity, there is not much else in any Indian Literature equal to these quiet and dramatic Tamil poems. In their value and stances, they represent a mature classical poetry; passion is balanced by courtesy, transparency by ironies and nuances of design, impersonality by vivid detail, leanness of line by richness of implication. These poems are not just the earliest evidence of the Tamil genius. The Tamils, in all their 2000 years of literary effort,wrote nothing better. “[19]
Part1- Tamil origins and Ancient nature
Part 2 – Sanskrit the magic wand?
Foot Notes:
[13] Language and Modernization by A.K.Ramanujan, pg. 31
[14] Tamil Heroic Poetry by K.Kailasapathy, pg.11
[15] ibid., pg.11-12
[16] The Smile of Murugan : On Tamil Literature of South India by Kamil Zvelebil, pg. 12
[17] ibid., pg.12-13
[18] ibid., pg.22
[19] The Interior Landscape: Love Poems from a Classical Tamil Anthology by A.K.Ramanujan, pg. 115
Reference and Further Study:
- The Smile of Murugan : On Tamil Literature of South India by Kamil Zvelebil
- Companion studies to History of Tamil History
- Tamil Literature by Kamil Zvelebil
- Poems of Ancient Tamil: Their Milieu and Their Sanskrit Counterparts by George L. Hart
- Tamil Heroic Poetry by K.Kailasapathy
- The Eight Anthologies by J.R. Marr
- The Interior Landscape: Love Poems from a Classical Tamil Anthology by A.K.Ramanujan
- Pattupattu: Ten Tamil Idylls by J.V. Chelliah
- A History of South India from prehistoric times to the fall of Vijayanagar by K.A.Nilakantasastri
- Early Tamil Epigraphy : From the Earliest Times to the Sixth Century A.D. by Iravatham Mahadevan
- Tamil Lexicon – University of Madras
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Ancient and Unique Nature of Tamil – Part 2
Sanskrit the Magic Wand?
“All these literatures owed a great deal to Sanskrit, the magic wand of whose touch alone raised each of Dravidian Languages from the level of a patois to that of a literary idiom.”[5] – One of the most popular/controversial statement by great scholar K.A.N.Shastri.
Is this statement really true? was origins of Tamil dependent on Sanskrit?
Kamil Zvelebil accepts that this line of thought is true for languages like Kannada, Teleugu and Malayalam, but strongly believed that Tamil was an exception to this general view. George L.Hart with respect to Sanskrit influence on Tamil says “as I view the evidence, though there certainly was northern influence, Nilakantasastri has exaggerated its extent.”[6]
The beginning of Kannada Literature were almost inspired by Jainism.The first extant narrative literature is Sivakotti’s Vaddaradhane(900 A.D.) on lives of Jaina saints.The first theoretical treatise of Kannada culture Nrpatunga’s Kaviraajamarga is based on Dandhin’s Kavyadarsa. Pampa the first great poet and most eminent of classical Kannada literature is entirely indebted to Sanskrit and Pakrit sources in his version of Mahabaratha and Adipurana ,a work dealing with lives of first Jain Tirthankara.
Similar situation is found in Telugu. The first available literature is Nannaya’s translation of Mahabaratha(11th century). The first theoretical work on Telugu Culture, Janasrayachandas is written in a language more Sanskrit than Telugu(but contains meters peculiar to Telugu and hence indicates that probably there were Telugu compositions before Sanskritization).
Beginning of literature in Malayalam too is closely associated with High Sanskrit Literature.Unnuunili Sandesam of 14th century is based on Sanskrit Sandesa poems.The very language is maniparavalam which is high breed of Malayalam and Sanskrit, known as bhasasamskrtayogam.
On the other hand, in Dr.Zvelebil’s words “The earliest literature in Tamil is a model unto itself-it is absolutely unique in the sense that, in subject matter, thought-content ,or, if we want(though I dislike this term when talking about Literature),Dravidian. And not only that, it is only the Tamil Culture that has produced-uniquely so in India- an independent, indigenous literary theory of a very high standard,including metric and prosody,poetics and rhetoric.”[7]
George L Hart contends the claim that Early Tamil has lot of words of Sanskrit origins. This claim is due to the misconception that early Tamil Inscriptions is full of Pakrit words. How ever this misconception was clarified by detailed study by Iravatham Mahadevan [8], who has shown that the early tamil inscriptions had very few Pakrit words and they are relatively in pure Tamil, though with a slightly greater number of northern words than the anthologies. The fact that nearly all the early Tamil inscriptions are Jain cave inscriptions, we should take into account that the language used by Jain monks was Pakrit which has resulted in increase of northern words in inscriptions when compared to the literature.
J.V.Chelliah in his great work Ten Tamil Idylls (pathupaatu) says,” the Sanskrit words used in some of these poems(pathupaatu) are almost nil, while in others there is a progressive increase” [9].He has also estimated percentage of Sanskrit words in some works in Ten Idylls.
- Pattinapaalai – .9% Sanskrit words
- Mullaipaatu – 2.6% Sanskrit words
- Kurunjipaatu – 1.31% Sanskrit words
Even in Thirumurgatrupadai,considered to be the last work of Sangam Literature with the heavy Aryan influence has only 30 Sanskrit words which is lesser than 2% of total words according to his estimate. Even in these 30 words such as min, taamarai and muttu are now known to be of Dravidian origin according to George L. Hart. Hart also goes on to say “A survey of Mahabaratha would, I believe, show a much higher percentage of Dravidian words”[10].
Dr.Hart also points out that Sanskrit words were not directly accepted; rather they were adapted to Tamil pronunciations. He says that there was a strong dislike for Sanskrit sounds. He gives the following examples.
- rupa–>uruvam
- sruti–>kelvi
- veda–>marai
- Kubera –> maa niti kilavan
He concludes his essay with the following statement,” Unlike the other Dravidian Languages, whose earliest works were written when Sanskrit influence was strong and are full of unchanged words form that language, Tamil Literature goes back to a period before northern literature had enough prestige in the South to be imitated there and to a time before northern institutions were so strong that they brought with them northern words.”[11]
Dr.Zvelebil observes that ” Tamil literature did not develop in a cultural vacuum, and that the evolution of the Tamil culture was not achieved either in isolation, or by simple cultural mutation. The very beginnings of Tamil Literature manifest clear traces of Aryan influence- just as the very beginnings of Indo-Aryan literature, the Rig vedic hymns, show traces of Dravidian influence.”[12]
Part1- Tamil origins and Ancient nature
Part 3 – Unique nature of Tamil
Foot Notes:
[5] A History of South India from prehistoric times to the fall of Vijayanagar by K.A.Nilakantasastri, pg.22
[6] Poems of Ancient Tamil: Their Milieu and Their Sanskrit Counterparts by George L. Hart, pg.11
[7] The Smile of Murugan: On Tamil Literature of South India by Kamil Zvelebil, pg. 4
[8] Early Tamil Epigraphy: From the Earliest Times to the Sixth Century A.D. by Iravatham Mahadevan
[9] Pattupattu: Ten Tamil Idylls by J.V. Chelliah, pg.12
[10] Poems of Ancient Tamil: Their Milieu and Their Sanskrit Counterparts by George L. Hart,pg.11-12
[11] ibid.,pg.12
[12] The Smile of Murugan : On Tamil Literature of South India by Kamil Zvelebil, pg. 11
Reference and Further Study:
- The Smile of Murugan : On Tamil Literature of South India by Kamil Zvelebil
- Companion studies to History of Tamil History
- Tamil Literature by Kamil Zvelebil
- Poems of Ancient Tamil: Their Milieu and Their Sanskrit Counterparts by George L. Hart
- Tamil Heroic Poetry by K.Kailasapathy
- The Eight Anthologies by J.R. Marr
- The Interior Landscape: Love Poems from a Classical Tamil Anthology by A.K.Ramanujan
- Pattupattu: Ten Tamil Idylls by J.V. Chelliah
- A History of South India from prehistoric times to the fall of Vijayanagar by K.A.Nilakantasastri
- Early Tamil Epigraphy : From the Earliest Times to the Sixth Century A.D. by Iravatham Mahadevan
- Tamil Lexicon – University of Madras
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