THOLAKAPPIYAM AND AKAM AND PURAM

Tholkappiyam, roughly dated 3BCE-5CE, attributed to the second Sangam era by scholars, is
a grammatical treatise that goes far beyond grammar. It codifies Tamil poetics, offers a
linguistic analysis, a critique of poetry, a prescriptive manual for poets, a classification of
form and content of poetry and indicates a unique way of life and worldview.
According to Tholkappiyam, poetry’s subject matter is categorized under two heads: Agam
& Puram. The two categories are enunciated in relation to each other. Each one is its Other
and the two formulations are complementary aspects of an entire way of life. Agam stands
for the interior feelings while Puram stands for the outer world or simply the non-Agam.
What is interesting and distinctive about their enunciation in Tholkappiyam is the fact that
they are further located within an overarching matrix permeating a landscape, its flora,
fauna, season, time, phase of love, occupations of the community, musical instrument, and
other aspects reflecting a way of life inhabitants of a particular region termed thinai. Agam
and Puram domains thus encapsulate an entire gamut of human experience in time and
place.
Naturally, for understanding dramatic monologues, it is necessary to be familiar with the
conventions of such poetry. For interpreting such a verse, it is necessary, as emphasized by
Tholkappiyam to know who the speaker is, to whom it is spoken, its dramatic context in
Agam or Puram; the time implied therein as a looking back or as a looking forward and the
various strata of meaning and rich suggestion because such poetry believing as it does in
compression should have recourse to an elaborate theory of suggestion and rasa or poetic
sentiment. There is also the poetic convention about interpreting long drawn sentences, its
peculiar linkages and ellipses.
The Sangam Literature is known to be one of the earliest developments in the Tamil
language in the history of Southern India. This collection of poetry contains over 2,300
poems composed by nearly 500 poets. The poems were composed by various classes of
society, irrespective of sex. Readers find that Sangam deals with emotional and material
aspects such as war, authority, love, and gods. The Tamil Sangam poetry is further divided
into Akam and Puram. The two are entangled in such a way that one compliments the
other. The two taken together demonstrate the way of life. Akam is the representation of
the interior or the inner world, what lies within. It includes all the intangible aspects of life
such as heart, mind, desire, emotion, sexual pleasure, separation, and the theme of love.
The Akam poems are concerned with love in all its varied situations: pre-marital and
marital; clandestine and illicit; conjugal happiness and infidelity; separation and union. This
amorous life is divided into five Thinais: Kurinji, Mullai, Marutam, Neidal, and Palai. Thinais
can be defined as the landscapes or the geographical location in which the erotic poems are
set. A Thinai consists of a complete poetical landscape - a definite time, place, season in
which the poem is set - and the background elements characteristic of that landscape -
including flora and fauna. In Tamil Sangam poetry, we see that each Thinai has been
designated a distinctive Mudhal or setting (time and place), Karu or time/year, and Uri or
the essential theme.
The first theme or the Mudhal refers to time and place. For instance, the Kurinji Thinai is set
in the hills, Mullai is set in the pastures or the woods, Marutam is set in the countryside and
the plains, Neidal is set along the coast, and Palai is set in the dried Kurinji and the Mullai
land. Similarly, the Karu or the time of the day and the seasons is also relevant in Sangam
poetry. They are mostly set at night and in the cool season, late evening and in the
monsoon, morning, nightfall, and all seasons, midday and summer. These Thinais occupy
pride and honor in the Tamil Sangam poetry, however, we also come across two categories
of illicit, inappropriate, and inferior love: Kaikallai or the unrequited love, and Perumthinai
or the mismatched love with excessive lust. These forms of love are often degraded and
unaccepted in society.
One of the most intriguing features of Akam poetry is it revolves around the world of a
female, and each poetry is composed of the viewpoint of a woman. We often see women
interacting with their female friends and receiving advice from them.
In Canto 24 of The Book of Vanci, we see Kannaki being compared with Valli, wife of
Kartikeya, because of her beauty and her being positioned on the hill under the kino tree.
Moreover, Kannaki's pain is initially realised and empathized by the tribal girls who came to
the hill for hunting.
In "The Book of Pukar," Ilanko Adigal explores aspects of both marital and extramarital love
in Kovalan's relationships with his wife Kannaki and the courtesan Matavi. When Kovalan
abandons Kannaki for Matavi, Ilanko contrasts Kannaki's situation of love in separation with
that of Matavi's love in enjoyment. Suspecting Matavi of infidelity, he returns to Kannaki,
who accepts him without complaint, and the two are reunited. But their reunion is brief;
shortly afterwards, Kovalan dies and Kannaki avenges his death and ascends to heaven.
Ilanko consciously uses four of the seven akam thinais to organize and enrich the narrative
in "The Book of Pukar."

First, he uses the mullai, the patient endurance of a woman during the time of separation
from her lover. Kovalan leaves Kannaki and squanders his fortune on her courtesan Matavi.
Though devastated, Kannaki does not complain and waits for him patiently. Then he uses
marutam: the infidelity of lovers. Both Kovalan and Matavi suspect each other of betrayal
and infidelity. They convey their emotions through songs and poetry. It is evident from the
lines of Canto 7,
"I sang the song of the seaside grove. A hypocrite, she put together a pack of specious lies,
and sang with someone else in mind."
The next thinai that we come across is neidal: the anxiety caused by separation. Consumed
by her love of Kovalan, Kannaki decides to pen down her feelings. This is evident in Canto 8,
"Taking in her hand as stylus the firm bud of a jasmine near it, she dipped it in a thick paste
of red lac and wrote." The last thinai is the pallai: elopement and separation from the
family. In Canto 9, we see Kovalan and Kannaki leaving Pukar for Madurai to set up a new
home. Akam themes overlap these thinais and further indicate Ilanko's dependence on the
conventions of erotic poetry.
The prevalence of Akam songs in the Book of Pukar not only capture the dynamics in a
relationship of the anonymous but also comment on the changing graph of the lives of the
protagonists. All the major turning points of the epic are shown to be the result of karma.
Spring ushers in the joys of love and togetherness, but for Matavi, it signals loneliness and
sleepless nights.
In Canto I of The Book of Vanci, Ilango beautifully expains how the hill dwellers are moved
after hearing the story of Kannaki. They praise her and offer strong insense and rain
flowers. The thinai of Kuriniji is prominent in the stanza as the mudhal or the setting of the
canto is in the hills. The narrative style is typical of ancient oratory in literature and is
beautifully expressed through the prose and passage here.
The second type of Sangam poetry is referred to as Puram. It is the very converse of the
Akam poetry. Unlike Akam poetry, which deals with love, desire, passion and emotion,
Puram poetry deals with the external world of kingdoms, war, violence, emperors, heroism,
valor, war, and battles. The emperors are hailed and their victories are celebrated. Like
Akam, Puram is also divided into five Thinais: Vetchi, Vanchi, Ulignai, Thumbai, and Vagai.
The Mudhal and the Karu elements of Puram poetry are more or less similar to those of
Akam poetry. However, the distinction lies in the Uri or the essential theme of the poem.
Vetchi involves the capturing of the enemy's cattle, thereby triggering war-like situations,
whereas Vanchi involves invading the enemy. Ulignai is the encirclement of enemy
fortifications, Thumbai involves waging war and finally, Vagai involves celebrating victory in
war. These poetries involve gruesome wars, bloodshed, and seizing the enemy land. It
ranges over vast thematic landscapes of praises of heroic exploits, just rule of kings and
their munificent patronage of bards and poets and other groups of suppliants.
Ilanko follows the conventions of heroic poetry in "The Book of Vanci." The narrative is
interspersed with six of the seven Puram thinais. Puram themes, especially those connected
with the ritual of installing a memorial stone, link these thinais and further indicate Ilanko's
dependence on the conventions.
Each of the six thinais that comprise "The Book of Vanci" has an intricate network of heroic
themes that not only carry the burden of the narrative but also provide a coherent
structure to the poem. It would not be an exaggeration to say that the Cilappatikaram
derives its structure from the conventions of Tamil erotic and heroic poetry.
Canto 19 is the journey of restoration for justice. We see a woman in a public space. She
steps out of the domestic and feminine Akam domain to negotiate with the open,
unfamiliar, and masculine Puram domain.
In Canto 26, the exaggerated praise of the king's valor and a triumph over the armies
follows the Vanchi thinai in Puram domain. Canto 28 opens with the homecoming of the
triumphant king, Chenkuttuvan and his army. He is now wealthier and more renowned, so
much so that his stock epithet, the white parasol is now replaced by the golden one. In the
description of the warm welcoming that the king and the soldiers receive from their wives,
involves both the aspects of heroic and erotic. The lovely women embrace the warriors
whose chests are either gored by tuskers, marked by spears, pierced by arrows or cut up by
swords. Everyone celebrates the 'marked chests'. Ilango has signified the heroic virtues in
Puram poetry in a fascinating way. Kanchi thinai in puram domain highlights the transience
of life whereas the celebration of victory indicates Vaagai thinai.
This epic followed the philosophy of Jainism. Personal emotions and social themes under
Akam and Puram domain were highlighted respectively. Thus, we can also conclude that
both Akam and Puram poetry form the very basis of Sangam Literature. They are invincible
parts of the ancient Tamil tradition.