Five Great Epics
The Five Great Epics (Tamil: ஐம்பெரும்காப்பியங்கள் Aimperumkāppiyaṅkaḷ) are five Tamil epics according to later Tamil literary tradition. They are Silappatikāram, Manimekalai, Cīvaka Cintāmaṇi, Valayapathi and Kundalakesi.[1]
This article is about Tamil literature. For Greek literature, see Epic cycle. For Meitei literature, see Epic cycles of incarnations.
Three of the five great epics of Tamil literature are attributed to Tamil Jains, while two are attributed to Tamil Buddhists. Cīvaka Cintāmaṇi, Cilappathikāram, and Valayapathi were written by Tamil Jains, while Manimekalai and Kundalakesi were authored by Buddhists. The first mention of the Aimperumkappiyam (lit. Five large epics) occurs in Mayilainathar's commentary of Nannūl. However, Mayilainathar does not mention their titles. The titles are first mentioned in the late-18th-to-early-19th-century work Thiruthanikaiula. Earlier works like the 17th-century poem Tamil vidu thoothu mention the great epics as Panchkavyams.[2][3] Among these, the last two, Valayapathi and Kundalakesi are not extant.[4]
These five epics were written over a period of 5th to 10th century CE and act and provide historical information about the society, religions, culture and academic life of Tamil people over that period. Cīvaka Cintāmaṇi introduced long verses called virutha pa in Tamil literature,[5] while Cilappatikāram used akaval meter (monologue), a style adopted from Sangam literature.
Style[edit]
The great Tamil commentator Atiyarkkunallar (12th–13th century CE) wrote that poems were of two kinds – Col thodar nilai ceyyuḷ (சொல் தொடர் நிலை செய்யுள்) or poems connected by virtue of their formal properties and Poruḷ toṭar nilai ceyyuḷ (பொருள் தொடர் நிலை செய்யுள்) or poems connected by virtue of content that forms a unity.[27] Cilappatikāram, the Tamil epic is defined by Atiyarkkunallar as Iyal icai nāṭaka poruḷ toṭar nilai ceyyuḷ (இயல் இசை நாடக பொருள் தொடர் நிலை செய்யுள்), poems connected by virtue of content that unites with elements of poetry, music and drama.[27][28] Such stanzas are defined as kāvya and kappiyam in Tamil. In Mayilainathar's commentary (14th century CE) on the grammar Nannūl, there is the first mention of aimperumkappiyam, the five great epics of Tamil literature.[27]
Each one of these epics have long cantos, like in Cilappatikāram, which has 30 referred as monologues sung by any character in the story or by an outsider as his own monologue related to the dialogues he has known or witnessed.[29] It has 25 cantos composed in akaval meter, used in most poems in Sangam literature. The alternative for this meter is called aicirucappu (verse of teachers) associated with verse composed in learned circles.[30] Akaval is a derived form of verb akavu which means "to call" or "beckon". Cilappatikāram is an example of the claim that folk songs institutionalised literary culture with the best-maintained cultures root back to folk origin.[30] Manimekalai is an epic in ahaval metre and is noted for its simple and elegant style of description of natural scenery.[31] Cīvaka Cintāmaṇi is one of the earliest works of Tamil literature in long verses called virutha pa.[5]
Five minor Tamil epics[edit]
Similar to the five great epics, Tamil literary tradition classifies five more works as Ainchirukappiyangal (Tamil: ஐஞ்சிறுகாப்பியங்கள்) or five minor epics. The five lesser Tamil epics are Neelakesi, Naga kumara kaviyam, Udhyana kumara Kaviyam, Yasodhara Kaviyam and Culamani.[1][32]
Popular culture[edit]
There have been multiple movies based on Silappathikaram. The most famous is the portrayal of Kannagi by actress Kannamba in the 1942 Tamil movie Kannagi with P.U. Chinnappa as Kovalan. The movie faithfully follows the story of Silappathikaram and was a hit when it was released. The movie Poompuhar, penned by M. Karunanidhi, is also based on Silapathikaram.[37] There are multiple dance dramas as well by some of the exponents of Bharatanatyam (a South Indian dance form) in Tamil as most of the verses of Silappathikaram can be set to music.
Maṇimēkalai has been shot as a teleserial in Doordarshan.