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Topics in Sangam literature
Sangam literature
Agattiyam	Tolkāppiyam
Eighteen Greater Texts
Eight Anthologies
Aiṅkurunūṟu	Akanāṉūṟu
Puṟanāṉūṟu	Kalittokai
Kuṟuntokai	Natṟiṇai
Paripāṭal	Patiṟṟuppattu
Ten Idylls
Tirumurukāṟṟuppaṭai	Kuṟiñcippāṭṭu
Malaipaṭukaṭām	Maturaikkāñci
Mullaippāṭṭu	Neṭunalvāṭai
Paṭṭiṉappālai	Perumpāṇāṟṟuppaṭai
Poruṇarāṟṟuppaṭai	Ciṟupāṇāṟṟuppaṭai
Related topics
Sangam	Sangam landscape
Tamil history from Sangam literature	Ancient Tamil music
Eighteen Lesser Texts
Nālaṭiyār	Nāṉmaṇikkaṭikai
Iṉṉā Nāṟpatu	Iṉiyavai Nāṟpatu
Kār Nāṟpatu	Kaḷavaḻi Nāṟpatu
Aintiṇai Aimpatu	Tiṉaimoḻi Aimpatu
Aintinai Eḻupatu	Tiṇaimālai Nūṟṟaimpatu
Tirukkuṟaḷ	Tirikaṭukam
Ācārakkōvai	Paḻamoḻi Nāṉūṟu
Ciṟupañcamūlam	Mutumoḻikkānci
Elāti	Kainnilai
Bhakti Literature
Naalayira Divya Prabandham	Ramavataram
Tevaram	Tirumuṟai
edit

Classical Tamil literature known as Sangam literature (Tamil: சங்க இலக்கியம், sanga ilakkiyam) is the Tamil literature of classical antiquity from Tamilakam in the region of South India. The literature has been variously dated from c. 300 BCE to 300 CE. ^[1]^[2]^[3]^[4]^[5] . Traditional sources set the origin of this literature in the Third Sangam,^[6] which refers to claims of earlier literary academies lasting thousands of years, giving the name to the corpus of literature.^[7]^[8]^[9]

The collection contains 2381 poems composed by 473 poets, some 102 of whom remain anonymous.^[10] The poems were composed by both men and women from various professions and classes of society.^[11] They were later collected into various anthologies, edited, and with colophons added by anthologists and annotators around 1000 CE. Sangam literature fell out of popular memory soon thereafter, until they were rediscovered in the 19th century by scholars such as Arumuga Navalar, C. W. Thamotharampillai and U. V. Swaminatha Iyer.

Sangam poems are composed in two non-rigid categories, Akam ("in-ness"), which refers to love poetry, and Puram ("exterior"), which refers to war poetry. The corpus deals with emotional and material topics such as love, war, governance, trade and bereavement. A unique tradition of the ancient Tamil poets is the use of the Sangam landscape, where emotions are linked to certain types of natural areas known as Tinais. Classical Tamil literature is also characterised by its rich poetological tradition using a large variety of poetical defintions and metres.

Compilation of literature

The available literature from this period was categorized and compiled in the 10th century into two categories based roughly on chronology. The categories are the Eighteen Greater Texts (Tamil: பதினெண்மேல்கணக்கு patiṉeṇmēlkaṇakku) comprising the Eight Anthologies (Tamil: எட்டுத்தொகை ettuthogai) and the Ten Idylls (Tamil: பத்துப்பாட்டு pattuppāṭṭu) and the Eighteen Lesser Texts (Tamil: பதினெண்கீழ்கணக்கு patiṉeṇkīḻkaṇakku).

Classification

Sangam poems falls into two categories: Akam (Tamil: அகம் akam, "in-ness"), and Puram (புறம் puṟam, "exterior") as described in the first available Tamil grammar, the Tolkāppiyam. The Akam topics refer to personal or human aspects, such as love and intimate relationships, and are dealt with metaphorically and abstractly. The Puram topics discuss all other aspects of human experience such as heroism, courage, ethics, benevolence, philanthropy, social life, and customs. The division into Akam and Puram is not rigid, but depends upon the interpretation used in a specific context.

Environmental classifications

Sangam literature illustrates the thematic classification scheme first described in the Tolkāppiyam. The classification links the emotions involved in Akam poetry to landscape categories called Tinai (திணை tiṇai, "category").

Sexual emotions are represented by mountainous regions, where the rare Kurinji (Tamil: குறிஞ்சி kuṟiñci, "Strobilanthes kunthianus") grows. The emotion of longing for somebody is indicated by forrests, where the Jasmine flower (Tamil: முல்லை mullai, "Jasmine") blooms. Sulkiness is represented in agricultural land by the Queen's flower (Tamil: மருதம் marutam, "Lagerstroemia speciosa"), while pining is equated with coastal regions where the blue lotus flower grows (Tamil: நெய்தல் neytal, "Nelumbo nucifera"). The feeling of separation is displayed through deserts by the evergreen plants (Tamil: பாலை pālai, "Succelent"). Rarely used Tinais include கைக்கிளை kaikkiLai and perunthinai for unsolicited love and unsuited love, respectively.

Similar Tinais pertain to Puram poems as well, though these categories are based on activity rather than landscape: vetchi, karanthai, vanchi, kanchi, uzhignai, nochchi, thumbai, vaagai, paataan, and pothuviyal.

Tamil Sangams

According to the compilers of the Sangam works such as Nakkeeran, the Tamil Sangams were academies, where Tamil poets and authors are said to have gathered periodically to publish their works. The legends claim that the Pandyan dynasty of the mythical cities of "South Madurai", Kapatapuram, and Madurai, patronized the three Sangams. ^{[citation needed]}

While these claims of the Sangams and the description of sunken land masses Kumari Kandam have been dismissed as frivolous by historiographers,^[12] "Sangam literature" is still the preferred term for referring to the collection of Tamil works from the period 200 BC to 200 AD. Noted historians like Kamil Zvelebil have stressed that the use of 'Sangam literature' to describe this corpus of literature is a misnomer and Classical literature should be used instead.^[13]^{[needs update]}

Sangam	Place of Organisation	Chairman	Kingdom	Books
First	Thenmadurai	Agastya	Pandiya	No books survived
Second	Kapatapuram	Earlier - Agastya Later - Tolkāppiyar (a disciple of Agastaya)	Pandiya	Tolkāppiyam (author - Tolkāppiyar)
Third	Madurai	Nakkeerar	Pandiya	covers entire corpus of Sangam Literature

Sangam poets

Notable contributors of Sangam literature include Thiruvalluvar, who wrote the Tirukkural, which has been often nicknamed as "the Tamil Bible" due to its popularity among the modern Tamil population. The work is based on ethics, virtue, wealth and love, contained in 1330 short couplets.

Tamil poet Mamulanar, who explored historical incidents that happened in India, lived during the Sangam period.^[14]^[15]

Rediscovery

The works of Sangam literature were lost and forgotten for several centuries before they were brought to light by several Tamil scholars, such as Arumuka Navalar, C. W. Thamotharampillai and U. V. Swaminatha Iyer.^[16]^[17] They painstakingly collected and catalogued numerous manuscripts in various stages of deterioration. Navalar and Pillai hailed from Jaffna. Navalar brought the first Sangam text into print; this was the Thirumurukaattuppadai (one of the Ten Idylls), in 1851. Pillai brought out the first of the Eight Anthologies (Ettuththokai) of the Sangam classics, the Kaliththokai, in 1887. Swaminathaiyar published his first print of the Ten Idylls in 1889. Together, these scholars printed and published Tholkappiyam, Nachinarkiniyar Urai (1895), Tholkappiyam Senavariyar urai, (1868), Manimekalai (1898), Silappatikaram (1889), Pattuppāṭṭu (1889), and Purananuru (1894), all with scholarly commentaries. They published more than 100 works in all, including minor poems. J. V. Chellaiah of Jaffna College did the entire translation of the Ten Idylls in English in 1945.

Reception

The Indologist Kamil Zvelebil quotes A. K. Ramanujan: "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 values and stances, they represent a mature classical poetry: passion is balanced by courtesy, transparency by ironies and nuances of design, impersonality by vivid detail, austerity of line by richness of implication. These poems are not just the earliest evidence of the Tamil genius."^[18]

References

^ There are some who claim earlier dates (up to 600 BCE). Others cite as late as 2BCE. The date of 300 BCE may represent a middle-of-the road consensus view; e.g. see the well-received textbook Ancient India, Upinder Singh, 2009, p. 15. However, it is quite likely that the songs existed in oral tradition well before this date.
^ Kamil Veith Zvelebil, Companion Studies to the History of Tamil Literature, p. 12
^ K.A. Nilakanta Sastry, A History of South India, OUP (1955) p. 105
^ Classical Tamil Archived 7 July 2010 at the Wayback Machine
^ T.S. Subramanian (10 July 2009). "Jain History of Tamil Nadu vandalised". Retrieved 3 June 2011. The six Tamil-Brahmi inscriptions of the 2nd century B.C. on the brow of five caverns on the Kazhugumalai hill near Mankulam, 38 km from Madurai, are the most ancient ones in Tamil Nadu and establish the historical facts that the Pandyan king Nedunchezhiyan ruled in the 2nd century B.C. and that Sangam literature dates back to the same period.
^ Iḷaṅkōvaṭikaḷ (1 January 1965). Shilappadikaram: (The Ankle Bracelet). New Directions Publishing. ISBN 9780811200011.
^ Irayanaar Agapporul dated to c 750 AD first mentioned the Sangam legends. An inscription of the early tenth century AD mentions the achievements of the early Pandya kings of establishing a Sangam in Madurai. See K.A. Nilakanta Sastry, A History of South India, OUP (1955) p. 105
^ "The latest limit of Ettutokai and Pattupattu may be placed around 700 AD...." – Vaiyapuri Pillai, History of Tamil language and literature p. 38.
^ "...the Tamil language of these brief records achieved a flowering during the first centuries of the Common Era, culminating in the emergence of a poetic corpus of very high quality [...] To this corpus the name sangam poetry was added soon afterwards...." Burton Stein, A History of India (1998), Blackwell p. 90.
^ George L. Hart III, The Poems of Ancient Tamil, U of California P, 1975.
^ Chera, Chola, Pandya: Using Archaeological Evidence to Identify the Tamil Kingdoms of Early Historic South India – Abraham, Shinu Anna, Asian Perspectives – Volume 42, Number 2, Fall 2003, pp. 207–223 University of Hawaii Press
^ The Hindu : Book Review : Resurrecting Lemuria
^ Kamil Zvelebil., The Smile of Murugan
^ Morality and Ethics in Public Life by Ravindra Kumar p.92
^ Essays on Indian Society by Raj Kumar p.71
^ A library of palmyra manuscripts Archived 13 May 2008 at the Wayback Machine
^ "Companion Studies to the History of Tamil Literature", Kamil V. Zvelebil
^ Kamil Zvelebil 1975, p. 115.

Bibliography

Kamil Zvelebil (1973). The Smile of Murugan: On Tamil Literature of South India. BRILL. ISBN 90-04-03591-5. {{cite book}}: Invalid |ref=harv (help)
Kamil Zvelebil (1975). Tamil Literature. Handbook of Oriental Studies. BRILL. ISBN 90-04-04190-7. {{cite book}}: Invalid |ref=harv (help)
P. Meenakshi Sundaram (1965). History of Tamil Literature. Annamalai University.

External links

[1] There are some who claim earlier dates (up to 600 BCE). Others cite as late as 2BCE. The date of 300 BCE may represent a middle-of-the road consensus view; e.g. see the well-received textbook Ancient India, Upinder Singh, 2009, p. 15. However, it is quite likely that the songs existed in oral tradition well before this date.

[2] Kamil Veith Zvelebil, Companion Studies to the History of Tamil Literature, p. 12

[3] K.A. Nilakanta Sastry, A History of South India, OUP (1955) p. 105

[4] Classical Tamil Archived 7 July 2010 at the Wayback Machine

[5] T.S. Subramanian (10 July 2009). "Jain History of Tamil Nadu vandalised". Retrieved 3 June 2011. The six Tamil-Brahmi inscriptions of the 2nd century B.C. on the brow of five caverns on the Kazhugumalai hill near Mankulam, 38 km from Madurai, are the most ancient ones in Tamil Nadu and establish the historical facts that the Pandyan king Nedunchezhiyan ruled in the 2nd century B.C. and that Sangam literature dates back to the same period.

[6] Iḷaṅkōvaṭikaḷ (1 January 1965). Shilappadikaram: (The Ankle Bracelet). New Directions Publishing. ISBN 9780811200011.

[7] Irayanaar Agapporul dated to c 750 AD first mentioned the Sangam legends. An inscription of the early tenth century AD mentions the achievements of the early Pandya kings of establishing a Sangam in Madurai. See K.A. Nilakanta Sastry, A History of South India, OUP (1955) p. 105

[8] "The latest limit of Ettutokai and Pattupattu may be placed around 700 AD...." – Vaiyapuri Pillai, History of Tamil language and literature p. 38.

[9] "...the Tamil language of these brief records achieved a flowering during the first centuries of the Common Era, culminating in the emergence of a poetic corpus of very high quality [...] To this corpus the name sangam poetry was added soon afterwards...." Burton Stein, A History of India (1998), Blackwell p. 90.

[10] George L. Hart III, The Poems of Ancient Tamil, U of California P, 1975.

[11] Chera, Chola, Pandya: Using Archaeological Evidence to Identify the Tamil Kingdoms of Early Historic South India – Abraham, Shinu Anna, Asian Perspectives – Volume 42, Number 2, Fall 2003, pp. 207–223 University of Hawaii Press

[12] The Hindu : Book Review : Resurrecting Lemuria

[13] Kamil Zvelebil., The Smile of Murugan

[14] Morality and Ethics in Public Life by Ravindra Kumar p.92

[15] Essays on Indian Society by Raj Kumar p.71

[16] A library of palmyra manuscripts Archived 13 May 2008 at the Wayback Machine

[17] "Companion Studies to the History of Tamil Literature", Kamil V. Zvelebil

[FOOTNOTEKamil_Zvelebil1975115-18] Kamil Zvelebil 1975, p. 115.

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 {{Sangam literature}}
 {{History of literature by era}}
-'''Classical Tamil literature''' known as '''Sangam literature''' ([[Tamil language|Tamil]]: சங்க இலக்கியம், ''Sanga ilakkiyam'') is the [[Tamil literature]] of [[classical antiquity]] from [[Tamilakam]] in the region of [[South India]]. The literature has been variously dated from c. 300 BCE to 300 CE. <ref>There are some who claim earlier dates (up to 600 BCE). Others cite as late as 2BCE. The date of 300 BCE may represent a middle-of-the road consensus view; e.g. see the well-received textbook ''Ancient India'', [[Upinder Singh]], 2009, p. 15.  However, it is quite likely that the songs existed in oral tradition well before this date.</ref><ref>Kamil Veith Zvelebil, ''Companion Studies to the History of Tamil Literature'', p. 12</ref><ref>K.A. Nilakanta Sastry, ''A History of South India,'' OUP (1955) p. 105</ref><ref>[http://www.ciil-classicaltamil.org/project1.html Classical Tamil] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100707000020/http://www.ciil-classicaltamil.org/project1.html |date=7 July 2010 }}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://jainology.blogspot.com/2009/07/history-vandalised.html|title=Jain History of Tamil Nadu vandalised|author=T.S. Subramanian|date=2009-07-10|accessdate=2011-06-03|quote=The six Tamil-Brahmi inscriptions of the 2nd century B.C. on the brow of five caverns on the Kazhugumalai hill near Mankulam, 38 km from Madurai, are the most ancient ones in Tamil Nadu and establish the historical facts that the Pandyan king Nedunchezhiyan ruled in the 2nd century B.C. and that Sangam literature dates back to the same period.}}</ref> . Traditional sources set the origin of this literature in the [[Third Sangam]],<ref>{{Cite book|url=https://books.google.no/books?id=Uu3QelRpmsgC&pg=PR8&dq=third+sangam&hl=no&sa=X&ved=0ahUKEwjpvJvEgvrSAhUBhiwKHWFLC1YQ6AEIIzAB#v=onepage&q&f=false|title=Shilappadikaram: (The Ankle Bracelet)|last=Iḷaṅkōvaṭikaḷ|date=1965-01-01|publisher=New Directions Publishing|isbn=9780811200011|language=en}}</ref> which refers to claims of earlier literary academies lasting thousands of years, giving the name to the corpus of literature.<ref>''Irayanaar Agapporul'' dated to c 750 AD first mentioned the Sangam legends. An inscription of the early tenth century AD mentions the achievements of the early [[Pandya]] kings of establishing a ''Sangam'' in [[Madurai]]. See K.A. Nilakanta Sastry, ''A History of South India'', OUP (1955) p. 105</ref><ref>"The latest limit of ''[[Ettutokai]]'' and ''[[Pattupattu]]'' may be placed around 700 AD...." – Vaiyapuri Pillai, ''History of Tamil language and literature'' p. 38.</ref><ref>"...the Tamil language of these brief records achieved a flowering during the first centuries of the Common Era, culminating in the emergence of a poetic corpus of very high quality [...] To this corpus the name ''sangam poetry'' was added soon afterwards...." [[Burton Stein]], ''A History of India'' (1998), Blackwell p. 90.</ref>
+'''Classical Tamil literature''' known as '''Sangam literature''' ([[Tamil language|Tamil]]: சங்க இலக்கியம், ''sanga ilakkiyam'') is the [[Tamil literature]] of [[classical antiquity]] from [[Tamilakam]] in the region of [[South India]]. The literature has been variously dated from c. 300 BCE to 300 CE. <ref>There are some who claim earlier dates (up to 600 BCE). Others cite as late as 2BCE. The date of 300 BCE may represent a middle-of-the road consensus view; e.g. see the well-received textbook ''Ancient India'', [[Upinder Singh]], 2009, p. 15.  However, it is quite likely that the songs existed in oral tradition well before this date.</ref><ref>Kamil Veith Zvelebil, ''Companion Studies to the History of Tamil Literature'', p. 12</ref><ref>K.A. Nilakanta Sastry, ''A History of South India,'' OUP (1955) p. 105</ref><ref>[http://www.ciil-classicaltamil.org/project1.html Classical Tamil] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100707000020/http://www.ciil-classicaltamil.org/project1.html |date=7 July 2010 }}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://jainology.blogspot.com/2009/07/history-vandalised.html|title=Jain History of Tamil Nadu vandalised|author=T.S. Subramanian|date=2009-07-10|accessdate=2011-06-03|quote=The six Tamil-Brahmi inscriptions of the 2nd century B.C. on the brow of five caverns on the Kazhugumalai hill near Mankulam, 38 km from Madurai, are the most ancient ones in Tamil Nadu and establish the historical facts that the Pandyan king Nedunchezhiyan ruled in the 2nd century B.C. and that Sangam literature dates back to the same period.}}</ref> . Traditional sources set the origin of this literature in the [[Third Sangam]],<ref>{{Cite book|url=https://books.google.no/books?id=Uu3QelRpmsgC&pg=PR8&dq=third+sangam&hl=no&sa=X&ved=0ahUKEwjpvJvEgvrSAhUBhiwKHWFLC1YQ6AEIIzAB#v=onepage&q&f=false|title=Shilappadikaram: (The Ankle Bracelet)|last=Iḷaṅkōvaṭikaḷ|date=1965-01-01|publisher=New Directions Publishing|isbn=9780811200011|language=en}}</ref> which refers to claims of earlier literary academies lasting thousands of years, giving the name to the corpus of literature.<ref>''Irayanaar Agapporul'' dated to c 750 AD first mentioned the Sangam legends. An inscription of the early tenth century AD mentions the achievements of the early [[Pandya]] kings of establishing a ''Sangam'' in [[Madurai]]. See K.A. Nilakanta Sastry, ''A History of South India'', OUP (1955) p. 105</ref><ref>"The latest limit of ''[[Ettutokai]]'' and ''[[Pattupattu]]'' may be placed around 700 AD...." – Vaiyapuri Pillai, ''History of Tamil language and literature'' p. 38.</ref><ref>"...the Tamil language of these brief records achieved a flowering during the first centuries of the Common Era, culminating in the emergence of a poetic corpus of very high quality [...] To this corpus the name ''sangam poetry'' was added soon afterwards...." [[Burton Stein]], ''A History of India'' (1998), Blackwell p. 90.</ref>
 The collection contains 2381 poems composed by 473 poets, some 102 of whom remain anonymous.<ref>George L. Hart III, ''The Poems of Ancient Tamil,'' U of California P, 1975.</ref> The poems were composed by both men and women from various professions and classes of society.<ref>Chera, Chola, Pandya: Using Archaeological Evidence to Identify the Tamil Kingdoms of Early Historic South India – Abraham, Shinu Anna, Asian Perspectives – Volume 42, Number 2, Fall 2003, pp. 207–223 University of Hawaii Press</ref> They were later collected into various anthologies, edited, and with [[colophon (publishing)|colophons]] added by anthologists and annotators around 1000 CE. Sangam literature fell out of popular memory soon thereafter, until they were rediscovered in the 19th century by scholars such as [[Arumuga Navalar]], [[C. W. Thamotharampillai]] and [[U. V. Swaminatha Iyer]].
-Sangam literature is categorised into two main genres, [[Akam (poetry)|Akam]] ("in-ness"), which refers to love poetry, and [[Puram]] ("exterior"), which refers to war poetry. The corpus deals with emotional and material topics such as love, war, governance, trade and bereavement. A unique tradition of the ancient Tamil poets is the use of the [[Sangam landscape]], where emotions are linked to certain types of natural areas known as [[Thinai|Tinais]]. Classical Tamil literature is also characterised by its rich poetological tradition using a large variety of poetical defintions and metres.
+Sangam poems are composed in two non-rigid categories, [[Akam (poetry)|Akam]] ("in-ness"), which refers to love poetry, and [[Puram]] ("exterior"), which refers to war poetry. The corpus deals with emotional and material topics such as love, war, governance, trade and bereavement. A unique tradition of the ancient Tamil poets is the use of the [[Sangam landscape]], where emotions are linked to certain types of natural areas known as [[Thinai|Tinais]]. Classical Tamil literature is also characterised by its rich poetological tradition using a large variety of poetical defintions and metres.
 == Compilation of literature ==
-The available literature from this period was categorized and compiled in the 10th century into two categories based roughly on chronology. The categories are the ''[[Eighteen Greater Texts|patiṉeṇmēlkaṇakku]]'' ("the eighteen greater text series") comprising the ''[[Eight Anthologies|ettuthogai]]'' ("eight anthologies") and the ''[[Ten Idylls|pattuppāṭṭu]]'' ("ten idylls") and the ''[[Eighteen Lesser Texts|patiṉeṇkīḻkaṇakku]]'' ("the eighteen lesser text series").
+The available literature from this period was categorized and compiled in the 10th century into two categories based roughly on chronology. The categories are the ''[[Eighteen Greater Texts]]'' ([[Tamil language|Tamil]]: பதினெண்மேல்கணக்கு ''patiṉeṇmēlkaṇakku'') comprising the ''[[Eight Anthologies]]'' ([[Tamil language|Tamil]]: எட்டுத்தொகை ''ettuthogai'') and the ''[[Ten Idylls]]'' ([[Tamil language|Tamil]]: பத்துப்பாட்டு ''pattuppāṭṭu'') and the ''[[Eighteen Lesser Texts]]'' ([[Tamil language|Tamil]]: பதினெண்கீழ்கணக்கு ''patiṉeṇkīḻkaṇakku'').
 == Classification ==
-Sangam poems falls into two categories: the "inner field" (''akam''{{spaced ndash}}{{lang|ta|அகம்}}), and the "outer field" (''puṟam''{{spaced ndash}}{{lang|ta|புறம்}}) as described even in the first available Tamil [[grammar]], the ''[[Tolkāppiyam]]''.
+Sangam poems falls into two categories: [[Akam (poetry)|Akam]] ([[Tamil language|Tamil]]: {{lang|ta|அகம்}} ''akam,'' "in-ness"), and [[Puram]]  ({{lang|ta|புறம்}} ''puṟam'', "exterior") as described in the first available Tamil [[grammar]], the ''[[Tolkāppiyam]]''. The Akam topics refer to personal or human aspects, such as love and [[intimate relationship]]s, and are dealt with metaphorically and abstractly. The Puram topics discuss all other aspects of human experience such as [[hero]]ism, [[courage]], [[ethics]], benevolence, [[philanthropy]], social life, and customs. The division into Akam and Puram is not rigid, but depends upon the interpretation used in a specific context.
-The "inner field" topics refer to personal or human aspects, such as love and [[intimate relationship]]s, and are dealt with metaphorically and abstractly. The "outer field" topics discuss all other aspects of human experience such as [[hero]]ism, [[courage]], [[ethics]], benevolence, [[philanthropy]], social life, and customs.
-The division into ''agam'' and ''puram'' is not rigid, but depends upon the interpretation used in a specific context.
 == Environmental classifications ==
 {{Main| Sangam landscape}}
-Sangam literature illustrates the thematic classification scheme first described in the ''Tolkāppiyam''. The classification ties the emotions involved in akam poetry to a specific landscape. These landscapes are called ''tiṇai'' (திணை). These are: ''kuṟiñci'' (குறிஞ்சி), mountainous regions; ''mullai'' (முல்லை), forests; ''marutam'' (மருதம்), agricultural land; ''neytal'' (நெய்தல்) coastal regions; ''pālai'' (பாலை) deserts. In addition to the landscape based ''tiṇai''s, ''kaikkiLai'' and ''perunthinai'' are used for unsolicited love and unsuited love, respectively.
+Sangam literature illustrates the thematic classification scheme first described in the ''Tolkāppiyam''. The classification links the emotions involved in Akam poetry to landscape categories called [[Thinai|Tinai]] (திணை ''tiṇai'', "category").
+Sexual emotions are represented by mountainous regions, where the rare [[Strobilanthes kunthianus|Kurinji]] ([[Tamil language|Tamil]]: குறிஞ்சி ''kuṟiñci,'' "''[[Strobilanthes kunthianus]]''") grows. The emotion of longing for somebody is indicated by forrests, where the Jasmine flower ([[Tamil language|Tamil]]: முல்லை ''mullai,'' [[Jasmine|"Jasmine]]"'')'' blooms''.'' Sulkiness is represented in agricultural land by the Queen's flower ([[Tamil language|Tamil]]: மருதம் ''marutam'', "''[[Lagerstroemia speciosa]]''"''),'' while pining is equated with coastal regions where the blue lotus flower grows ([[Tamil language|Tamil]]: நெய்தல் ''neytal'', "''[[Nelumbo nucifera]]''"). The feeling of separation is displayed through deserts by the evergreen plants ([[Tamil language|Tamil]]: பாலை ''pālai,'' "[[Succulent plant|Succelent]]"). Rarely used Tinais include கைக்கிளை ''kaikkiLai'' and ''perunthinai'' for unsolicited love and unsuited love, respectively.
-Similar ''tiṇai''s pertain to ''puram'' poems as well, though these categories are based on activity rather than landscape: ''vetchi'', ''karanthai'', ''vanchi'', ''kanchi'', ''uzhignai'', ''nochchi'', ''thumbai'', ''vaagai'', ''paataan'', and ''pothuviyal''.
+Similar Tinais pertain to Puram poems as well, though these categories are based on activity rather than landscape: ''vetchi'', ''karanthai'', ''vanchi'', ''kanchi'', ''uzhignai'', ''nochchi'', ''thumbai'', ''vaagai'', ''paataan'', and ''pothuviyal''.
 == Tamil Sangams ==