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Sangam literature: the textbook lessons, line and song counts, and Sangam ethics

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Key numbers

Answers to the previous-year questions

the work with the line "valavan evaa vaanoorthi" (2024, Q26)the Purananooru; song 27, lines 7-8; the textbook prints 'vaana oorthi' (class 9, page 104)

Table of the mullai thinai

landmullai (the forest and the land near it)
seasonthe rainy season (Aavani, Purattaasi)
time of dayevening
waterspring water, the forest stream
treeskondrai, kaayaa, kurundham
flowersmullai, pidavam, thondrippoo
uripporulwaiting and what goes with waiting

Purananooru lines and numbers

'Undi koduththor uyir koduththore'18 (class 9, page 46)
'Pulavar paadum pugazhudaiyor visumbin valavan evaa vaana oorthi'27, lines 7-8 (class 9, page 104)
'Unbathu naazhi uduppavai irande'189 (class 9, page 46)
'Selvaththup payane eethal'189; sung by Nakkeeranar, son of Madurai Kanakkaayanar (class 10, page 186)
'Yaathum oore yaavarum kelir'192 (class 9, page 46)
one must not war against the weaker301; Avoor Moolankizhar (class 10, page 185)

Table of counts

Mullaippattu103 lines; the fewest among the Ten Idylls (class 10, page 35)
Malaipadukadam583 lines (class 10, page 57)
Maduraikkanchi782 lines; 354 on Madurai (class 9, page 193)
Kurunthogai401 songs besides the invocation; first edition 1915 (class 9, page 240)
Kalithogai150 songs; five divisions (class 8, page 97)
Paripadal70 once, 24 survive (class 10, page 84)
Muthollayiram900 once, 108 survive (class 9, page 190)
AvvaiyarAgananooru 4, Kurunthogai 15, Natrinai 7, Purananooru 33; 59 in all (class 12, page 90)

Easy to confuse

heroes of Malaipadukadam / Maduraikkanchi / Puram 18Nannan / Thalaiyaalanganaththuch Cheruvendra Pandiyan Nedunchezhiyan / Pandiyan Nedunchezhiyan (sung by Kudapulaviyanar); the textbook does not say whether the Maduraikkanchi's hero and the Nedunchezhiyan of Puram 18 are one king or two
Perunkadunko / Nallanthuvanarsang Kurunthogai 37 and the Paalaikkali in the Kalithogai / compiled the Kalithogai and sang the Neithalkkali
two Muthumozhikkanchisa thurai in the Purananooru (this lesson) / a work among the eighteen minor works (Thirukkural and ethical works lesson)
Puram 189both 'unbathu naazhi' and 'selvaththup payane eethal' are in this one song; do not give them different numbers
vaana oorthi / vaanoorthithe textbook form / the 2024 paper's form; both Purananooru 27
the Chola countryfamed for its ploughing field and its battlefield; the answer key of 2024 Q30 is disputed
the Chera country / the Pandiya countryland without fear / land of pearls
The full note

Mullaippattu

Mullaippattu is one of the Ten Idylls; it has 103 lines; it is the one with the fewest lines among the Ten Idylls. It was composed in aasiriyappa and sings of the mullai land; its poet is Napputhanar, son of Ponvaniganar of Kaviripoompattinam. Example: think of an evening in a forest in the Aavani-Purattaasi rains, and the land, season and time of day of the mullai thinai come to mind together.

Malaipadukadam

Malaipadukadam is one of the Ten Idylls; it has 583 lines; it is also called 'Koothararruppadai'. It got the name Malaipadukadam because it pictures the hill as an elephant and explains the sounds rising on the hill as its must (kadaam). Irania Muttaththup Perunkundroor Perunkousikanar sang the Malaipadukadam with the chieftain Nannan as its hero. An aatruppadai is a koothan who has gone to a patron and got gifts guiding another koothan he meets to go to that patron and prosper. Example: just as someone who got a good job tells a job-seeking friend the way to that place, an aatruppadai has one koothan tell another the way to the patron.

Maduraikkanchi

Maduraikkanchi is one of the Ten Idylls; kaanji means impermanence; it got the name because it tells of Madurai's glory and of impermanence. It has 782 lines, of which 354 praise Madurai alone; it is called 'Peruguvala Maduraikkanchi'. Its hero is Thalaiyaalanganaththuch Cheruvendra Pandiyan Nedunchezhiyan; its poet is Mangudi Maruthanar, born at Mangudi in Tirunelveli district; he also sang thirteen songs in the Eight Anthologies. Lines 673-677 of the Maduraikkanchi tell of a wildlife sanctuary in Madurai. Example: just as there are wildlife sanctuaries in forests today, the Maduraikkanchi says Sangam-age Madurai had one too.

Kurunthogai and Kalithogai

Kurunthogai is one of the Eight Anthologies; it tells of agam events; it has 401 songs besides the invocation, each from four lines at the least to eight lines at the most. In 1915 Sowriperumal Aranganar first published the Kurunthogai. The poet of the lesson's song 37 of the Kurunthogai is the king Perunkadunko of the Chera line; as he sang the paalai thinai in the Kalithogai, he was called 'Paalai Paadiya Perunkadunko'. Kalithogai is one of the Eight Anthologies; it is made in the kalippa verse form; it has a hundred and fifty songs; it has five divisions, Kurinjikkali, Mullaikkali, Maruthakkali, Neithalkkali and Paalaikkali; Nallanthuvanar, who compiled it, also composed the Neithalkkali songs. Example: the word 'kurun' itself recalls short songs; the Kurunthogai songs run from four to eight lines.

Paripadal

Paripadal is one of the Eight Anthologies; it is famed as 'Ongu Paripadal'; among the Sangam works it is the one sung to pann. The commentators say it had 70 songs; today only 24 survive; the lesson was written by Keeranthaiyar. Paripadal words: visumbu = sky, oozhi = yugam, oozh = order, thanpeyal = cool rain. Example: when you hear songs sung to music, recall the Paripadal, the Sangam work sung to pann.

Purananooru

Purananooru is one of the Eight Anthologies; it is a treasury of culture that tells of the glory of kings, chieftains, poets and the noble, and of the outer life of the people. It is also called 'Puram' and 'Purappaattu'; it is about purapporul. The lesson, Purananooru song 18 (lines 11-30), is Kudapulaviyanar's song on Pandiyan Nedunchezhiyan; its thinai is Pothuviyal and its thurai Muthumozhikkanchi. The Pothuviyal thinai tells what is common to the puram thinais from Vetchi on and what they leave out; the Muthumozhikkanchi thurai tells the firmness of virtue, wealth and pleasure. Avvaiyar sang 59 songs: 4 in the Agananooru, 15 in the Kurunthogai, 7 in the Natrinai and 33 in the Purananooru; she was a friend of Athiyaman and went as an envoy for him. Example: just as a museum keeps old things, the Purananooru is a treasury of culture that keeps the life of the Tamils.

Muthollayiram

The Muthollayiram is written in venba; it sings of the Chera, Chola and Pandiya kings in general, without naming them; it got its name because it had 900 songs on the three kings. It has not come down in full; 108 verses survive from the Puraththirattu; the author's name is not known; he is held to belong to the fifth century. The lesson shows the Chera country as a land without fear, the Chola country as a land famed for its ploughing field and its battlefield, and the Pandiya country as a land of pearls. Example: say 'three kings, nine hundred songs', and the reason for the name Muthollayiram comes to mind.

Virtue in Sangam literature

The age after the Sangam age is called the age of ethics; Sangam virtues were not borrowed from religions but grew out of life. Enichcheri Mudamosiyar sang of the patron Aai, 'immaich cheythathu marumaikku aamenum aravilai vanigan aaai allan' (he is no trader who sells virtue for a price). The Maduraikkanchi says that weighing good and evil and guarding love and virtue is the minister's duty; Mangudi Maruthanar praised ministers as 'semmai saandra kaavithi maakkal'. The court of justice at Uraiyur was famed; the Maduraikkanchi says the court at Madurai was as fair as a balance. The critic Arnold said, 'poetry is a criticism of life'. Example: Aai's giving was help that expected no return later; he was no trader selling virtue.

Giving and help

The giving of the seven patrons is recorded in the Sirupaanaatruppadai and in a song of Perunchithiranar; the aatruppadai works are works of giving; the Pathitruppaththu is a record of the giving of the Chera kings. Eezhaththup Poothan Thevanar calls helping 'uthaviyaanmai'; in Kalithogai 139 Nallanthuvanar sang of helping others by taking their suffering as one's own. Example: helping a neighbour hit by a flood, taking their suffering as your own, is the help the Kalithogai speaks of.

Source: தமிழ், எட்டாம் வகுப்பு (Tamil, Standard VIII; Samacheer Kalvi) (10ஆம் வகுப்புத் தமிழ், இயல் 2 முல்லைப்பாட்டு, பக்கம் 34-35; இயல் 3 மலைபடுகடாம், பக்கம் 57; இயல் 4 பரிபாடல், பக்கம் 84; இயல் 8 சங்க இலக்கியத்தில் அறம், பக்கம் 184-186; 9ஆம் வகுப்புத் தமிழ், இயல் 2 புறநானூறு, பக்கம் 44-46; இயல் 4, பக்கம் 104; இயல் 7 முத்தொள்ளாயிரம், பக்கம் 190, மதுரைக்காஞ்சி, பக்கம் 191, 193; இயல் 9 குறுந்தொகை, பக்கம் 240; 8ஆம் வகுப்புத் தமிழ், இயல் 5 கலித்தொகை, பக்கம் 97; 12ஆம் வகுப்புத் தமிழ், இயல் 4 புறநானூறு (நூல்வெளி), பக்கம் 90)

PYQ (2012-2024 papers)

Provisional key: until TNPSC publishes the final key; the answer may change.

Free questions

  1. Question 1

    நூல்களையும் அடி எண்ணிக்கைகளையும் பொருத்துக. (a) முல்லைப்பாட்டு - 1. 583 (b) மலைபடுகடாம் - 2. 103 (c) மதுரைக்காஞ்சி - 3. 354 (d) மதுரைக்காஞ்சியில் மதுரையை மட்டும் சிறப்பிக்கும் அடிகள் - 4. 782

    1. A. (a) 1, (b) 2, (c) 4, (d) 3
    2. B. (a) 2, (b) 1, (c) 4, (d) 3
    3. C. (a) 2, (b) 1, (c) 3, (d) 4
    4. D. (a) 2, (b) 4, (c) 1, (d) 3
    Answer and explanation

    Correct answer: B. (a) 2, (b) 1, (c) 4, (d) 3

    அடி எண்ணிக்கை: முல்லைப்பாட்டு 103 (பத்துப்பாட்டில் மிகக் குறைவு); மலைபடுகடாம் 583; மதுரைக்காஞ்சி 782, அவற்றுள் 354 அடிகள் மதுரையை மட்டும் சிறப்பிக்கின்றன ('பெருகுவள மதுரைக்காஞ்சி').

    Source: தமிழ், ஒன்பதாம் வகுப்பு (Tamil, Standard IX; Samacheer Kalvi) (இயல் 7 மதுரைக்காஞ்சி (நூல் வெளி), p. 193 (PDF p. 203))

  2. Question 2

    பத்துப்பாட்டு நூல்களுள் குறைந்த அடிகளை உடைய நூல் எது?

    1. A. முல்லைப்பாட்டு
    2. B. மலைபடுகடாம்
    3. C. மதுரைக்காஞ்சி
    4. D. சிறுபாணாற்றுப்படை
    Answer and explanation

    Correct answer: A. முல்லைப்பாட்டு

    முல்லைப்பாட்டு பத்துப்பாட்டு நூல்களுள் ஒன்று; அது 103 அடிகளைக் கொண்டது; பத்துப்பாட்டில் குறைந்த அடிகளை உடைய நூல் இது (10ஆம் வகுப்பு நூல் வெளி).

    Source: தமிழ், பத்தாம் வகுப்பு (Tamil, Standard X; Samacheer Kalvi) (இயல் 2 முல்லைப்பாட்டு (நூல் வெளி), p. 35 (PDF p. 45))

  3. Question 3

    முல்லைப்பாட்டின் முதற்பொருளில் சிறுபொழுதாகக் குறிக்கப்படுவது எது?

    1. A. கார்காலம்
    2. B. ஆவணி
    3. C. மாலை
    4. D. காடும் காடு சார்ந்த இடமும்
    Answer and explanation

    Correct answer: C. மாலை

    முல்லைப்பாட்டின் முதற்பொருள்: நிலம் முல்லை (காடும் காடு சார்ந்த இடமும்); பெரும்பொழுது கார்காலம் (ஆவணி, புரட்டாசி); சிறுபொழுது மாலை (10ஆம் வகுப்பு, முல்லைப்பாட்டு).

    Source: தமிழ், பத்தாம் வகுப்பு (Tamil, Standard X; Samacheer Kalvi) (இயல் 2 முல்லைப்பாட்டு, p. 35 (PDF p. 45))

  4. Question 4

    'கூத்தராற்றுப்படை' எனவும் அழைக்கப்படும் நூல் எது?

    1. A. சிறுபாணாற்றுப்படை
    2. B. மலைபடுகடாம்
    3. C. முல்லைப்பாட்டு
    4. D. மதுரைக்காஞ்சி
    Answer and explanation

    Correct answer: B. மலைபடுகடாம்

    மலைபடுகடாம் பத்துப்பாட்டு நூல்களுள் ஒன்று; 583 அடிகள் கொண்டது; 'கூத்தராற்றுப்படை' எனவும் அழைக்கப்படுகிறது (10ஆம் வகுப்பு நூல் வெளி).

    Source: தமிழ், பத்தாம் வகுப்பு (Tamil, Standard X; Samacheer Kalvi) (இயல் 3 மலைபடுகடாம் (நூல் வெளி), p. 57 (PDF p. 67))

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