>Bhagya sri113 at 14:12, 6 January 2021

2021-01-06T14:12:11Z

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{{short description|Classical, Sangam era, Tamil poetic anthology of short poems (4 to 8 lines)}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=August 2019}}
{{Sangam literature}}
'''Kuṟuntokai''' ({{lang-ta|குறுந்தொகை}}, meaning ''the short-collection''<ref>{{Cite book|title=The Song of Songs and Ancient Tamil Love Poems: Poetry and Symbolism|last=A Mariaselvam|year=1988}}</ref>) is a classical [[Tamil literature|Tamil poetic]] work and traditionally the second of the [[Eight Anthologies]] (''Ettuthokai'') in the [[Sangam literature]].{{sfn|Kamil Zvelebil|1973|p=51}} The collection belongs to the ''akam'' (love) category, and each poem consists of 4 to 8 lines each (except poem 307 and 391 which have 9 lines). The Sangam literature structure suggests that the original compilation had 400 poems, but the surviving ''Kuruntokai'' manuscripts have 402 poems.{{sfn|Kamil Zvelebil|1973|p=51}}<ref name="ttp2">{{cite book|first=Takanobu|last=Takahashi|title=Tamil Love Poetry and Poetics|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=wgCHuVGyZoEC|year=1995|publisher=BRILL Academic|isbn=90-04-10042-3|pages=2, 47–48}}</ref> According to [[Takanobu Takahashi]] – a Tamil literature scholar, these poems were likely composed between 100 and 300 CE based on the linguistics, style and dating of the authors.<ref name="ttp1">{{cite book|first=Takanobu|last=Takahashi|title=Tamil Love Poetry and Poetics|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=wgCHuVGyZoEC|year=1995|publisher=BRILL Academic|isbn=90-04-10042-3|pages=47–52}}</ref> [[Kamil Zvelebil]], a Tamil literature and history scholar, states that the majority of the poems in the ''Kuruntokai'' were likely composed between the 1st century BCE and the 2nd century CE.<ref>{{Cite book|last=Zvelebil|first=Kamil|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=degUAAAAIAAJ&pg=PR9&dq=info:3mNeiVqlnhoJ:scholar.google.com/|title=The Smile of Murugan: On Tamil Literature of South India|date=1973|publisher=BRILL|isbn=978-90-04-03591-1|language=en}}</ref> The ''Kuruntokai'' manuscript colophon states that it was compiled by Purikko (உரை), however nothing is known about this compiler or the patron.<ref name="ttp2"/>

The ''Kuruntokai'' poems are credited to 205 ancient poets.<ref name="ttp2"/> Of these, according to Kamil Zvelebil, about 30 poets names are of north Indian roots (Indo-Aryan) and rest are of Dravidian roots.{{sfn|Kamil Zvelebil|1973|p=51}} The poems include Sanskrit loan words, contain 27 allusions to historical events and there are 10 borrowings from this work into the two famed post-Sangam Tamil works: ''[[Tirukkural]]'' and ''[[Silappatikaram]]''.{{sfn|Kamil Zvelebil|1973|p=51}}

==Translations==
* Translated to English by [[A. Dakshinamurthy|Professor A. Dakshinamurthy]] as 'Kuruntokai– An Anthology of Classical Tamil Poetry' <ref>[https://adakshinamurthy.wordpress.com/kuruntokai/]</ref>
* Translated to English by [[Jayanthasri Balakrishnan|Dr.Jayanthasri Balakrishnan]]. It shall be noted that she was awarded doctorate in the early days of career for her study in the English renderings of the text.<ref>[dspace.pondiuni.edu.in/jspui/bitstream/pdy/353/1/T%202593.pdf English renderings of Kuruntokai - Problems in Translation]</ref>
* Translated to [[Assamese language|Assamese]] as 'Kurundoheir Kabita' by [[Bijoy Sankar Barman]]<ref>[http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city/guwahati/Assamese-poet-first-to-find-Estonian-audience/articleshow/54473915.cms Assamese poet first to find Estonian audience]</ref>

==Example==
மெல்ல மெல்ல நம் காதல் மாரி பெய்யலீல் நீர் உவமையிடவதி்ல் என் தந்தை மற்றும் உங்கள் தந்தை, எப்படி அவர்கள் தொடர்புள்ளனர் என்றும் நானும் நீயும் எப்படி ஒருவருக்கொருவர் அறிந்திருக்கிறோம் என்றும் புரிய செய்தது.{{Explanation needed|date=July 2020}}

A beautiful poem from ''Kuruntokai'' is the famous ''Red earth and pouring rain'' by the [[Sangam period|Sangam age]] poet [[Sembula Peyaneerar]].

{{verse translation
|யாயும் ஞாயும் யாரா கியரோ
எந்தையும் நுந்தையும் எம்முறைக் கேளிர்
யானும் நீயும் எவ்வழி யறிதும்
செம்புலப் பெயனீர் போல
அன்புடை நெஞ்சம் தாங்கலந் தனவே.

- குறுந்தொகை 40, செம்புலப் பெயனீரார், குறிஞ்சித் திணை – தலைவன் தலைவியிடம் சொன்னது
|What is my mother to yours?
How is my father related to yours?
Although you and I knew not each other in any way
just as red earth and pouring rain:
the love-filled hearts merged.

- Kurunthokai 40, Red earth and pouring rain, Kurinji Thinai – What the hero said to the heroine, about their love
}}

This poem is the verse 40 in the ''Kuruntokai'' anthology. The image of "red earth and pouring rain" evokes pictures of the first monsoon rains falling on the red-earthed hills typical of the Tamil lands to mingle with the dry, parched soil forming a cool, damp clay, and of the flowers blooming in the rain. The mood created is that of lovers, clandestinely meeting in the hills, their hearts waking suddenly, unexpectedly, to each other.

A second level of meaning is created by the imagery of progression. The poem opens with the possible bonds of friendship, and then kinship, between the parents. Then, it moves to bonds formed by two people learning and getting to know each other. From these abstractions, it comes to concreteness with the picture of red earth in the rain, drawing a parallel with the lover's journey from aloneness to union.

Finally, there is the image of the [[Strobilanthes kunthiana|kurinji]] flower itself. Though never mentioned in the poem, it is nonetheless present as a fundamental part of a landscape of hills. A kurinji flower only blooms once in twelve years,<ref>The latest flowering was during 2006.</ref> the period associated in Tamil tradition with the coming of a girl to sexual maturity. Unspoken, but present, in the poem through the image of the flower is a sense of a woman awakening to herself and to union.

==In popular culture==
The influence of Kurunthogai can be seen in contemporary Tamil movies. The 40th poem has been used in the song ''Narumagaye'' in [[Iruvar]] and in the song ''Yaayum'' in [[Sagaa]] which was itself a remake of the song Yaayum from the [[Singapore]] [[Tamil language|Tamil]] drama Kshatriyan. The very first poem of Kurunthogai was vigorously referred to in the composing of song ''Senthoora'' in [[Bogan (film)|Bogan]].

In [[Kochadaiiyaan|Kochadaiyaan]] (2014), the song ''Idhyam'' contains several reference from 18th and 38th poem of Kurunthogai.<ref>{{Cite web|title=தீண்டாய் மெய் தீண்டாய் : உயிரேந்தும் கற்றாளை|url=http://www.padalay.com/2014/04/blog-post_24.html|access-date=2020-07-30}}</ref>

Recent usage is the song ''Nallai Allai'' in [[Kaatru Veliyidai|Katru Veliyidai]] (2017) film directed by Maniratnam which was inspired by the 47th poem authored by Kabilar.<ref>{{Cite web|title=Sangam poems in contemporary songs|url=https://www.newindianexpress.com/entertainment/tamil/2017/mar/26/sangam-poems-in-contemporary-songs-1586219.html|access-date=2020-07-30|website=The New Indian Express}}</ref>

==See also==
* [[Eight Anthologies]]
* [[Eighteen Greater Texts]]
* [[Sangam literature]]

==References==
{{reflist}}

==Further reading==
* Mudaliyar, Singaravelu A., Apithana Cintamani, An encyclopaedia of Tamil Literature, (1931) - Reprinted by Asian Educational Services, New Delhi (1983)
* {{cite book|first=Kamil|last=Zvelebil|title=The Smile of Murugan: On Tamil Literature of South India|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=degUAAAAIAAJ|year=1973|publisher=BRILL|isbn=90-04-03591-5}}

==External links==
* [http://karkanirka.wordpress.com/ English Translations of Sangam Literature]
* [http://www.projectmadurai.org/pm_etexts/pdf/pm0110.pdf Project Madurai Kuruntokai eText]

{{DEFAULTSORT:Kuruntokai}}
{{Tamil language}}

[[Category:Sangam literature]]

Kuṟuntokai - Revision history

>Bhagya sri113 at 14:12, 6 January 2021