since morning was the hour for setting out to besiege the ramparts, say the commentators, it fittingly corresponded to its akam counterpart.

There are two other divisions of akam poetry which have no landscape background prescribed in Tolkaappiyar, probably because these were an addition made after the Tamils had codified the five-fold division. These are phases of erotomania outside the course of mutual love, Peruntiṇai or lust, and Kaikkiḷai or unrequited love. These may occur with any of the aforesaid landscapes as background, but since they do not enter directly into our theme, it is sufficient to have made mention of them. Their puṛam counterparts are kaañci and paatan respectively, the former comprising all poems on the transitoriness of the world, and the latter all eulogistic and panegyric verse.

Puram poetry was not limited by natural landscape as was akam poetry. Akam poetry had to consider as its essential theme one of the five aspects of love-poetry, choose an appropriate situation and write with the prescribed landscape, the annual season and the period of day pertinent to the division. The poet had to be particular about choosing similes and metaphors from objects exclusive to the region. The objects were: the god, food, fauna, flora, music and other objects indigenous to the region. By way of exception, the flora or birds or any of the other objects of one region might be mentioned in a poem of another region, for even Nature is not rigorous in her natural divisions as to be so exclusive. This mixing of regional objects was permitted, and was known as "regional interchange." Only there could be no interchange as regards the gods; they were exclusive to one region.²²

Historical Origins of Five-Fold Division

It would be worth attempting a historical explanation of this codification of poetry in Tamil. An explanation has been attempted by P. T. Srinivas Iyengar in his History of the Tamils.²³ The present writer arrived at nearly the same conclusions independently of the work of that praiseworthy

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