D01124 Lesson 4 Akananuru-1

    
This lesson offers an introduction to ‘Akananuru’, one of the ‘Ettuthogai’ texts i.e., (Eight Anthologies) in Sangam literature. The lesson discusses the structure of ‘Akananuru’ and highlights its literary merits. ‘Akananuru’ is a compendium of 400 ‘akam’ poems that deal with love, courtship, marriage and separation. Poet Rudrasimhan is said to have compiled the poems in this anthology under the behest of the Pandya king Uggiraperuvazhuthi. As many as 145 poets have sung the poems in this anthology. ‘Akananuru’ is also known as ‘Nedunthogai’. The 400 poems in ‘Akananuru’ are divided into 3 sections: viz. ‘Kalittriyaanainirai’, ‘Manimidaipavalam’ and ‘Nithilakkovai’. The poems belong to the 5 ‘tinais’ viz. - Kurunji, Marutham, neithal, Palai and Mullai. They pertain to 2 aspects of romantic love: ‘Kalavu’ and ‘Karpu’.

‘Akananuru’ has several distinctive features that set it apart from other anthologies of ‘akam’ poetry. Firstly, though ‘Nattrinai’, ‘Aingurunu’, ‘Kurunthogai’ and ‘Kalithogai’ are also anthologies of ‘akam’ poems, only ‘Akananuru’ bears the word ‘akam’ in its title. This testifies to the greatness of the ‘akam’ poems in this collection. Secondly, unlike ‘Aingurunuru’, the poems in this anthology are divided into 3 sections on the basis of style and not on the basis of the poets or the ‘tinai’. Thirdly, the poems in ‘Akanauru’ have been compiled in a unique way. All the poems occurring in the odd numbers belong to the Palai tinai. The poems that occur under numbers that are the multiples of 2 belong to Kurunji. Those that come under numbers ending with ‘4’ fall under Mullai. The poems that are under numbers ending with ‘6’ belong to Marutham, while those listed under the numbers ending with ‘0’ pertain to Neithal. In terms of using the ‘Ullurai’, a poetic device, ‘Akananuru’ occupies the 4th place among the ‘akam’ anthologies. 51 songs in ‘Akananuru’ contain Ullurai uvamam. Similarly, commentators of Agathinai Iyal in the grammar text ‘Tholkappiam’ have only used poems from ‘Akananuru’ to illustrate the concept of ‘uriporul’. The ‘Akananuru’ also has the distinction of being the text that contains the largest number of historical details.

‘Akananuru’ has several literary merits. In terms of themes, it offers an in-depth study of ‘Kalavu’ and ‘Karpu’. Though the poems deal with romantic love, they also contain valuable advice on the importance of a virtuous life. ‘Akananuru’ is celebrated for its imaginative strength and poetic beauty. Among the various poetic techniques used in this anthology, similes and metaphors occupy an important place. The anthology contains several striking examples of ‘Ullura Uvamai’ and ‘Uruvagam’. The poems also depict a wide gamut of emotions such as humour or (nagai), pathos or (azhugai), fear or (acham), wonder or (marutkai) and joy or (uvagai). The lesson explains these literary merits of ‘Akananuru’ with suitable examples from the text.