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The Sanskrit interaction in the literary style...
small kingdoms and smaller chieftaincies, but also formed the basis for the division of poetry on geographical regions as for example • mountain poetry' and seaside poetry'."" The Tamil land has been divided into five regions, montane ( kuriñci ), pastoral (mullai), agricultural (marutam), littoral (neytal) and arid (palai). The names kuriñci, mullai, marutam, neytal and pālai refer to the most characteristic flower found in each kind of landscape. These names are also used to denote the psychological and emotional patterns of behaviour suited to each region
Tolkappiyar classifies the objects found in each land under three classes : Mutarporu] (the basic things, the region and time ), Karupporu! (objects characteristic of the particular region), and Uripporu! (the kind of love peculiar to each region).
Mutarporul denotes the basic things, the region and time. Region means the different landscapes explained above. The time is divided according to the seasons of the year, the Perumpoļutu (the major time), and the time of day, the Cirupoļutu (the minor time). The year is divided into six seasons : Kār (the rainy season ), August and September; Kūtir (the cold season), October and November; Munpapi (the early dew season), December and January; Pippani (the late dew season), February and March; Iļavēnil (spring) April and May; and Mutuvenil (Summer), June and July. The day is also divided into six parts: the Vaikarai (the time before sunrise); Vitiyal (sunrise); Naņpakal (mid-day); Erpāțu (sunset); Mālai (early night); and Yamam (midnight). Time always has a connection with Uripporuļ, the kinds of love peculiar to each land. According to the aspect of love the divisions of time, i.e. both the Cirupol utu and the Perumpolutu are laid down. This poetic usage will be explained while dealing with the Uripporul, which deals with the particular objects belonging to each land, is clearly explained by Singaravelu,9 in a chart attached to his work, The Social life of the Tamils. This chart is given on pp. 80-81 here to show in details the particular objects, the inhibitants, animals, birds, flowers, trees, deities, food, the recreation of the people etc, of each landscape.
Thus, in describing the landscape, as Thaninayagam says, the poet had not only to "study the visible phenomena or the several objects (god, flora, fauna, music, occupation) found in or related to these regions, but he had as well to know what changes were introduced into these regions by the annual seasons, and how Nature manifested herself by day and night during these seasons. Thus the Tamil poet could ill afford to neglect the study of landscape as seen during each of the six major divisons of the Tamil day.”8
Mutasporuļ, the place and time, and Karupporu], the objects of a particular region, though fixed for each landscape, can overlap in practice. 4 In other words, the Mutasporuļ aad Karupporuļ of one landscape can also be sometimes used in describing another landscape. But the Uripporu), the kind of love ascribed to one
1 X. S. ThaniNayagam, op cit., p. 11. 2 S. Singaravelu, Social Life of the Tamils, the Classical Period, Kulalampur, 1966, p. 22. 3 Thani Nayagam, op cit, p. 40, 41.
4 Tolkappiyam, por., Akat., cut 13.
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