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Sangam
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The Tamil Sangams are legendary assemblies of Tamil scholars and poets that, according to traditional Tamil accounts, existed in the remote past. Three assemblies are described, the first two of which were held in cities since "taken by the sea", and the third of which was held from the 4th century BCE in the present-day city of Madurai.
The Sangam period refers to the period between roughly 300 BCE - 300 CE, when the earliest extant works of Tamil literature were created, known as Sangam literature.
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The Tamil Sangams are legendary assemblies of Tamil scholars and poets that, according to traditional Tamil accounts, existed in the remote past. Three assemblies are described, the first two of which were held in cities since "taken by the sea", and the third of which was held from the 4th century BCE in the present-day city of Madurai.
The Sangam period refers to the period between roughly 300 BCE - 300 CE, when the earliest extant works of Tamil literature were created, known as Sangam literature. The literature of this period is generally referred to as and the period in which these works were composed is referred to as the Sangam period, alluding to the legends of Tamil Sangam academies having existed prior to and during the creation of these manuscripts. The name Sangam and the legend was probably from a much later period.
Whilst the legendary accounts are generally rejected as being ahistorical, some modern scholars such as Kamil Zvelebil accept the main framework of the traditional accounts, suggesting that they may be based on one or more actual historical assemblies, whilst others reject the entire notion as a fabrication.. The Sangam legends played a significant role in inspiring political, social and literary movements in Tamil Nadu in the early 20th century.
Sangam legends
Early literature from the pre-Pallava dynasty period does not contain any mention of the Sangam academies, although some early poems imply a connection between the city of Madurai, which later legends associate with the third Sangam, and Tamil literature and the cultivation of the language. The earliest express references to the academies are found in the songs of Appar and Sampandar, Shaivite poets who lived in the 7th century. The first full account of the legend is found in a commentary to the Iraiyanar Akapporul by Nakkirar (c. seventh/eighth century CE). Nakkirar describes three "Sangams" (ca?kam) spanning thousands of years. The first Sangam (muta?ca?kam) is described as having been held at "the Madurai which was submerged by the sea", lasted a total of 4440 years, and had 549 members, which supposedly included some gods of the Hindu pantheon such as Siva, Kubera and Murugan. A total of 4449 poets are described as having composed songs for this Sangam.
The second Sangam (i?aica?kam) was convened in Kapatapuram. This Sangam lasted for 3700 years and had fifty-nine members, with 3700 poets participating. This city was also submerged in sea. The third Sangam (ka?aica?kam) was purportedly located in the current city of Madurai and lasted for 1850 years under 49 kings. The academy had 49 members, and 449 poets are described as having participated in the Sangam..
There are a number of other isolated references to the legend of academies at Madurai scattered through Shaivite and Vaishnavite devotional literature throughout later literature. The next substantive references to the legend of the academies, however, appear in two significantly later works, namely, the Thiruvilaiyadal Puranam of Perumpa??apuliyur Nambi, and the better-known work of the same title by Paranjothi Munivar. These works describe a legend that deals mostly with the third Sangam at Madurai, and is so substantially different from that set out in Nakkirar's commentary that some authors such as Zvelebil speculate that it may be based on a different, and somewhat independent, tradition. In Nambi's account, the 49 members of the third Sangam led by Kapilar, Para?ar and Nakkirar were great devotees of Shiva, numbered amongst the 63 nayanars. In Paranjothi's telling, Saraswati was cursed by Brahma to take forty-eight bodies (representing the forty-eight letters of the Devanagari script. The letters became men, and founded the Tamil sangam in the Pandyan kingdom. Shiva, in the form of Sundarar, became its president. Nakkirar himself is said to have later headed the Sangam, and to have debated Shiva. The Sangam is described as having been held on the banks of the Pond of Golden Lotuses in the Meenakshi-Sundaresvarar Temple in Madurai.
In contemporary versions of the legend, the cities where the first two Sangams were held are said to have been located on Kumari Kandam, a fabled lost continent that is described as the cradle of Tamil culture. Kumari Kandam supposedly lay south of present-day Kanyakumari District and, according to these legends, was seized by the sea in a series of catastrophic floods.
Historicity
There has been no contemporary archaeological or scientific evidence found to substantiate whether these academies existed at all and if so, the dates, the participants or their works. From the very little available archaeological and epigraphic evidence, the earliest Tamil kingdoms may have been established only in the 4th century BCE, well after the earlier two Sangams were supposed to have been held.
Some scholars, such as Kamil Zvelebil, take the view that assemblies may have been founded and patronised by the Pandian kings and functioning in three different capitals consecutively till the last sangam was set up in Madurai. Zvelebil argues that the appearance of the tradition in literary and epigraphical sources means that it cannot be dismissed as pure fiction. He suggests that the Sangam legends are based on a historical "body of scholiasts and grammarians 'sits' as a norm-giving, critical college of literary experts, and shifts its seat according to the geopolitical conditions of the Pantiyan kingdom."
In 470 CE, a Dravida Sangha was established in Madurai by a Jain named Vajranandi. During that time the Tamil region was ruled by the Kalabhras dynasty. The Kalabhra rulers were followers of either Buddhism or Jainism. The Dravida Sangha took much interest in the Tamil language and literature. We can also find Jain names such as Uloccnaar and Maathirthan among the early poets. Jain cosmology and mythology are also found mentioned in the early Sangam poems.
Sangam literature
The earliest extant works of Tamil literature date back to the period between 300 BCE and 200 CE and deals with love, war, governance, trade and bereavement. The literature of this period has been referred to as The Sangam literature and the period in which these works were composed is referred to as the Sangam period alluding to the legends. Although the term Sangam literature is applied to the corpus of the earliest known Tamil literature, the name Sangam and the legend was probably from a much later period.
An accurate chronological assessment of literary works has been rendered difficult due to lack of concrete scientific evidence to support conflicting claims. Undue reliance on the Sangam legends has thus culminated in controversial opinions or interpretations among scholars, confusion in the dates, names of authors, and doubts of even their existence in some cases. The earliest archealogical evidence connecting Madurai and the Sangams is the 10th century Cinnamanur inscription of the Pandyas.
See also
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