Pattuppāṭṭu: Text, Transliteration and Translations in English Verse and Prose

Pattuppāṭṭu (Ten Idylls), a celebrated caṇkam anthology, includes five āṟṟuppaṭais, known as, Tirumurukāṟṟuppaṭai, Poruṇarāṟṟuppaṭai, Ciṟupāṇāṟṟuppaṭai, Perumpāṇāṟṟuppaṭai, and Malaipaṭukaṭām. An āṟṟuppaṭai being a guide-poem in which an artist having received handsome gifts from a rich patron of arts meets a fellow–artist on his way back and directs him to the same patron describing the way to the chieftain’s capital, the city, the love and affection of the patron, the royal feast given by him, the hospitality extended, the priceless presents and the leave-taking. Besides these, there are four poems pertaining to the four major genres: Kuṟiñci, (poetry of pre-marital love), mullai (poetry of idyllic love), pālai (song of separation in love), and neytal (song of despair in love). The tenth one is Maturaikkāñci, reported to be the poet’s advice to the Pandya King, Neṭuñceḻiyaṉ.

Scholars have indicated some family likenesses among these ten idylls. Porunarārruppaṭai, Perumpānārruppaṭai, Cirupāṇārruppaṭai and Malaipaṭukaṭām are poems in which bards are directed to patrons of literature and art. Tirumurukārruppaṭai, an ārruppaṭai with a difference, does not refer to any patron but is intended to direct people to a god.

All the ten long poems of this Caṅkam anthology, which has fortunately survived the ravages of time, besides possessing an enduring aesthetic appeal, happen to be a mine of information helping us reconstruct the social and cultural life of the Tamils twenty centuries ago, for which, we do not have many reliable sources.