Perumpāṇāṟṟuppaṭai
Perumpanatruppadai (Tamil: பெரும்பாணாற்றுப்படை) is a Tamil poetic work in the Pathinenmaelkanakku anthology of Tamil literature, belonging to the Sangam period corresponding to between 100 BCE – 100 CE. Perumpanarruppatai contains 500 lines of poetry in the Achiriyappa meter. The poems were written by the poet Kadiyalur Uruttirangannanar in praise of king Tondaiman Ilandiraiyan. Perumpanarruppatai belongs to the Pattupattu collection and follows the Arruppadtai style, a device used by most of the books in the Pattupattu collection. The work mentions how a brother of an ancient Chola king met with a Naga princess and had by him a son. The son was affectionately called Ilam Tiraiyan or literally the Young Tiraiyan by the family . Tiraiyar was the name of the naga tribe to which his mother belonged. Over the course of time he went on to rise to the position of the Lord of Thondaimandalam and took on the title Tondaiman.
Arruppatai poems read like travelogues in which poets who were returning with gifts received from a king, encourage other poets to do the same by describing in glowing terms the king and his country. This gives the opportunity to the poet, among other topics, to describe in great detail the natural beauty, fertility, and resources of the territory that has to be traversed to reach the palace of the patron.
References
- Mudaliyar, Singaravelu A., Apithana Cintamani, An encyclopaedia of Tamil Literature, (1931) - Reprinted by Asian Educational Services, New Delhi (1983)
- http://www.projectmadurai.org/pm_etexts/pdf/pm0069.pdf Perumpanarruppatai eText at Project madurai