Echoes of Caṅkam: Tiṉai Conventions in Aruṅakirinātar’s "Kantaralaṅkāram" and "Kantaranupūti"

Abstract

The concept of tiṉai from the classical Tamil Caṅkam period has influenced Tamil poets of the following centuries. This continuing influence of tiṉai can be seen in the works of Aruṅakirinātar, a fifteenth century bhakti poet, who reinvents the Caṅkam conventions in the context of the bhakti tradition, particularly in his descriptions of Murukaṉ. The study will analyse Fred W. Clothey’s translations of Aruṅakirinātar’s Kantaralaṅkāram (God’s Ornament) and Kantaranupūti (The Experience of God) in his book, Quiescence and Passion: The Vision of Arunakiri, Tamil Mystic for evidence of the continuity of akam and puṟam conventions that constitute the tiṉai tradition. This continuity is seen especially in Aruṅakirinātar’s association of Murukaṉ with elements of the kuṟiñci tiṉai (hilly landscape), the parallels between his representation of the Murukaṉ-Vaḷḷi relationship and that of the thalaivan and thalaivi in akam poetry, and the poet’s depiction of Murukaṉ as a war.

Keywords

• tamil caṅkam
• tiṉai
• murukaṉ
• aruṅakirinātar