A.K.

Ramanujan – “Five Landscapes”

Attipate Krishnaswami Ramanujan (16 March 1’2’ – 1- July 1’’-) also known as A. K.
Ramanujan was an Indian poet and scholar who wrote in both English and Kannada language.
Ramanujan was a philologist, folklorist, translator, and playwright too. Though he wrote widely
and in a number of genres, Ramanujan’s poems are remembered as enigmatic works of startling
originality, sophistication and moving artistry. He was awarded the Sahitya Akademi Award
posthumously in 1’’’ for his collection of poems, The Collected Poems. “These poem are
‘classical’; they are also ‘classics’. Not to know them is not to know a unique and major poetic
achievement of Indian civilization. They are not just the earliest evidence of Tamil genius. The
Tamils, in their 2,000 years of literary effort, wrote nothing better.”

TAMIL SANGAM POETRY

Tamil Sangam literature is believed to have emerged between the 1 st century BCE and 2nd
century CE. The name ‘Sangam’ is derived from the Tamil word for the meetings and
conferences that would take place amongst great scholars, poets and gods in the Pandyan
kingdom of Tamil Nadu – then Tamilakam.

According to Tamil legends, there were three Sangam periods, namely Head Sangam, Middle
Sangam and Last Sangam period. Historians use the term Sangam period to refer the last of
these, with the first two being legendary. So it is also called Last Sangam period. The Sangam
literature is thought to have been produced in three Sangam academies of each period.

During each ‘Sangam’, poets would perform and recite poetry. The Sangams apparently lasted
for years; the third Sangam is said to have gone on for -700 years. In the 1’ th century, the poems
were discovered in a debilitated state on scraps and leaves, almost destroyed.

Luckily they were revived, and during the 20 th century, A.K. Ramanujan and George Hart,
among others, took to translating them.

Sangam Poems are of two types: Akam, or love poems, and Puram, or war poems. In other
words, poems belonging to the ‘inner landscape’ and ‘outer landscape’ respectively. The Akam
poems are incredible for being highly stylized, erotic, secular, formalised forms of poetry. They
form, in A.K. Ramanujan’s words, an “inner landscape” that is mapped according to an outer
landscape. These love poems are intimate and private, arising from human emotions and
relationships situated within an external reality. There are strict conventions on how to evoke
love and war, generally determined by different landscapes.

Meaning of Akam and Puram

Akam - interior, Puram – exterior

Akam - heart, mind, Puram - body surfaces & extremeties

Akam - Kin, Puram - non-kin

Akam - house, family, Puram - house yard, field

Akam - earth, Puram - farthest ocean

Akam - love poems & no names or person, Puram - poems about war, kings, people, names

Akam poems are generally narrated from the first person point of view of a woman in love.
These poems follow a specific grid of poetic tropes that express the sensual, erotic longingness
of the narrator. The words in Akam poetry carry the outer landscape into the inner one, acting as
a bridge between the poems and the space around them. This is done through the linguistic trope
of metonymy, or “Thinai”.

THINAIS (Landscapes)

Akam is further divided into 5 divisions called thinais. The word thinai means ‘land’. The akam
poems or poems of the interior grew from the five landscapes of the Tamil country: the mountain
region (Kurinji), forest lands (Mullai), the agriculture lands about river basins (Marudam), the
coastal region (Neidal) and the parched hill slopes or forests (Palai). The Tholkāppiyam (the
most ancient extant Tamil grammar text and the oldest extant long work of Tamil literature) did
not use the word ‘pālai’ for dry land, since Tamil Nadu does not have real deserts. Instead, the
word ‘naduvunilai’ was used, and the author meant that to describe kurinji and mullai lands
which were affected by droughts. The word ‘pālai’ was coined by later commentators. Kurinji
landscape, the lush and beautiful land with waterfall and high hills was associated with the burst
of passion in the first union of lovers. Mullai, the verdant forest land with the fragrance of wild
jasmine, was associated with the patient waiting of lovers before their union in marriage. Neidal,
the coastal plain, was inhabited by hardy fishing folk who lived at the edge of life. This
landscape was associated with the feeling of anxiety experienced by the lover waiting for her
man who has braved the stormy ocean. Marudam, the fertile river plains and centre of urban life,
was associated with infidelity and misunderstanding between lovers. Palai referred to the forest
land and hillside parched by the scorching heat of sun in the summer months. The bleak and
relentless dry lands of Palai were associated with the feeling of desolation experienced by lovers
in life’s harsh terrain.

Kurinji: - Mountains and adjoining lands. Named after the kurinji flower that blooms once in
12 years in mountain slopes. Kurinji and Kānthal flowers grow in the mountains. Murugan is
the god of the kurinji land, and bears, tigers and elephants, monkeys, wild pigs, parrots and
peacocks live there. Wild rice, millet, and tubers are grown. Sandal wood trees abound. Honey
collection and millet raising is done. Springs and waterfalls abound. Mountain people called
kuravars live with their families in huts in small settlements.
The subject of the poems are usually the secret meeting of lovers, which might be at the millet
field, or at night when the heroine slips out of the house evading her mother, and the mother
suspects that her daughter is up to mischief. The time is daytime or midnight. Lover’s union is
the main sentiment in kurinji.

Mullai:- Forest and adjoining lands. Named after the jasmine, and the plant grows wild in forest
areas, especially in the rainy seasons. The god is Māyon (the dark one), and cattle, deer, rabbits,
and wild fowl live there. Wild grain and millet is grown. Flowers are jasmine and thonral, trees
are kondrai and kāyā. Forest streams are active in the rainy season.

The heroine waits for her man to return from a journey. Some poems in this category describe
union. All concern the fertitility of the rainy season in the forest meadows. The time is usually
evening.

Typical Mullai Thinai scenarios – Patient waiting

The hero has gone on a personal business trip, and is expected at the start of the rainy season.

The hero has gone on the king’s business, and is expected at the start of the rainy season.

The heroine awaits his arrival when the rainy season arrives.

The heroine is upset that the rainy season has started, and her man has not returned.

The heroine is in denial that the rainy season has started and blames the trees for showing signs
of the season.

The heroine’s friend consoles her when she is worried.

The hero is anxious to get back home once his business is over.

The hero talks to his charioteer on his way back.

The rain starts and forest is filled with kāyā, kondrai, mullai and other flowers.

The hero eventually reaches home and tells the heroine how happy he is to be back.

Pālai:- Dry wilderness and adjoining lands. Named after the Pālai tree which grows in very dry
areas. Kotravai is the goddess here. Tigers, red foxes, vultures, eagles, pigeons and lizards live
in this pālai land. Iruppai, omai, and ulignai trees grow here. Revam, kuravam and pāthiri
flowers bloom here. Robbery on the roads are common. Water sources are dried springs and
sunk wells.

The hero sets out across the wilderness to elope with his beloved, or, if he’s unaccompanied, to
make enough money to marry her on his return. Occasionally the hero is married and undertakes
a journey for business purposes, or for some god. The time is midday and the season is summer.
Typical Pālai Thinai scenarios – Separation

The hero leaves, passing the wasteland, to earn wealth (except in Akananuru 255, the only poem
in Sangam poetry where the hero goes on a ship).

The hero and heroine elope and go through the wasteland paths.

The foster mother goes in search of the heroine.

Passers-by give advice to the hero and heroine.

The heroine’s mother is very hurt since her daughter has eloped.

The hero goes alone in search of wealth, leaving behind the heroine.

The heroine is afraid that he has to go through paths with bandits and wild animals.

The heroine’s friend consoles her.

The heroine is distressed and bangles slip down her forearms.

The hero speaks to his heart about his feelings.

The heroine’s mother pleads with the crow to caw and bring her daughter back.

Neythal:- Seashore and adjoining lands. Named after the blue water lily that grows near the
seashore. Varunan is the god. Fish catching and salt making is done here. Blue water lily grows
in the ponds. Cormorant is the bird and crocodiles, sharks and buffalo that carries salt bags live
here. Screw pine trees grow, water wells and salt water ponds are here. Fishermen community
called parathavar live in nearby settlements with their families.

The subject is often separation, during which the unmarried woman believes that her lover has
abandoned her. Occasionally, neydal poems concern the journey of the hero along the beach in
his chariot as he comes to see his beloved. The time is afternoon, evening or occasionally night.

Typical Neythal Thinai scenarios – Anxious waiting

The heroine and her friend dry fish on the seashore.

Their fathers and brothers go into the ocean to fish.

The heroine plays with her friends on the seashore.

She waits anxiously for the hero who is away.

There is gossip in their settlement when the love affair is known.

The heroine’s friend assures her that the hero will come on his chariot.
Her body becomes pale and weak due to the separation.

She is unable to sleep at night.

Marutham:- Paddy fields and adjoining lands. Named after the flowering marutham tree which
grows in agricultural areas. Indiran is the god here, white and red rice are grown. Water buffalo
is the animal, and lotus and lilies are the flowers. The trees are vanji, kanchi and marutham.
Wells, ponds, rivers, and streams are all over the place. The birds here are pelican, waterfowl
and swan. People work in the fields planting, weeding and cutting the rice stalks.

After marriage and usually after the couple have a child, the hero leaves his wife and begins to
live with courtesans. The time is day.

Typical Marutham Thinai scenarios – Infidelity and hurt

The hero takes a concubine.

The hero plays with his concubine/concubines in the river.

The heroine is very sad and hurt.

The heroine’s friend accosts the hero.

The concubine talks about her feelings.

She talks about the heroine.

The hero uses a messenger bard to send word to the heroine.

The heroine tells the bard about her sad feelings.

She tells him how hurt she is and about the gossips.

She tells him that he was seen with his concubines.

The friend speaks her mind to the bard.

The friend refuses the hero entry into the house.

Each of these landscapes with their gods, plants, animals, tribes of people and their occupations,
drums, and music became a rich repertoire of images, symbols and metaphors. This exterior
landscape that mapped an interior terrain of emotion and feeling got associated with a phase of
love. Thus a whole world of signifiers in the outer landscape with various living forms and
cultural codes signified specific human feelings.

In these cases, a single object from the outer natural landscape - generally a flower - is a referent
for a location, which in turn refers to an act/action, further referring to an attached emotion. This
contiguous string that is embedded within the Thinnai makes it a metonymy. Furthermore, each
Thinnai is indicative of the ecological divisions in various societies based on their labour, and the
transition from tribal and nomadic to peasant, fishing and farming populations.

As each society evolves so do social hierarchies. Although caste and religion are never explicitly
mentioned, there are hints of an established social strata. For instance, in one Neithal poem,
Akunanuru 110 by Pontaip Pacalaiyar (translated by George L Hart), a woman tells her lover that
“This food is not for you/ it is moist fish, eaten only by low people.”

Examples

What Her Friend Said

To the foster-mother (who is guarding her carefully)

Bless you, Mother, listen.

She climbs the round garden rock

That reeks of the meat of

Sacrifice,

She looks at the flowering

Hilltops of his country,

And she stands there forever

In her sapphire jewels:

Only in this way

Will her sickness

Find its remedy.

- Kapilar

Ainkurunuru

Translated by AK Ramanujan, From Poems of Love and War (1)

This sensual poem uses the metonymic trope of the hill to denote a lovers’ union. In this case,
the woman’s friend pokes fun at her longingness and points to the ‘sapphire hills of [her] man’ -
derived from the sapphire Kurinji flowers that adorn the hills. All the woman has to do to satisfy
her desire is to unite with her lover, the “man of the hills” as he is popularly called in other
poems. Women, in many of these poems, have an established, confident relationship with the
outer landscape where they meet their lover, thus indicating the agency they possessed over their
body, sexuality and physical movement. The public space is not just for men, and women are
not confined solely within the private sphere.

The metonymies, or Thinai, in these poems help us perceive natural spaces and landscapes
through social and cultural norms of the time, perhaps even letting us in on certain codes that
lovers would speak in when they planned to unite. The erotic, secular female voice helps us gain
perspective on certain histories. Natural spaces of hills and forests and seashores lending
themselves to acts of love and longing help us in studying the utilitarian purposes of social
spaces.

The relationship between the public and private space in poetry is, evidently, an intimate one.
Thinai metonymies and their chain of contiguity help us derive knowledge about people and
societies in various landscapes. How people love is very telling of how tolerant a society is and
how labour and religious hierarchies structure it. Poetry thus shapes our understanding of public
spaces. Sangam literature thus carries entire worlds of geography and history through sharp,
incisive poems. The poems let us in on cultural codes that connect a historical past with
immortal, relatable human emotions of love and loss.