A.K. Ramanujan "Five Landscapes"

Attipate Krishnaswami Ramanujan (16 March 1929 – 13 July 1993) also known as A. K. Ramanujan was an Indian poet and scholar of Indian literature who wrote in both English and Kannada language. Ramanujan was a poet, scholar, a philologist, folklorist, translator, and playwright. His academic research ranged across five languages: English Kannada, Tamil, Telugu, and Sanskrit. He published works on both classical and modern variants of this literature and argued strongly for giving local, non-standard dialects their due. 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 1999 for his collection of poems, "The Collected Poems"

“These poem are ‘classical,’ i.e., early, ancient; they are also ‘classics,’ i.e., works that have stood the test of time, the founding works of a whole tradition. Not to know them is not to know a unique and major poetic achievement of Indian civilization”.

“In their antiquity and in their contemporaneity, there is not much else in any Indian literature equal to these quiet and dramatic Tamil poems. In their values and stances, they represent a mature classical poetry: passion is balanced by courtesy, transparency by ironies and nuances of design, impersonality by vivid detail, leanness of line by richness of implication. These poems are not just the earliest evidence of Tamil genius. The Tamils, in their 2,000 years of literary effort, wrote nothing better”.

Akam (interior) and Puram (Exterior) are not only thematic divisions of the Sangam poems. They are more than that.  The two categories are related to each other by context, and by contrast.

Akam and Puram are very old Tamil words. Akam means interior, heart, mind, self, kin, house, family, inland, settlement, earth, love poems and codes of conduct appropriate to akam.  Puram has opposite qualities to match each of these.

Meaning of Akam and Puram

Akam – interior, Puram – exterior

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

Akam – self, Puram – others

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 – codes of conduct appropriate to akam poetry, Puram – Codes of conduct appropriate to puram poetry

AKAM THEMES CALLED THINAIS (Landscapes)
Akam is further divided into 5 divisions called thinais. The word thinai means ‘land’. These are Kurinji, Mullai, Pālai, Neythal and Marutham. Each of these have unique characteristics – not just about the tract of land that they are, but also in the people and animals who live there, the plants, trees, flowers and above all the feelings of the characters in the akam poems.
The Tholkāppiyam classified 5 different kinds of land, but 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 : 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.

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. Separation is the theme of Pālai.

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

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 describle union. All concern the fertitility of the rainy season in the forest meadows. Rainy season is the period. The time is usually evening. Patient waiting is the theme of Mullai.

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 heroine is upset when rainy season has started and the hero has not returned
The hero talks to his charioteer on his way back
The rains start 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

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. Anxious waiting is the theme of neythal.

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
The heroine 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
The heroine’s body becomes pale and weak due to the separation
The heroine 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. Lover’s infidelity and the beloved’s resentment are the theme in marutham.

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
The concubine 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
The heroine tells the hero how hurt she is
The heroine tells the hero about gossips
The heroine tells the hero that he was seen with his concubines
The friend speaks her mind to the bard
The friend refuses the hero entry into the house

The Sangam Age in Tamil Nadu (2nd century B.C. to 3rd century A.D.) was the greatest period of literary outpourings. Tolkapiyam (literally meaning”‘Old Composition”), a detailed treatise on grammar and poetics written at this time, defined the Sangam poetic tradition.

According to Tolkapiyam, a poem either lay in the inner space of love, relationships and feelings (aham) or in the public realm of kings, war and community (puram). The aham poems or poems of the interior grew from the four 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).

Each of these landscapes with their gods, plants, animals, tribes of people and their occupations, watering holes, 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.

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.