Story of Saṃgham

(SAṄGHAM). An organisation formed in olden days for the cultivation of Śentamil (classic Tamil) literature, which took its origin in south Drāviḍa land in the 4th century B.C. The Pāṇḍyas set up three Saṅghams for the promotion of this literature, the first one in southern Madura. When the city was swept by erosion of the sea they set up the second Saṅgham at Kapāṭapura. When Kapāṭapura also was destroyed by the sea, the third Saṅgham was founded in Drāviḍa Madura. The first Saṅgham was called Mutarcaṅkam, the second Iṭaiccaṅkam and the third one Kaṭaiccaṅkam. Reliable information about the first two Saṅghams is not available. But, there are reasons to believe that a Saṅgham called Kataiccaṅkam flourished for about six hundred years from 2nd century B.C. to the close of the 4th century A.D. (History of Kerala Literature by Ullūr, Part 1, Page 47).

The Pāṇḍyan King had built at Madura a hall (maṇḍapa) for the poets and scholars of the third Saṅgham to assemble together to produce their works. Even to this day there exists a temple called Saṅghattārkovil at the south-western corner of the outer sector of the Sundareśvara temple. There the idols of Sarasvatī and of the fortynine poets of the Saṅgham are being worshipped even today. The growth and influence of the Buddhist and the Jain religions and also that of the Pallava royal dynasty, contributed to the downfall of the Saṅgham. The Saṅgham poets have written many excellent books. According to legends, Agastyam is a text on grammar of the first Saṅgham and Tolkāpyam of the second Saṅgham. There were authoritative text books on music written by the last poets of the Saṅgham. But, none of these books has been unearthed yet. Again, references are found to dramas like Muruval, Jayantam, etc. They too have not yet been found out. Five mahākāvyas (Epic poems) and five short Kāvyas also belong to Saṅgham works. Puranānūru. Akanānūru, Patiṭṭuppattu, Aiṃ kurunūru, Kalittokai, Kuruntokai, Paripāṭal and Naṭṭiṇai are included in the Saṅgham work called Eṭṭuttokai. Most of them are collections of many compositions. The authorship of the four hundred songs in Puranānūru is distributed among nearly 160 poets. Aiṃ Kurunūru contains five hundred songs by five poets. These five hundred songs were collected by the scholar, Kūṭalūr kizhār, on the orders of the Cera King, Ceraliruṃpozhai. Patiṭṭippattu is a collection of songs composed by ten poets in praise of the Cera Kings. But, only eight of these from two to nine are available yet. Pattuppāṭṭu comprised of the following works like Tirumurukāttuppaṭai, etc. Tirukkural, Nālaṭiyar etc. are among the eighteen works under the group Patineṇkīzhkkaṇakku. Cilappadikāram, Maṇimekhalai, Jīvakacintāmaṇi, Kuṇḍalakeśī and Valaiyāpati are the five great kāvyas and Nīlakeśi, Cūḍāmaṇi, Yaśodākāvyam, Nāgakumāra-Kāvyam and Udayakumārakāvyam (Udayaṇankatai) are the five short (laghu) kāvyas. Amongst the above kāvyas Maṇimekhalai and Kuṇḍalakeśi are Buddhist kāvyas and Cintāmaṇi and the five short kāvyas are Jain works. The last seven books might have been written after the Saṅgham period. Tiruttakkatevar, author of Cintāmaṇi, lived in eighth century A.D. Some of the songs in Puranānūru are the oldest among the works of the Saṅgham period. References to Cera Kings are found in many of these works.