Natrinai
Encyclopedia
Narrinaia classical Tamil
poetic work, is a book of Ettuthokai
, a Sangam literature
anthology. Natrinai contains 400 poems dealing with the five landscapes
of Sangam poetry – kurinchi, mullai, marutham, neithal and paalai. This belongs to some of the oldest extant Tamil literature
and is dated to belong to the Sangam age (100 BCE - 200 CE). The stanzas are of varying lengths of between nine and twelve lines each. The Pandya king Maaran Vazhuthi patronised this collection. It is not known who made this collection.
A number of authors including Perunthvanaar, who translated Mahabharatham
into Tamil and Alankudi Vanganaar have written these poems. Authors of 56 poems are not known. The names of 192 authors are known. Poem 234 is missing and considered extinct. Part of the 385th poem is also missing from all available manuscript copies.
The original manuscript did not classify the poems into the various thinais (landscapes). They were introduced later in the nineteenth century when this book was first printed.
Tamil language
Tamil is a Dravidian language spoken predominantly by Tamil people of the Indian subcontinent. It has official status in the Indian state of Tamil Nadu and in the Indian union territory of Pondicherry. Tamil is also an official language of Sri Lanka and Singapore...
poetic work, is a book of Ettuthokai
Ettuthokai
Ettuthokai– 'The Eight Anthologies' - Classical Tamil poetic work - form part of the Pathinenmaelkanakku anthology series of the Sangam Literature...
, a Sangam literature
Sangam literature
Sangam literature refers to a body of classical Tamil literature created between the years c. 600 BCE to 300 CE. This collection contains 2381 poems composed by 473 poets, some 102 of whom remain anonymous The period during which these poems were composed is commonly referred to as the Sangam...
anthology. Natrinai contains 400 poems dealing with the five landscapes
Sangam landscape
The Sangam landscape is the name given to a poetic device that was characteristic of love poetry in classical Tamil Sangam literature. The core of the device was the categorisation of poems into different tiṇais or modes, depending on the nature, location, mood and type of relationship...
of Sangam poetry – kurinchi, mullai, marutham, neithal and paalai. This belongs to some of the oldest extant Tamil literature
Tamil literature
Tamil literature refers to the literature in the Tamil language. Tamil literature has a rich and long literary tradition spanning more than two thousand years. The oldest extant works show signs of maturity indicating an even longer period of evolution...
and is dated to belong to the Sangam age (100 BCE - 200 CE). The stanzas are of varying lengths of between nine and twelve lines each. The Pandya king Maaran Vazhuthi patronised this collection. It is not known who made this collection.
A number of authors including Perunthvanaar, who translated Mahabharatham
Mahabharata
The Mahabharata is one of the two major Sanskrit epics of ancient India and Nepal, the other being the Ramayana. The epic is part of itihasa....
into Tamil and Alankudi Vanganaar have written these poems. Authors of 56 poems are not known. The names of 192 authors are known. Poem 234 is missing and considered extinct. Part of the 385th poem is also missing from all available manuscript copies.
The original manuscript did not classify the poems into the various thinais (landscapes). They were introduced later in the nineteenth century when this book was first printed.