1.
Macaronic
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Macaronic refers to text using a mixture of languages, particularly bilingual puns or situations in which the languages are otherwise used in the same context. The term can also denote hybrid words, which are effectively internally macaronic, a rough equivalent in spoken language is code-switching, a term in linguistics referring to using more than one language or dialect within the same conversation. Macaronic Latin in particular is a jumbled jargon made up of vernacular words given Latin endings, the word macaronic comes from the New Latin macaronicus which is from the Italian maccarone. The term can have derogatory overtones, and is reserved for works where the mixing of languages has a humorous or satirical intent or effect. It is a matter of whether the term can be applied to mixed-language literature of a more serious nature. An early example is from 1130, in the Gospel book of Munsterbilzen Abbey, the following sentence mixes late Old Dutch and Latin, Translated, This community was noble and pure, and completely full of all virtues. The Carmina Burana contains several poems mixing Latin with Medieval German or French, another well-known example is the first stanza of the famous carol In Dulci Jubilo, whose original version had Latin mixed with German, with a hint of Greek. While some of early works had a clear humorous intent. Another early example is in the Middle English recitals The Towneley Plays, in The Talents, Pontius Pilate delivers a rhyming speech in mixed English and Latin. A number of English political poems in the 14th century alternated English and Latin lines, such as in MS Digby 196, Several Anthems also contain both Latin and English. In the case of Nolo mortem pecatoris by Thomas Morely, the Latin is used as a refrain, Translated, I do not wish the death of the wicked, an allusion to John 3,17 and 2 Peter 3,9. The term macaronic is believed to have originated in Padua in the late 15th century, apparently from maccarona and its association with the genre comes from the Macaronea, a comical poem by Tifi Odasi in mixed Latin and Italian, published in 1488 or 1489. Another example of the genre is Tosontea by Corrado of Padua, Tifi and his contemporaries clearly intended to satirize the broken Latin used by many doctors, scholars and bureaucrats of their time. An important Italian example was Baldo by Teofilo Folengo, who described his own verses as a gross, rude, and rustic mixture of flour, cheese, and butter. Macaronic verse is especially common in cultures with widespread bilingualism or language contact, Macaronic traditional songs such as Siúil A Rúin are quite common in Ireland. In Scotland, macaronic songs have been popular among Highland immigrants to Glasgow, an example, When I came down to Glasgow first, a-mach air Tìr nan Gall. I was like a man adrift, air iomrall s doll air chall, folk and popular music of the Andes frequently alternates between Spanish and the given South American language of its region of origin. Macaronic verse was also common in medieval India, where the influence of the Muslim rulers led to poems being written in alternating indigenous Hindi and this style was used by the famous poet Amir Khusro and played a major role in the rise of the Urdu or Hindustani language
2.
South India
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The region occupies 19. 31% of Indias land area. Covering the southern part of the peninsular Deccan Plateau, South India is bounded by the Bay of Bengal in the east, the Arabian Sea in the west, and the Indian Ocean in the south. The geography of the region is diverse, with two ranges, the Western and Eastern Ghats, bordering the plateau heartland. The Godavari River, Krishna River, Kaveri, Tungabhadra and Vaigai rivers are important non-perennial sources of water, Bangalore, Chennai, Hyderabad, Visakhapatnam, Vijayawada, Coimbatore and Kochi are the largest urban areas. Majority of the people in South India speak one of the four major Dravidian languages, Telugu, Tamil, Kannada and Malayalam. During its history, a number of kingdoms ruled over parts of South India whose invasions across southern and southeastern Asia impacted the history. Major dynasties that were established in South India include the Cheras, Cholas, Pandyas, Pallavas, Satavahanas, Chalukyas, Rashtrakutas, european countries entered India through Kerala and the region was colonised by Britain and other nations. HDI in the states is high and the economy has undergone growth at a faster rate than most northern states. Literacy rates in the states are higher than the national average with approximately 80% of the population capable of reading and writing. The fertility rate in South India is 1.9, the lowest of all regions in India, South India also known as Peninsular India has been known by several other names. Carnatic derived from Karnād or Karunād meaning high country has also associated with South India. Carbon dating on ash mounds associated with Neolithic cultures in South India date back to 8000 BCE, artefacts such as ground stone axes, and minor copper objects have been found in the region. Towards the beginning of 1000 BCE, iron technology spread through the region, however, the region was in the middle of a trade route that extended from Muziris to Arikamedu linking the Mediterranean and East Asia. Trade with Phoenicians, Romans, Greeks, Arabs, Syrians, Jews, the region was part of the ancient Silk Road connecting the Asian continent in the East and the West. C. to 14th century A. D. The Vijayanagara Empire, founded in 14th century A. D. was the last Indian dynasty that ruled over the region. The Europeans arrived in the 15th century and by the middle of the 18th century, the French, the British Empire took control of the region from the British East India Company in 1857. During the British colonial rule, the region was divided into the Madras Presidency, Hyderabad state, Mysore, Travancore, Kochi, Vizianagaram and a number of other minor princely states. After the independence of India in 1947, the region was organised into four states, Madras State, Mysore State, Hyderabad State and Travancore-Cochin
3.
Sanskrit
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Sanskrit is the primary liturgical language of Hinduism, a philosophical language of Hinduism, Buddhism, and Jainism, and a literary language and lingua franca of ancient and medieval South Asia. As a result of transmission of Hindu and Buddhist culture to Southeast Asia and parts of Central Asia, as one of the oldest Indo-European languages for which substantial written documentation exists, Sanskrit holds a prominent position in Indo-European studies. The body of Sanskrit literature encompasses a rich tradition of poetry and drama as well as scientific, technical, philosophical, the compositions of Sanskrit were orally transmitted for much of its early history by methods of memorization of exceptional complexity, rigor, and fidelity. Thereafter, variants and derivatives of the Brahmi script came to be used, Sanskrit is today one of the 22 languages listed in the Eighth Schedule of the Constitution of India, which mandates the Indian government to develop the language. It continues to be used as a ceremonial language in Hindu religious rituals and Buddhist practice in the form of hymns. The Sanskrit verbal adjective sáṃskṛta- may be translated as refined, elaborated, as a term for refined or elaborated speech, the adjective appears only in Epic and Classical Sanskrit in the Manusmṛti and the Mahabharata. The pre-Classical form of Sanskrit is known as Vedic Sanskrit, with the language of the Rigveda being the oldest and most archaic stage preserved, Classical Sanskrit is the standard register as laid out in the grammar of Pāṇini, around the fourth century BCE. Sanskrit, as defined by Pāṇini, evolved out of the earlier Vedic form, the present form of Vedic Sanskrit can be traced back to as early as the second millennium BCE. Scholars often distinguish Vedic Sanskrit and Classical or Pāṇinian Sanskrit as separate dialects, although they are quite similar, they differ in a number of essential points of phonology, vocabulary, grammar and syntax. Vedic Sanskrit is the language of the Vedas, a collection of hymns, incantations and theological and religio-philosophical discussions in the Brahmanas. Modern linguists consider the metrical hymns of the Rigveda Samhita to be the earliest, for nearly 2000 years, Sanskrit was the language of a cultural order that exerted influence across South Asia, Inner Asia, Southeast Asia, and to a certain extent East Asia. A significant form of post-Vedic Sanskrit is found in the Sanskrit of Indian epic poetry—the Ramayana, the deviations from Pāṇini in the epics are generally considered to be on account of interference from Prakrits, or innovations, and not because they are pre-Paninian. Traditional Sanskrit scholars call such deviations ārṣa, meaning of the ṛṣis, in some contexts, there are also more prakritisms than in Classical Sanskrit proper. There were four principal dialects of classical Sanskrit, paścimottarī, madhyadeśī, pūrvi, the predecessors of the first three dialects are attested in Vedic Brāhmaṇas, of which the first one was regarded as the purest. In the 2001 Census of India,14,035 Indians reported Sanskrit to be their first language, in India, Sanskrit is among the 14 original languages of the Eighth Schedule to the Constitution. The state of Uttarakhand in India has ruled Sanskrit as its official language. In October 2012 social activist Hemant Goswami filed a petition in the Punjab. More than 3,000 Sanskrit works have been composed since Indias independence in 1947, much of this work has been judged of high quality, in comparison to both classical Sanskrit literature and modern literature in other Indian languages
4.
Vaishnavite
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Vaishnavism is one of the major traditions within Hinduism along with Shaivism, Shaktism, and Smartism. It is also called Vishnuism, its followers are called Vaishnavas, the tradition is notable for its avatar doctrine, wherein Vishnu is revered in one of many distinct incarnations. Of these, ten avatars of Vishnu are the most studied, Krishna, Rama, Narayana, Vāsudeva, Hari, Vithoba, Kesava, Madhava, Govinda and Jagannath are among the popular names used for the same supreme. The tradition has traceable roots to the 1st millennium BCE, as Bhagavatism, later developments led by Ramananda created a Rama-oriented movement, now the largest monastic group in Asia. The Vaishnava tradition has many sampradayas ranging from the medieval era Dvaita school of Madhvacharya to Vishishtadvaita school of Ramanuja, new Vaishnavism movements have been founded in the modern era such as the ISKCON of Prabhupada. The tradition is known for the devotion to an avatar of Vishnu. Key texts in Vaishnavism include the Vedas, the Upanishads, the Bhagavad Gita, the Pancaratra texts, Krishnaism becomes associated with bhakti yoga in the medieval period. Although Vishnu was a Vedic solar deity, he is mentioned less often compared to Agni, Indra and other Vedic deities, other scholars state that there are other Vedic deities, such as water deity Nara, who together form the historical roots of Vaishnavism. The ancient emergence of Vaishnavism is unclear, the evidence inconsistent, according to Dalal, the origins may be in Vedic deity Bhaga, who gave rise to Bhagavatism. According to Preciado-Solís, the Vedic deities Nara and Narayana form one of the Vedic roots of Vaishnavism, according to Dandekar, Vaishnavism may have emerged from merger of several ancient theistic traditions, where the various deities were integrated as different avatars of the same god. In Dandekar theory, Vaishnavism emerged at the end of the Vedic period, closely before the urbanisation of northern India. This earliest phase was established the time of Pāṇini who, in his Astadhyayi and this was followed by a merger with the cult of Gopala-Krsna of the cowherd community of the Abhıras at the 4th century CE. The character of Gopala Krishna is often considered to be non-Vedic, according to Dandekar, such mergers consolidated the position of Krishnaism between the heterodox sramana movement and the orthodox Vedic religion. The Greater Krsnaism, states Dandekar, then merged with the Rigvedic Vishnu, syncretism of various traditions and Vedism resulted in Vaishnavism. At this stage that Vishnu of the Rig Veda was assimilated into non-Vedic Krishnaism, the appearance of Krishna as one of the Avatars of Vishnu dates to the period of the Sanskrit epics in the early centuries CE. The Bhagavad Gita was incorporated into the Mahabharata as a key text for Krishnaism, finally, the Narayana-cult was also included, which further brahmanized Vaishnavism. The Nara-Narayana cult may have originated in Badari, a ridge of the Hindu Kush. Purusa Narayana may have later turned into Arjuna and Krsna
5.
Tamil Nadu
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Tamil Nadu is one of the 29 states of India. Its capital and largest city is Chennai, Tamil Nadu lies in the southernmost part of the Indian Peninsula and is bordered by the union territory of Puducherry and the South Indian states of Kerala, Karnataka, and Andhra Pradesh. The state shares a border with the nation of Sri Lanka. Tamil Nadu is the eleventh-largest state in India by area and the sixth-most populous, the state was ranked sixth among states in India according to the Human Development Index in 2011, with the second-largest state economy after Maharashtra. Tamil Nadu is the second largest state economy in India with ₹13,842 billion in gross domestic product after Maharashtra. Tamil Nadu was ranked as one of the top seven developed states in India based on a Multidimensional Development Index in a 2013 report published by the Reserve Bank of India and its official language is Tamil, which is one of the longest-surviving classical languages in the world. Tamil Nadu is home to natural resources. In addition, its people have developed and continue classical arts, classical music, historic buildings and religious sites include Hindu temples of Tamil architecture, hill stations, beach resorts, multi-religious pilgrimage sites, and eight UNESCO World Heritage Sites. Archaeological evidence points to this area being one of the longest continuous habitations in the Indian peninsula, the ASI archaeologists have proposed that the script used at that site is very rudimentary Tamil Brahmi. Adichanallur has been announced as a site for further excavation. About 60 per cent of the epigraphical inscriptions found by the ASI in India are from Tamil Nadu. A Neolithic stone celt with the Indus script on it was discovered at Sembian-Kandiyur near Mayiladuthurai in Tamil Nadu, according to epigraphist Iravatham Mahadevan, this was the first datable artefact bearing the Indus script to be found in Tamil Nadu. Mahadevan claimed that the find was evidence of the use of the Harappan language, the date of the celt was estimated at between 1500 BCE and 2000 BCE. The early history of the people and rulers of Tamil Nadu is a topic in Tamil literary sources known as Sangam literature, numismatic, archaeological and literary sources corroborate that the Sangam period lasted for about six centuries, from 300 BC to AD300. Three dynasties, namely the Chera, Chola and Pandya, ruled the area of present-day Tamil Nadu, the Chera ruled the whole of present-day Kerala and parts of western Tamil Nadu comprising Coimbatore, Dharmapuri, Karur, Salem and Erode districts from the capital of Vanchi Muthur. The Chola dynasty ruled the northern and central parts of Tamil Nadu from their capital, Uraiyur, All three dynasties had extensive trade relationships with Rome, Greece, Egypt, Ceylon, Phoenicia, Arabia, Mesopotamia and Persia. Trade flourished in commodities such as spices, ivory, pearls, beads, Chera traded extensively from Muziris on the west coast, Chola from Arikamedu and Puhar and Pandya through Korkai port. A Greco-Roman trade and travel document, the Periplus of the Erythraean Sea gives a description of the Tamil country, besides these three dynasties, the Sangam era Tamilakam was also divided into various provinces named nadu, meaning country
6.
Kerala
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Kerala historically known as Keralam, is an Indian state in South India on the Malabar Coast. It was formed on 1 November 1956 following the States Reorganisation Act by combining Malayalam-speaking regions, spread over 38,863 km2, it is bordered by Karnataka to the north and northeast, Tamil Nadu to the east and south, and the Lakshadweep Sea to the west. With 33,387,677 inhabitants as per the 2011 Census, Malayalam is the most widely spoken language and is also the official language of the state. The region has been a prominent spice exporter since 3000 BCE, the Chera Dynasty was the first prominent kingdom based in Kerala, though it frequently struggled against attacks by the neighbouring Cholas and Pandyas. In the 15th century, the spice trade attracted Portuguese traders to Kerala, after independence, Travancore and Cochin joined the Republic of India and Travancore-Cochin was given the status of a state in 1949. In 1956, Kerala state was formed by merging Malabar district, Travancore-Cochin, Hinduism is practised by more than half of the population, followed by Islam and Christianity. The culture is a synthesis of Aryan and Dravidian cultures, developed over millennia, under influences from other parts of India, the production of pepper and natural rubber contributes significantly to the total national output. In the agricultural sector, coconut, tea, coffee, cashew, the states coastline extends for 595 kilometres, and around 1.1 million people in the state are dependent on the fishery industry which contributes 3% to the states income. The state has the highest media exposure in India with newspapers publishing in nine languages, mainly English, Kerala is one of the prominent tourist destinations of India, with backwaters, beaches, Ayurvedic tourism and tropical greenery as its major attractions. The name Kerala has an uncertain etymology, One popular theory derives Kerala from Kera and alam is land, thus land of coconuts, this also happens to be a nickname for the state due to abundance of coconut trees and its use by the locals. The word Kerala is first recorded in a 3rd-century BCE rock inscription left by the Maurya emperor Ashoka, the inscription refers to the local ruler as Keralaputra, or son of Chera. This contradicts the theory that Kera is from coconut tree, at that time, one of three states in the region was called Cheralam in Classical Tamil, Chera and Kera are variants of the same word. The word Cheral refers to the oldest known dynasty of Kerala kings and is derived from the Proto-Tamil-Malayalam word for lake, the earliest Sanskrit text to mention Kerala is the Aitareya Aranyaka of the Rigveda. It is also mentioned in the Ramayana and the Mahabharata, the two Hindu epics, the Skanda Purana mentions the ecclesiastical office of the Thachudaya Kaimal who is referred to as Manikkam Keralar, synonymous with the deity of the Koodalmanikyam temple. Keralam may stem from the Classical Tamil cherive-alam or chera alam, the Greco-Roman trade map Periplus Maris Erythraei refers to Keralaputra as Celobotra. According to Hindu mythology, the lands of Kerala were recovered from the sea by the warrior sage Parasurama. Parasurama threw his axe across the sea, and the water receded as far as it reached, according to legend, this new area of land extended from Gokarna to Kanyakumari. The land which rose from sea was filled with salt and unsuitable for habitation, so Parasurama invoked the Snake King Vasuki, out of respect, Vasuki and all snakes were appointed as protectors and guardians of the land
7.
Vatteluttu alphabet
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The Vaṭṭeḻuttu alphabet, also spelled Vattezhutthu is an abugida writing system originating from the ancient Tamil people of South India. The syllabic alphabet is attested from the 6th century CE to the 14th century in present-day Tamil Nadu and it was later supplanted by modern Tamil script and Malayalam script. Vaṭṭeḻuttu replaced Tamil-Brahmi for writing Tamil after the 2nd century CE and this rounded form of writing was also used in Kerala to write in Tamil as well as in proto-Malayalam and Malayalam language. Currently, Malayalam uses the Malayalam script, inhabitants of Kuccaveli, located north of Trincomalee, used the Vaṭṭeḻuttu script between the 5th and 8th centuries, attested to on rock inscriptions found there. Inscriptional records in Tamil date from 300 BCE to 1800, grantha was an alphabet in which extra letters were created specifically for Sanskrit words. It was also a form of Tamil script to write Sanskrit granthas or books. In Tamil, many of the letters which are found in Sanskrit do not exist, the following image shows the divergent evolution of the Tamil script and the Vatteluttu script. The Vatteluttu script is shown on the left, while the Tamil script is shown on the right, the following image shows the characters used in Vatteluttu. Tamil copper-plate inscriptions Indian copper plate inscriptions Laguna Copperplate Inscription Pallava script Tamil script Sivaramamurti, C, Indian Epigraphy, bulletin of the Madras Government Museum
8.
Grantha alphabet
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It is a Brahmic script, having evolved from the Brahmi script in Tamil Nadu. The Malayalam script is a descendant of Grantha as are the Tigalari. Grantha script still lives in Tamil Nadu, albeit in reduced state, in Sanskrit, grantha is literally a knot. It is a word that was used for books, and the used to write them. This stems from the practice of binding inscribed palm leaves using a length of thread held by knots, although Sanskrit is now mostly written with Devanagari, Grantha was widely used to write Sanskrit in the Tamil-speaking parts of South Asia until the 19th century. Scholars believe that the Grantha script was used when the Vedas were first put into writing around the 5th century CE, in the early 20th century, it began to be replaced by Devanagari in religious and scholarly texts and the Tamil script in popular texts. The Grantha script was historically used for writing Manipravalam, a blend of Tamil. This evolved into a complex writing system which required that Tamil words be written in the Tamil script. In modern times, the Grantha script is used in religious contexts by orthodox Tamil-speaking Hindus. It is also used in many religious almanacs to print traditional formulaic summaries of the coming year, Grantha script may be classified as follows, An archaic and ornamental variety of Grantha is sometimes referred to as Pallava Grantha. They were used by the Pallava in some inscriptions, mamallapuram Tiruchirapalli Rock Cut Cave Inscriptions, Kailasantha Inscription come under this type. The Pallavas also produced a distinctive script separate from the Grantha family, the Tigalari-Malayalam script is called Western Grantha. Currently two varieties are used, Brahmanic, or square, and Jain, or round, the Tigalari-Malayalam script was a variety of Grantha dating from the 8th or 9th century CE. It later split into two distinct scripts – Tigalari and Malayalam and this type of Grantha was used by Cholas approximately from 650 CE to 950 CE. Inscription of later Pallavas and Pandiyan Nedunchezhiyan are also examples for this variety of Grantha Script, Inscriptions of the Imperial Thanjavur Cholas are an example for Medieval Grantha. This variety was in vogue from 950 CE to 1250 CE, Grantha in the present form descended from later Pandyas and the Vijayanagara rulers. The Modern form of Grantha is very similar to Malayalam alphabet, the font used in the following tables is e-Grantamil taken from INDOLIPI. The glyphs below denote the form of Grantha Script, which can be noticed by its similarity with the Modern Tamil Script
9.
Rhetoric
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Rhetoric is the art of discourse, wherein a writer or speaker strives to inform, persuade or motivate particular audiences in specific situations. As a subject of study and a productive civic practice. Its best known definition comes from Aristotle, who considers it a counterpart of both logic and politics, and calls it the faculty of observing in any case the available means of persuasion. The five canons of rhetoric, which trace the traditional tasks in designing a persuasive speech, were first codified in classical Rome, invention, arrangement, style, memory, along with grammar and logic, rhetoric is one of the three ancient arts of discourse. From Ancient Greece to the late 19th century, it was a part of Western education. Scholars have debated the scope of rhetoric since ancient times, although some have limited rhetoric to the specific realm of political discourse, many modern scholars liberate it to encompass every aspect of culture. Contemporary studies of rhetoric address a diverse range of domains than was the case in ancient times. Many contemporary approaches treat rhetoric as human communication that includes purposeful, Public relations, lobbying, law, marketing, professional and technical writing, and advertising are modern professions that employ rhetorical practitioners. Because the ancient Greeks highly valued public political participation, rhetoric emerged as a tool to influence politics. Consequently, rhetoric remains associated with its political origins, however, even the original instructors of Western speech—the Sophists—disputed this limited view of rhetoric. According to the Sophists, such as Gorgias, a successful rhetorician could speak convincingly on any topic and this method suggested rhetoric could be a means of communicating any expertise, not just politics. In his Encomium to Helen, Gorgias even applied rhetoric to fiction by seeking for his own pleasure to prove the blamelessness of the mythical Helen of Troy in starting the Trojan War. Looking to another key rhetorical theorist, Plato defined the scope of rhetoric according to his opinions of the art. He criticized the Sophists for using rhetoric as a means of deceit instead of discovering truth, in Gorgias, one of his Socratic Dialogues, Plato defines rhetoric as the persuasion of ignorant masses within the courts and assemblies. Rhetoric, in Platos opinion, is merely a form of flattery and functions similarly to cookery, thus, Plato considered any speech of lengthy prose aimed at flattery as within the scope of rhetoric. Aristotle both redeemed rhetoric from his teacher and narrowed its focus by defining three genres of rhetoric—deliberative, forensic or judicial, and epideictic, when one considers that rhetoric included torture, it is clear that rhetoric cannot be viewed only in academic terms. However, the enthymeme based upon logic was viewed as the basis of rhetoric, however, since the time of Aristotle, logic has changed. For example, Modal logic has undergone a major development that also modifies rhetoric, yet, Aristotle also outlined generic constraints that focused the rhetorical art squarely within the domain of public political practice
10.
Koodiyattam
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Koodiyattam, also transliterated as Kutiyattam, is a form of Sanskrit theatre traditionally performed in the state of Kerala, India. It is officially recognised by UNESCO as a Masterpiece of the Oral, Koothu means dance or performance in Tamil and Malayalam. Koodiyattam, meaning combined acting, signifies Sanskrit drama presented in the style in temple theatres of Kerala. It is the surviving specimen of the ancient Sanskrit theatre. It has an history of a thousand years in Kerala. Koodiyattam and chakyar koothu were among the dramatized dance worship services in temples of ancient India, both koodiyattam and chakyar koothu find several mentions in ancient sangam literature of south and also in the epigraphs belonging to subsequent Pallava, Chera, Chola periods. Inscriptions related to the dramatized dance worship services like koodiyattam and chakyar koothu are available in temples at Tanjore, Tiruvidaimaruthur, Vedaranyam, Tiruvarur and they were treated as an integral part of worship services alongside the singing of tevaram and prabandam hymns. There are mentions in epigraphs those forms of dramatized dance worship services that are called aariyam that mostly had Sanskrit scripts for plays, several ancient kings and members of other professions are listed to have authored several works for these services. There is evidence of services being done all over ancient subcontinent during time of cholas and pallavas. For examples a fragmented inscription at the step of an ancient Shiva temple in Pegan in Burma finds mention of these services. He himself wrote two plays, Subhadraharana and Tapatisamvarana and made arrangements for their presentation on stage with the help of a Brahmin friend called Tolan and these plays are still presented on stage. The Kutiyattam performance was performed in specially designed temples called koothambalams, the use of Buddhist themes for plays is a very controversial and moot issue and seem to be a later interpolation not existing since ancient times for the latter not being a then-legal vedic system. Traditionally, the musical instruments used in Koodiyattam are mizhavu, kuzhitalam, etakka, kurumkuzhal. Mizhavu, the most prominent of these, is an instrument that is played by a person of the Ambalavas Nambiar caste. Traditionally, Koodiyattam has been performed by Chakyars and by Nangyaramma, the name Koodiyattam, meaning playing or performing together, is thought to refer to the presence or more actors on stage who act in consonance with the beats of the mizhavu drummers. Alternatively, it may also be a reference to a practice in Sanskrit drama where a single actor who has performed solo for several nights is joined by another. The main actor is a Chakyar who performs the ritualistic Koothu, Chakyar women, Illotammas, are not allowed to participate. Instead, the roles are played by Nangyaramma
11.
Shloka
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Shloka is a category of verse line developed from the Vedic Anustubh poetic meter. It is the basis for Indian epic verse, and may be considered the Indian verse form par excellence, occurring, as it does, the Mahabharata and Ramayana, for example, are written almost exclusively in shlokas. The traditional view is that form of verse was involuntarily composed by Valmiki in grief. The shloka is treated as a couplet, each hemistich of 16 syllables, composed of two Pādas of eight syllables, can take either a pathyā form or one of several vipulā forms. The form of the foot of the first Pāda limits the possible patterns the first foot may assume. Alternatively, a shloka is four quarter-verses, each with eight syllables, the Pathyā and Vipulā half-verses are arranged in the table above in order of frequency of occurrence. Out of 2579 half-verses taken from Kalidasa, Magha, Bharavi, the metrical constraints on a hemistich in terms of its two constituent padas are as follows, General The 1st and 8th syllables of both pādas are anceps. The 2nd and 3rd syllables cannot both be light in either pāda, i. e. one or both of the 2nd and 3rd syllables must be heavy in both pādas. Syllables 2-4 of the second pāda cannot be a ra-gaṇa Syllables 5-7 of the second pāda must be a ja-gaṇa This enforces an iambic cadence, normal form Syllables 5-7 of the first pāda must be a ya-gaṇa Variant forms, The 4th syllable of the first pāda is heavy. By comparison, Syllables 5-7 of any pāda in the old Vedic anuṣṭubh is typically a ja-gaṇa, a shloka, states Monier-Williams, can be any verse or stanza, a proverb, saying. The shloka and Anushtubh meter has been the most popular style in classical and post-classical Sanskrit works. It is octosyllabic, next harmonic to Gayatri meter that is sacred to the Hindus, a shloka has a rhythm, offers flexibility and creative space, but has embedded rules of composition. The Anushtubh is present in Vedic texts, but its presence is minor, a dominating presence of shlokas in a text is a marker that the text is likely post-Vedic. The shloka structure is embedded in the Bhagavad Gita, the Mahabharata, the Ramayana, the Puranas, Smritis and scientific treatises of Hinduism such as Sushruta Samhita and Charaka Samhita. The Mahabharata, for example, features many verse meters in its chapters, but a proportion of the stanzas, 95% are shlokas of the anustubh type. Subhashita Sutra Sanskrit prosody Vedic meter Arnold, Edward Vernon, Vedic Metre in its historical development. Sanskrit prosody and numerical symbols explained, london, Trübner and Co. pp. 57–146. Friedrich Max Müller, Arthur Anthony Macdonell, rocher, Ludo, The Puranas, Otto Harrassowitz Verlag, ISBN 978-3447025225 Annette Wilke, Oliver Moebus
12.
Chera dynasty
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The Cheras were the principal ruling dynasty of the present-day state of Kerala and to a lesser extent, parts of Tamil Nadu in South India. Along with the Ay kingdom and the Ezhimala kingdom, they formed the kingdoms of Kerala in the early years of the Christian Era. The origins of the dynasty are unclear and it is understood that they were speakers of Proto-Tamil-Malayalam while some being practitioners of literary writing in Old Tamil. In fact, most of their history is reconstructed from the body of known as the Sangam literature written in Old Tamil around the 3rd century CE. While Pliny and Ptolemy refer to the Cheras as Calobotras, the Periplus refers to them as the Keprobotras, the earliest Sanskrit works which refer to the Cheras and Kerala is probably the Aitreya Aranyaka. It refers to the land as Chera-pada - and as one of the three peoples who did not follow some ancient injunctions, there are also brief references by Katyanana, Patanjali and Kautilya, however Panini does not mention of the land. The Tamil works collectively known as the Sangam literature form one of the most important sources for a detailed history of the Cheras. These works roughly span the period 300 BCE to 300 CE, among them, the most important sources for the Cheras are the Pattittupattu, the Agananuru, the Purananuru and the Silappatikaram. By the early centuries of the Common Era, civil society, the location of the Chera capital is generally assumed to be at modern Karur. The Cheras were in conflict with the neighbouring Cholas and Pandyas. The Cheras are said to have defeated the armies of the Pandyas. They also made battles with the Kadambās of Banavasi and the Yavanas on the Indian coast, after the 2nd century CE, the Cheras power decayed rapidly with the decline of the lucrative trade with the Romans. Sangam literature describes a line of Chera rulers dated to the first few centuries CE. It records the names of the kings, the princes, the internal chronology of this literature is still far from settled, and at present a connected account of the history of the period cannot be derived. Uthiyan Cheralathan, Nedum Cheralathan and Senguttuvan Chera are some of the referred to in the Sangam poems. Senguttuvan Chera, the most celebrated Chera king, is famous for the legends surrounding Kannagi, the Chera kingdom owed its importance to trade with West Asia, Greece and Rome. The Later Cheras ruled from the 9th century, little is known about the Cheras between the two dynasties. The second dynasty, Kulasekharas ruled from a city on the banks of River Periyar called Mahodayapuram, the Chera rulers of Venad, based at the port Quilon in southern Kerala, trace their relations back to the later/second Cheras
13.
Hagiography
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A hagiography /ˌhæɡiˈɒɡrəfi/ is a biography of a saint or an ecclesiastical leader. The term hagiography may be used to refer to the biography of a saint or highly developed spiritual being in any of the spiritual traditions. Hagiographic works, especially those of the Middle Ages, can incorporate a record of institutional and local history, and evidence of popular cults, customs, and traditions. Hagiography constituted an important literary genre in the early Christian church, providing some informational history along with the inspirational stories. A hagiographic account of a saint can consist of a biography, a description of the saints deeds and/or miracles. The genre of lives of the saints first came into being in the Roman Empire as legends about Christian martyrs were recorded, the dates of their deaths formed the basis of martyrologies. In Western Europe hagiography was one of the important vehicles for the study of inspirational history during the Middle Ages. The Golden Legend of Jacob de Voragine compiled a great deal of medieval hagiographic material, Lives were often written to promote the cult of local or national states, and in particular to develop pilgrimages to visit relics. The bronze Gniezno Doors of Gniezno Cathedral in Poland are the only Romanesque doors in Europe to feature the life of a saint. The life of Saint Adalbert of Prague, who is buried in the cathedral, is shown in 18 scenes, the Bollandist Society continues the study, academic assembly, appraisal and publication of materials relating to the lives of Christian saints. Many of the important hagiographical texts composed in medieval England were written in the vernacular dialect Anglo-Norman, with the introduction of Latin literature into England in the 7th and 8th centuries the genre of the life of the saint grew increasingly popular. When one contrasts it to the heroic poem, such as Beowulf. Both genres then focus on the figure, but with the distinction that the saint is of a spiritual sort. Imitation of the life of Christ was then the benchmark against which saints were measured, in Anglo-Saxon and medieval England, hagiography became a literary genre par excellence for the teaching of a largely illiterate audience. Hagiography provided priests and theologians with classical handbooks in a form that allowed them the tools necessary to present their faith through the example of the saints lives. Of all the English hagiographers no one was more prolific nor so aware of the importance of the genre as Abbot Ælfric of Eynsham and his work The Lives of the Saints comprises a set of sermons on saints days, formerly observed by the English Church. The text spans the entire year and describes the lives of many saints, there are two known instances where saints lives were adapted into vernacular plays in Britain. These are the Cornish-language works Beunans Meriasek and Beunans Ke, about the lives of Saints Meriasek and Kea, Irish hagiographers wrote primarily in Latin while some of the later saints lives were written in the hagiographers native vernacular Irish
14.
Vaishnavism
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Vaishnavism is one of the major traditions within Hinduism along with Shaivism, Shaktism, and Smartism. It is also called Vishnuism, its followers are called Vaishnavas, the tradition is notable for its avatar doctrine, wherein Vishnu is revered in one of many distinct incarnations. Of these, ten avatars of Vishnu are the most studied, Krishna, Rama, Narayana, Vāsudeva, Hari, Vithoba, Kesava, Madhava, Govinda and Jagannath are among the popular names used for the same supreme. The tradition has traceable roots to the 1st millennium BCE, as Bhagavatism, later developments led by Ramananda created a Rama-oriented movement, now the largest monastic group in Asia. The Vaishnava tradition has many sampradayas ranging from the medieval era Dvaita school of Madhvacharya to Vishishtadvaita school of Ramanuja, new Vaishnavism movements have been founded in the modern era such as the ISKCON of Prabhupada. The tradition is known for the devotion to an avatar of Vishnu. Key texts in Vaishnavism include the Vedas, the Upanishads, the Bhagavad Gita, the Pancaratra texts, Krishnaism becomes associated with bhakti yoga in the medieval period. Although Vishnu was a Vedic solar deity, he is mentioned less often compared to Agni, Indra and other Vedic deities, other scholars state that there are other Vedic deities, such as water deity Nara, who together form the historical roots of Vaishnavism. The ancient emergence of Vaishnavism is unclear, the evidence inconsistent, according to Dalal, the origins may be in Vedic deity Bhaga, who gave rise to Bhagavatism. According to Preciado-Solís, the Vedic deities Nara and Narayana form one of the Vedic roots of Vaishnavism, according to Dandekar, Vaishnavism may have emerged from merger of several ancient theistic traditions, where the various deities were integrated as different avatars of the same god. In Dandekar theory, Vaishnavism emerged at the end of the Vedic period, closely before the urbanisation of northern India. This earliest phase was established the time of Pāṇini who, in his Astadhyayi and this was followed by a merger with the cult of Gopala-Krsna of the cowherd community of the Abhıras at the 4th century CE. The character of Gopala Krishna is often considered to be non-Vedic, according to Dandekar, such mergers consolidated the position of Krishnaism between the heterodox sramana movement and the orthodox Vedic religion. The Greater Krsnaism, states Dandekar, then merged with the Rigvedic Vishnu, syncretism of various traditions and Vedism resulted in Vaishnavism. At this stage that Vishnu of the Rig Veda was assimilated into non-Vedic Krishnaism, the appearance of Krishna as one of the Avatars of Vishnu dates to the period of the Sanskrit epics in the early centuries CE. The Bhagavad Gita was incorporated into the Mahabharata as a key text for Krishnaism, finally, the Narayana-cult was also included, which further brahmanized Vaishnavism. The Nara-Narayana cult may have originated in Badari, a ridge of the Hindu Kush. Purusa Narayana may have later turned into Arjuna and Krsna
15.
Ramanuja
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Ramanuja was a Hindu theologian, philosopher, and one of the most important exponents of the Sri Vaishnavism tradition within Hinduism. He was born in a Tamil Brāhmin family in the village of Sriperumbudur and his philosophical foundations for devotionalism were influential to the Bhakti movement. Rāmānujas guru was Yādava Prakāsa, a scholar who was a part of the more ancient Advaita Vedānta monastic tradition, Rāmānuja is famous as the chief proponent of Vishishtadvaita subschool of Vedānta, and his disciples were likely authors of texts such as the Shatyayaniya Upanishad. Rāmānuja himself wrote influential texts, such as bhāsya on the Brahma Sutras, Rāmānuja presented the epistemic and soteriological importance of bhakti, or the devotion to a personal God as a means to spiritual liberation. The details of historic Rāmānuja are unknown and his followers in the Vaishnava tradition wrote hagiographies, some of which were composed in centuries after his death, and which the tradition believes to be true. The traditional hagiographies of Rāmānuja state he was born in a Brāhmin family, to mother Kānthimathi and father Kesava Somayāji, in Sriperumbudur, near modern Chennai and they place his life in the period of 1017–1137 CE, yielding a lifespan of 120 years. Rāmānuja married, moved to Kānchipuram, studied in an Advaita Vedānta monastery with Yādava Prakāsa as his guru, Rāmānuja and his guru frequently disagreed in interpreting Vedic texts, particularly the Upanishads. Rāmānuja and Yādava Prakāsa separated, and thereafter Rāmānuja continued his studies on his own and he attempted to meet another famed Vedanta scholar of 11th-century Yamunāchārya, but Sri Vaishnava tradition holds that the latter died before the meeting and they never met. However, some assert that the corpse of Yamunāchārya miraculously rose. One hagiography states that after leaving Yādava Prakāsa, Rāmānuja was initiated into Sri Vaishnavism by Periya Nambi, also called Māhapurna, Rāmānuja renounced his married life, and became a Hindu monk. The Muvāyirappaṭi Guruparamparāprabhāva by Brahmatantra Svatantra Jīyar represents the earliest Vadakalai biography, Ārāyirappaṭi Guruparamparāprabhāva, on the other hand, represents the Tenkalai biography. Other late biographies include the Yatirajavaibhavam by Andhrapurna, modern scholarship has questioned the reliability of these hagiographies. According to J. A. B. van Buitenen, the hagiographies are legendary biographies about him, Rāmānuja grew up in the Tamil culture, in a stable society during the rule of the Hindu Cholas dynasty. This period was one of pluralistic beliefs, where Vaishnava, Shaiva, Smarta traditions, in Hindu monastic tradition, Advaita Vedānta had been dominant, and Rāmānujas guru Yādava Prākāsha belonged to this tradition. Rāmānujas fame grew because he was considered the first thinker in centuries that disputed Shankaras theories, some modern scholars have questioned the authenticity of all but the three of the largest works credited to Rāmānuja – Shri Bhāshya, Vedārthasangraha and the Bhagavad Gita Bhāshya. Rāmānujas philosophical foundation was qualified monism, and is called Vishishtadvaita in the Hindu tradition and his ideas are one of three subschools in Vedānta, the other two are known as Ādi Shankaras Advaita and Madhvāchāryas Dvaita. There is no reason, stated Rāmānuja, to one part of a scripture and not other. One cannot, according to Rāmānuja, attempt to give interpretations of isolated portions of any scripture, rather, the scripture must be considered one integrated corpus, expressing a consistent doctrine
16.
Malayalam script
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The Malayalam script is a Brahmic script used commonly to write Malayalam, which is the principal language of Kerala, India, spoken by 35 million people in the world. Malayalam script is widely used for writing Sanskrit texts in Kerala. Like many other Indic scripts, it is an alphasyllabary, a system that is partially “alphabetic”. The modern Malayalam alphabet has 15 vowel letters,36 consonant letters, the Malayalam script is a Vatteluttu alphabet extended with symbols from the Grantha alphabet to represent Indo-Aryan loanwords. The script is used to write several minority languages such as Paniya, Betta Kurumba. The Malayalam language itself was written in several different scripts. A consonant letter, despite its name, does not represent a pure consonant, for example, ക is the first consonant letter of the Malayalam alphabet, which represents /ka/, not a simple /k/. A vowel sign is an attached to a consonant letter to indicate that the consonant is followed by a vowel other than /a/. If the following vowel is /a/, no sign is needed. The phoneme /a/ that follows a consonant by default is called an inherent vowel, in Malayalam, its phonetic value is unrounded, or as an allophone. To denote a pure consonant sound not followed by a vowel, the following are examples where a consonant letter is used with or without a diacritic. It is written left to right, but certain vowel signs are attached to the left of a consonant letter that it logically follows. In the word കേരളം, the vowel sign േ visually appears in the leftmost position, Malayalam was first written in the Vatteluttu alphabet, an ancient script of Tamil. However, the modern Malayalam script evolved from the Grantha alphabet, both Vatteluttu and Grantha evolved from the Brahmi script, but independently. Vatteluttu is a script that had evolved from Tamil-Brahmi and was used extensively in the southern part of present-day Tamil Nadu. Malayalam was first written in Vatteluttu, the Vazhappally inscription issued by Rajashekhara Varman is the earliest example, dating from about 830 CE. In the Tamil country, the modern Tamil script had supplanted Vatteluttu by the 15th century, a variant form of this script, Kolezhuthu, was used until about the 19th century mainly in the Kochi area and in the Malabar area. Another variant form, Malayanma, was used in the south of Thiruvananthapuram and it later evolved into Tigalari-Malayalam script was used by the Malayali, Havyaka Brahmins and Tulu Brahmin people, but was originally only applied to write Sanskrit
17.
Wayback Machine
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The Internet Archive launched the Wayback Machine in October 2001. It was set up by Brewster Kahle and Bruce Gilliat, and is maintained with content from Alexa Internet, the service enables users to see archived versions of web pages across time, which the archive calls a three dimensional index. Since 1996, the Wayback Machine has been archiving cached pages of websites onto its large cluster of Linux nodes and it revisits sites every few weeks or months and archives a new version. Sites can also be captured on the fly by visitors who enter the sites URL into a search box, the intent is to capture and archive content that otherwise would be lost whenever a site is changed or closed down. The overall vision of the machines creators is to archive the entire Internet, the name Wayback Machine was chosen as a reference to the WABAC machine, a time-traveling device used by the characters Mr. Peabody and Sherman in The Rocky and Bullwinkle Show, an animated cartoon. These crawlers also respect the robots exclusion standard for websites whose owners opt for them not to appear in search results or be cached, to overcome inconsistencies in partially cached websites, Archive-It. Information had been kept on digital tape for five years, with Kahle occasionally allowing researchers, when the archive reached its fifth anniversary, it was unveiled and opened to the public in a ceremony at the University of California, Berkeley. Snapshots usually become more than six months after they are archived or, in some cases, even later. The frequency of snapshots is variable, so not all tracked website updates are recorded, Sometimes there are intervals of several weeks or years between snapshots. After August 2008 sites had to be listed on the Open Directory in order to be included. As of 2009, the Wayback Machine contained approximately three petabytes of data and was growing at a rate of 100 terabytes each month, the growth rate reported in 2003 was 12 terabytes/month, the data is stored on PetaBox rack systems manufactured by Capricorn Technologies. In 2009, the Internet Archive migrated its customized storage architecture to Sun Open Storage, in 2011 a new, improved version of the Wayback Machine, with an updated interface and fresher index of archived content, was made available for public testing. The index driving the classic Wayback Machine only has a bit of material past 2008. In January 2013, the company announced a ground-breaking milestone of 240 billion URLs, in October 2013, the company announced the Save a Page feature which allows any Internet user to archive the contents of a URL. This became a threat of abuse by the service for hosting malicious binaries, as of December 2014, the Wayback Machine contained almost nine petabytes of data and was growing at a rate of about 20 terabytes each week. Between October 2013 and March 2015 the websites global Alexa rank changed from 162 to 208, in a 2009 case, Netbula, LLC v. Chordiant Software Inc. defendant Chordiant filed a motion to compel Netbula to disable the robots. Netbula objected to the motion on the ground that defendants were asking to alter Netbulas website, in an October 2004 case, Telewizja Polska USA, Inc. v. Echostar Satellite, No.02 C3293,65 Fed. 673, a litigant attempted to use the Wayback Machine archives as a source of admissible evidence, Telewizja Polska is the provider of TVP Polonia and EchoStar operates the Dish Network
18.
Government of Kerala
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The Government of Kerala headquartered at Thiruvananthapuram is a democratically elected body that governs the State of Kerala, India. The state government is headed by the Governor of Kerala as the head of state. The state government maintains its capital at Thiruvananthapuram and is seated at the Kerala Government Secretariat or the Hajur Kutcheri. The Government of Kerala was formed on November 1,1956 after merging of State of Travancore-Cochin with the Malabar district of the Madras state as part of States Reorganisation Act,1956, the Governor is appointed by the President for a term of five years. The executive and legislative powers lie with the Chief Minister and his council of ministers, the Governors of the states and territories of India have similar powers and functions at the state level as that of the President of India at Union level. Only Indian citizens above 35 years of age are eligible for appointment, P Sathasivam is the present governor. The Governor enjoys many different types of powers, Executive powers related to administration, appointments, Legislative powers related to lawmaking and the state legislature. Discretionary powers to be carried out according to the discretion of the Governor, the legislature comprises the governor and the legislative assembly, which is the highest political organ in state. The governor has the power to summon the assembly or to close the same, all members of the legislative assembly are directly elected, normally once in every five years by the eligible voters who are above 18 years of age. The current assembly consists of 140 elected members and one nominated by the governor from the Anglo-Indian Community. The elected members one of its own members as its chairman who is called the speaker. The speaker is assisted by the deputy speaker who is elected by the members. The conduct of meeting in the house is the responsibility of the Speaker, the main function of the assembly is to pass laws and rules. Every bill passed by the house has to be approved by the governor before it becomes applicable. The normal term of the assembly is five years from the date appointed for its first meeting. But while a proclamation of state of emergency is in operation, the High Court of Kerala is the apex court for the state, it also hears cases from the Union Territory of Lakshadweep. It is a court of record and has all the powers of such a court including the authority to punish an individual for contempt of court. Like all other High Courts of India, this court also consists of a Chief Justice, at present, the sanctioned Judge strength of the High Court of Kerala is 27 Permanent Judges including the Chief Justice H. L. Dattu and two additional judges
19.
Tamil language
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Tamil is a Dravidian language predominantly spoken by the Tamil people of India and Sri Lanka, and also by the Tamil diaspora, Sri Lankan Moors, Burghers, Douglas, and Chindians. Tamil is a language of two countries, Singapore and Sri Lanka. It has official status in the Indian state of Tamil Nadu and it is also used as one of the languages of education in Malaysia, along with English, Malay and Mandarin. Tamil is also spoken by significant minorities in the four other South Indian states of Kerala, Karnataka, Andhra Pradesh and Telangana and it is one of the 22 scheduled languages of India. Tamil is one of the classical languages in the world. Tamil-Brahmi inscriptions from 500 BC have been found on Adichanallur and 2 and it has been described as the only language of contemporary India which is recognizably continuous with a classical past. The variety and quality of classical Tamil literature has led to it being described as one of the classical traditions. A recorded Tamil literature has been documented for over 2000 years, the earliest period of Tamil literature, Sangam literature, is dated from ca.300 BC – AD300. It has the oldest extant literature among other Dravidian languages, the earliest epigraphic records found on rock edicts and hero stones date from around the 3rd century BC. More than 55% of the inscriptions found by the Archaeological Survey of India are in the Tamil language. Tamil language inscriptions written in Brahmi script have been discovered in Sri Lanka, the two earliest manuscripts from India, acknowledged and registered by the UNESCO Memory of the World register in 1997 and 2005, were written in Tamil. In 1578, Portuguese Christian missionaries published a Tamil prayer book in old Tamil script named Thambiraan Vanakkam, the Tamil Lexicon, published by the University of Madras, was one of the earliest dictionaries published in the Indian languages. According to a 2001 survey, there were 1,863 newspapers published in Tamil, Tamil belongs to the southern branch of the Dravidian languages, a family of around 26 languages native to the Indian subcontinent. It is also classified as being part of a Tamil language family, the closest major relative of Tamil is Malayalam, the two began diverging around the 9th century CE. According to linguists like Bhadriraju Krishnamurti, Tamil, as a Dravidian language, descends from Proto-Dravidian, linguistic reconstruction suggests that Proto-Dravidian was spoken around the third millennium BC, possibly in the region around the lower Godavari river basin in peninsular India. The material evidence suggests that the speakers of Proto-Dravidian were of the associated with the Neolithic complexes of South India. The next phase in the reconstructed proto-history of Tamil is Proto-South Dravidian, the linguistic evidence suggests that Proto-South Dravidian was spoken around the middle of the second millennium BC, and that proto-Tamil emerged around the 3rd century BC. The earliest epigraphic attestations of Tamil are generally taken to have been shortly thereafter
20.
Old Tamil
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Old Tamil is the period of the Tamil language spanning the 3rd century BC to the 8th century AD. The earliest records in Old Tamil are short inscriptions from between the 3rd and 2nd century BC in caves and on pottery and it has a history spanning atleast 3000 years. These inscriptions are written in a variant of the Brahmi script called Tamil Brahmi, the earliest long text in Old Tamil is the Tolkāppiyam, an early work on Tamil grammar and poetics, whose oldest layers could be as old as the 1st century BC. A large number of works in Old Tamil have also survived. These include a corpus of 2,381 poems collectively known as Sangam literature and these poems are usually dated to between the 1st and 5th centuries AD, which makes them the oldest extant body of secular literature in India. Other literary works in Old Tamil include Thirukural, Silappatikaram and Maṇimēkalai, Old Tamil preserved many features of Proto-Dravidian, including the inventory of consonants, the syllable structure, and various grammatical features. Amongst these was the absence of a present tense – like Proto-Dravidian
21.
Middle Tamil
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The evolution of Old Tamil into Middle Tamil, which is generally taken to have been completed by the 8th century, was characterised by a number of phonological and grammatical changes. In grammar, the most important change was the emergence of the present tense, the present tense evolved out of the verb kil, meaning to be possible or to befall. In Old Tamil, this verb was used as a marker to indicate that an action was micro-durative, non-sustained or non-lasting. In Middle Tamil, this evolved into a present tense marker – kiṉṟa – which combined the old aspect. From the period of the Pallava dynasty onwards, a number of Sanskrit loan-words entered Tamil, particularly in relation to political, religious, Sanskrit also influenced Tamil grammar, in the increased use of cases and in declined nouns becoming adjuncts of verbs, and phonology. The forms of writing in Tamil have developed through years, the Tamil script also changed in the period of Middle Tamil. Tamil Brahmi and Vaṭṭeḻuttu, into which it evolved, were the scripts used in Old Tamil inscriptions. From the 8th century onwards, however, the Pallavas began using a new script, derived from the Pallava Grantha script which was used to write Sanskrit, Middle Tamil is attested in a large number of inscriptions, and in a significant body of secular and religious literature. Iraiyaṉār Akapporuḷ, a treatise on love poetics, and Naṉṉūl. There is a famous saying translating to He whose heart is not melted by Thiruvasagam cannot be melted by any vasagam, the Thiruvasagam is composed by Manikkavasagar
22.
Modern Tamil
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Tamil is a Dravidian language predominantly spoken by the Tamil people of India and Sri Lanka, and also by the Tamil diaspora, Sri Lankan Moors, Burghers, Douglas, and Chindians. Tamil is a language of two countries, Singapore and Sri Lanka. It has official status in the Indian state of Tamil Nadu and it is also used as one of the languages of education in Malaysia, along with English, Malay and Mandarin. Tamil is also spoken by significant minorities in the four other South Indian states of Kerala, Karnataka, Andhra Pradesh and Telangana and it is one of the 22 scheduled languages of India. Tamil is one of the classical languages in the world. Tamil-Brahmi inscriptions from 500 BC have been found on Adichanallur and 2 and it has been described as the only language of contemporary India which is recognizably continuous with a classical past. The variety and quality of classical Tamil literature has led to it being described as one of the classical traditions. A recorded Tamil literature has been documented for over 2000 years, the earliest period of Tamil literature, Sangam literature, is dated from ca.300 BC – AD300. It has the oldest extant literature among other Dravidian languages, the earliest epigraphic records found on rock edicts and hero stones date from around the 3rd century BC. More than 55% of the inscriptions found by the Archaeological Survey of India are in the Tamil language. Tamil language inscriptions written in Brahmi script have been discovered in Sri Lanka, the two earliest manuscripts from India, acknowledged and registered by the UNESCO Memory of the World register in 1997 and 2005, were written in Tamil. In 1578, Portuguese Christian missionaries published a Tamil prayer book in old Tamil script named Thambiraan Vanakkam, the Tamil Lexicon, published by the University of Madras, was one of the earliest dictionaries published in the Indian languages. According to a 2001 survey, there were 1,863 newspapers published in Tamil, Tamil belongs to the southern branch of the Dravidian languages, a family of around 26 languages native to the Indian subcontinent. It is also classified as being part of a Tamil language family, the closest major relative of Tamil is Malayalam, the two began diverging around the 9th century CE. According to linguists like Bhadriraju Krishnamurti, Tamil, as a Dravidian language, descends from Proto-Dravidian, linguistic reconstruction suggests that Proto-Dravidian was spoken around the third millennium BC, possibly in the region around the lower Godavari river basin in peninsular India. The material evidence suggests that the speakers of Proto-Dravidian were of the associated with the Neolithic complexes of South India. The next phase in the reconstructed proto-history of Tamil is Proto-South Dravidian, the linguistic evidence suggests that Proto-South Dravidian was spoken around the middle of the second millennium BC, and that proto-Tamil emerged around the 3rd century BC. The earliest epigraphic attestations of Tamil are generally taken to have been shortly thereafter
23.
Tamil Sangams
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The Tamil Sangams or Cankams were assemblies of Tamil scholars and poets that, according to traditional Tamil accounts, occurred in the remote past. Scholars believe that these assemblies were originally known as kooṭam or gathering, the legend has it that the first two were held in cities since taken by the sea, and the third was held in the present-day city of Madurai. The word sangam is used in the context of an academy in several Tamil literary works, such as Tevaram, Thiruvilayadal puranam, periyapuranam, also legend has it that Nammazwars Thiruvaimozhi was approved in an assembly of 300 poets. The Sangam period extended from roughly 400 BC to 200 AD, however, the name Sangam and the associated legends probably derive from a much later period. Others reject the notion as not factual. Nevertheless, legends of the Sangams played a significant role in inspiring political, social, the earliest express references to the academies are found in the songs of Appar and Sampandar, Shaivite poets who lived in the 7th century. The first full account of the legend is found in a commentary to the Iraiyanar Akapporul by Nakkīrar, Nakkīrar describes three Sangams spanning thousands of years. A total of 4449 poets are described as having composed songs for this Sangam, there were 89 Pandiya kings starting from Kaysina valudi to Kadungon were decedents and rulers of that period. The grammar followed in the first sangam was agattiyam, the poems composed were Paripaadal, mudunarai, mudukurugu, kalariyavirai. If credence is given to the commentary of Irayanar Ahapporul, the beginning of sangam should be placed somewhere in 9000 B. C, the second Sangam idaichangam was convened in Kapatapuram. This Sangam lasted for 3700 years and had 59 members, with 3700 poets participating, there were 59 Pandiya kings starting from Vendercceliyan to Mudattirumaran were decedents and rulers of that period. This city was submerged in sea. Ramayana and Arthashastra of Kautalya corroborates the existence of a city named kavatapuram, there is a reference to a south Indian place called kavata by sugriva in a verse which runs something like having reached Kavata suitable for Pandiya. The place kavata is also mentioned by Kautalya in Arthashastra, the grammar followed was budapuranam, agattiyam, tholkaapiyam, mapuranam and isainunukkam. The poems attributed to second academy are Kali, Kurugu, vendali, the third Sangam kadaichangam was purportedly located in the current city of Madurai and lasted for 1850 years. There were 49 Pandiya kings starting from Mudattirumaran to Ukkirapperu valudi were decedents, the academy had 49 members, and 449 poets are described as having participated in the Sangam. The grammars followed were agattiyam and tholkappiyam, the poems composed were Kurunthogai, Netunthogai, kurunthogai nanooru, narrinai nanooru, purananooru, aingurunooru, padirrupaatu, kali, paripaadal, kuttu, vari, sirrisai and perisai. There are a number of other isolated references to the legend of academies at Madurai scattered through Shaivite and Vaishnavite devotional literature throughout later literature
24.
Kongu Tamil
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Kongu Tamil or Coimbatore Tamil is the dialect of Tamil language that is spoken in Kongu Nadu, which is the western region of Tamil Nadu. It is originally known as Kangee or Kongalam or Kongappechu, the name Kongu etymologically means border in Sangam Tamil. Alternative theories seems to point at Ganga as the source for the name, gangeya and Ganganadu are alternative historical names for the Kongu region. The speciality of Kongu Tamil is the use of the alveolar ற - Tra/Dra instead of retroflex T/D of standard tamil, for example ennuDaya of standard Tamil is pronounced enRa in the Kongu dialect. One of the examples is the use of ங் to end a word like வாங் vaang, means come expressed in a respectful tone, Kongu Tamil also uses certain Tamil words that are unique to Kongu region and are not used in standard Tamil
25.
Sri Lankan Tamil dialects
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Tamil dialects are differentiated by the phonological changes and sound shifts in their evolution from classical or Old Tamil. It is broadly categorized into three sub groups, Jaffna Tamil, Batticaloa Tamil and Negombo Tamil dialects and these dialects are also used by ethnic groups other than Tamils such as Sinhalese people, Sri Lankan Moors and Veddas, who consider them to be distinct. These dialects are not mutually intelligible with Indian Tamil Dialects, which some of the native speakers consider to be a separate language, as Tamil is a diglossic language the differences between the standard written languages across the globe is minimal but the spoken varieties differ considerably. Sri Lankan Tamil dialects retain many words and grammatical forms that are not in use in India. The Sri Lankan Tamil dialects are influenced by Sanskrit and the western languages, although there are western. In general Sri Lankan Tamil dialects are considered to be more conservative than the continental Tamil dialects, Batticaloa Tamil dialect is shared between Tamils, Moors, Veddhas and Portuguese Burghers in the eastern province. The Tamil dialect used by residents of the Trincomalee district has many similarities with the Jaffna Tamil dialect, although Batticaloa Tamil has some very specific features of vocabulary, it is classified with other Sri Lankan Tamil dialects as it is related to them by characteristic traits of its phonology. It also maintains some words that are unique to present day, the dialect used in Jaffna is the oldest and most archaic and is claimed to be closest to Tamil Nadu Tamil. It is considered to many antique features of Old Tamil that predate Tolkāppiyam. The Jaffna Tamil dialect retained many forms of words which were used in Sangam literature such as Tirukkuṛaḷ, Jaffna Tamil dialect is mutually intelligible with Indian Tamil dialects, though both share a diglossic H variety in literary Tamil. It is frequently mistaken for Malayalam by native Indian Tamil speakers, there are a number of Prakrit loans words that are unique to the Jaffna Tamil. A subdialect retained by the Paraiyar people of Kayts still retains a number of archaic words and these drummers had historically played an important role as ritual players of drums at funerals and folk temples and as heralds and traditional weavers. The evolution of an identity, The Tamils in Sri Lanka C.300 BCE to C.1200 CE. Folk Traditions and Songs of Batticaloa District, collection of riddles from Jaffna Tamil
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Arwi
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Arwi is a written register of the Tamil language that uses an Arabic alphabet. It typically has extensive lexical influences from the Arabic language, Arwi was used extensively by the Muslim minority of Tamil Nadu state of India and Sri Lanka. The majority of Madrasas still teach the basics of Arwi as part of their curricula, Arwi was an outcome of the cultural synthesis between seafaring Arabs and Tamil-speaking Muslims of Tamil Nadu. It had a body of work in jurisprudence, sufism, law, medicine. It was used as a language for Tamil Muslims to learn Arabic. Many hadith manuscripts have been found, most of the fiqh books, particularly those of Imaam Shaafi and Imaam Abu Hanifa, have been found in Arwi. There was also a translation of the Bible into Arwi in 1926, Arwi contributed immensely to the education and progression of Muslim women in South India and Sri Lanka. Arwi-educated women were active participants in the fabric of society playing vital roles in education, medicine. Large portions of Arwi works were lost in two periods of time, in the 16th century with the arrival of the Portuguese and in the 20th century with the arrival of the printing press. Using the Arabic script meant that Arwi could not jump to print easily, presently, manuscripts are being eaten away by termites in homes and in private, public and institutional libraries. Efforts are underway to halt the decline and revive the language, Arwi still has a place among the more traditional Indian Tamil Muslim and Sri Lankan Moor families. The Arwi alphabet is the Arabic alphabet with thirteen letters, used to represent the Tamil vowels e and o. Arusi branch of the Qadiri path Arwi, Comments, Questions and Answers Islamic Cultural Values of Arwi Southeastern university of Sri Lanka
27.
World Classical Tamil Conference 2010
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It was held in Coimbatore, Tamil Nadu between 23 June and 27 June 2010 with an expenditure of more than 500 Crores. The WCTC was held at CODISSIA Trade Fair Complex in Coimbatore and chaired by the chief minister of Tamil Nadu. The conference was inaugurated by the president of India, Pratibha Patil, finnish Tamil scholar Asko Parpola was awarded the Kalaignar M. Karunanidhi Classical Tamil award. Thirumavalavan and Pattali Makkal Katchi founder S. Ramadoss participated in the conference, dignitaries and Tamil scholars were gifted with an exquisitely engraved Thanjavur plate. Tamil scholar George Hart from the United States, will present a paper on Sangam literature, the theme song, Semmozhiyaana Thamizh Mozhiyaam was penned by Tamil Nadu Chief Minister M. Karunanidhi with music by A. R. The video was directed by Gautham Menon which had various artists, musicians and this conference didnt get the approval from the International Association for Tamil Research. Not all agreed with the academic and intellectual rigor of the latter event, the conference and associated activities also faced oppositions and criticisms from various political parties and public. The conference was held to divert attention from Sri Lankan War crimes. Others viewed it as a partisan event
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Sangam literature
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The Sangam litterature is the ancient Tamil literature of the period in the history of ancient southern India spanning from c.300 BCE to 300 CE. This collection contains 2381 poems in Tamil composed by 473 poets, Sangam literature is primarily secular, dealing with everyday themes in a Tamilakam context. The poems belonging to Sangam literature were composed by Tamil poets and these poems were later collected into various anthologies, edited, and with colophons added by anthologists and annotators around 1000 AD. Sangam literature fell out of memory soon thereafter, until they were rediscovered in the 19th century by scholars such as Arumuga Navalar, C. W. Thamotharampillai. Sangam literature deals with emotional and material such as love, war, governance, trade. The Indologist Kamil Zvelebil quotes A. K. Ramanujan, In their antiquity and in their contemporaneity, there is not much else in any Indian literature equal to these quiet and these poems are not just the earliest evidence of the Tamil genius. The available literature from this period was categorized and compiled in the 10th century into two categories based roughly on chronology, the categories are patiṉeṇmēlkaṇakku comprising ettuthogai and the pattuppāṭṭu and patiṉeṇkīḻkaṇakku. Sangam poems falls into two categories, the field, and the outer field as described even in the first available Tamil grammar. The inner field topics refer to personal or human aspects, such as love and intimate relationships, the outer field topics discuss all other aspects of human experience such as heroism, courage, ethics, benevolence, philanthropy, social life, and customs. The division into agam and puram is not rigid, but depends upon the interpretation used in a specific context, Sangam literature illustrates the thematic classification scheme first described in the Tolkāppiyam. The classification ties the emotions involved in poetry to a specific landscape. These are, kuṟiñci, mountainous regions, mullai, forests, marutam, agricultural land, neytal coastal regions, in addition to the landscape based tiṇais, kaikkiLai and perunthinai are used for unsolicited love and unsuited love respectively. According to the compilers of the Sangam works such as Nakkeeran, the Tamil Sangams were academies, the legends claim that the Pandyan dynasty of the mythical cities of South Madurai, Kapatapuram, and Madurai, patronized the three Sangams. The word Sangam is probably of Indo-Aryan origin, coming from sangha, noted historians like Kamil Zvelebil have stressed that the use of Sangam literature to describe this corpus of literature is a misnomer and Classical literature should be used instead. They painstakingly collected and catalogued numerous manuscripts in various stages of deterioration, Navalar and Pillai hailed from Jaffna. Navalar brought the first Sangam text into print, this was the Thirumurukaattuppadai of Pattupattu, Pillai brought out the first of the Eight Anthologies of the Sangam classics, the Kaliththokai, in 1887. Swaminathaiyar published his first print of Paththupattu in 1889 and they published more than 100 works in all, including minor poems. J V Chellaiah of Jaffna College did the translation of the Pattuppāṭṭu in English in 1945
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The Five Great Epics of Tamil Literature
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The first mention of the Aimperumkappiyam occurs in Mayilainathars commentary of Nannūl. However, Mayilainathar does not mention the names of the five epics, the names of the epics are first mentioned in the late 18th century – early 19th century work Thiruthanikaiula. Earlier works like the 17th century poem Tamil vidu thoothu mention the great epics as Panchkavyams, among these, the last two, namely Valayapathi and Kuṇṭalakēci are not extant. Cīvaka Cintāmaṇi introduced long verses called virutha pa in Tamil literature, while Cilappatikāram used akaval meter, such stanzas are defined as kāvya and kappiyam in Tamil. In Mayilainathars commentary on the grammar Nannūl, we first hear the mention of aimperumkappiyam and it has 25 cantos composed in akaval meter, used in most poems in Sangam literature. The alternative for this meter is called aicirucappu associated with verse composed in learned circles, akaval is a derived form of verb akavu indicating to call or beckon. Manimekalai is an epic in ahaval metre and is noted for its simple, Cīvaka Cintāmaṇi is one of the earliest works of Tamil literature in long verses called virutha pa. Kannagi is regarded as a symbol of chastity and she is associated with chasteness in Tamil literature across ages. In Maniṇmēkalai, the protagonist, Manimēkalai is instructed in the truths expounded by the teachers of different faiths. Cīvaka Cintāmani is adopted from Sanskrit Mahapurana, is predominantly sensuous, Cilappatikāram depicts the life of Kannagi, a chaste woman who lead a peaceful life with Kovalan in Puhar, the then-capital of the Chola dynasty. Her life later went astray by the association of Kovalan with an unchaste woman Madhavi, the duo started resurrecting their life in Madurai, the capital of Pandyas. Kovalan went on to sell the anklet of Kannagi to start a business, Kannagi went on to prove the innocence of her husband and believed to have burnt the entire city of Madurai by her chastity. Apart from the story, it is a vast treasure of information of music and dance, Manimekalai is a 5th-century Buddhist epic created by Sithalai Sathanar during the 5th century. It is believed to be a followup of Cilappatikāram with the character, Maṇimēkalai being the daughter of Kovalan. It contains thirty cantos describing the circumstances in which Maṇimēkalai renounced the world and took the vows of Theravada sect of Buddhism, apart from the story of Maṇimēkalai and her Buddhist inclination, the epic deals with a great deal with Buddhas life, work and philosophy. Cīvaka Cintāmaṇi, an epic of the 10th century CE was written by Thiruthakka Thevar and it narrates the romantic exploits of Jeevaka and throws light on arts of music and dance of the era. It is reputed to have been the model for Kamba Ramayanam, the epic is based on Sanskrit original and contains the exposition of Jain doctrines and beliefs. It is a mudi-porul-thodar-nilai-seyyul, a treatise of the object of life and aim of literary work of virtue, wealth, pleasure
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Ponniyin Selvan
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Ponniyin Selvan is a 2400-page 20th-century Tamil historical novel written by Kalki Krishnamurthy. Written in five volumes, this narrates the story of Arulmozhivarman, Kalki Krishnamurthy finished the novel after nearly a period of three years and six months of writing and he visited Sri Lanka three times to learn some information to write this novel. Ponniyin Selvan is a novel that centers on a number of real historical characters. The oldest evidence that is available on the Chola dynasty is about the Chola king Karikal Peruvalathan and then many other kings after him such as Killivalavan, Nedunkilli, Perunkilli, etc. After this, the trail runs cold and resurfaces as Vijayalaya Cholan once again established the Chola dynasty after defeating the Pandiyas, Vijayalaya Cholan was the founder of the Medieval Chola dynasty. He conquered the country from a chief of the Pallavas. His son and successor Aditya I conquered the Pallavas and the Kongu country, Later, under the leadership of his son Parantaka I, the Cholas acquired a dominion which foreshadowed the greater empire of Rajaraja and Kulothunga Chola I. Parantaka I won victories over the Banas, the Gangas, the Pandya and this fact and the extent of his conquest are known from his inscriptions. Towards the end of his reign, or before his death, the names of the next five kings after Rajaditya are known by various historical evidences. Gandaraditya a great Shaivite, whose son was to become the famous Madhurantaka, Gandaraditya was, however, not a great king and the enemies of the Chola kingdom began to rise again at the end of his reign. Moreover, both of his brothers Rajathitha and Arinjaya could not be crowned after him as the former was already dead, Parantaka Chola II, though later fell fatally ill as his legs were paralysed. He was the father of Rajaraja Cholan, Aditya karikala Cholan. Aditya II was the son of Parantaka II and was the heir apparent of the Chola dynasty after Paranthaka II. But before he could ascend the throne, he was taken by death due to the treachery and he is killed in kadambur Melakadambur sambuvarayar maaligai. Madurantaka, officially Uttama Chola, was the son of Gandaraditya, though he did not wish for the crown, it was thrust upon him by Rajaraja Cholan and his friend Vallavaraiyan Vandhiyathevan. He ruled for a period of about 12 years, after whose death Rajaraja Cholan ascended to the throne, Aditya Karikalan II re-conquered Tondainadu from the Rashtrakutas a few years later. He performed many deeds in the battlefields of Sevur and beheaded the long-elusive Pandiya king -Veerapandiya. On Adityas death, the succession was disputed as one community of the Chola empire, most of the nobles and subjects preferred the popular prince Arulmozhivarman ascend the throne, but he himself was in favour of his uncle, Madurantaka Uththama Chola becoming the King
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Tirumurai
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Thirumurai is a twelve volume compendium of songs or hymns in praise of Shiva in the Tamil language from the 6th to the 11th century by various poets in South India. Nambi Andar Nambi compiled the first seven volumes by Appar, Sampandhar and Sundarar as Tevaram during the 12th century, during the course of time, a strong necessity was felt by scholars to compile Saiva literature to accommodate other works. The eleventh is compiled by Karaikal Ammaiyar, Cheraman Perumal and others, the contemporary Chola king was impressed by the work of Nampi and included Nampis work in the eleventh Tirumurai. Sekkizhars Periya Puranam, composed a century later, contains the life depiction of all the 63 Nayanmars, the response for the work was so tremendous among Saiva scholars and Kulothunga Chola I that it was included as the 12th Tirumurai. Tirumurai along with Vedas and Saiva agamas form the basis of Saiva Siddantha philosophy in Tamil Nadu, the Pallava period in the history of the Tamil land is a period of religious revival of by the Shaivite Nayanars who by their Bhakti hymns captured the hearts of the people. They made an impression on the people by singing the praise of Shiva in soul-stirring devotional hymns. Tirumurai in anthology supersedes Sangam literature, which is predominantly secular in nature, the entire Tirumurai is in viruttam meter or lines of four. The principal characteristics of the head-rhyming is influenced both by syllabic and moric prosody, the Shaiva Tirumurais are twelve in number. The first seven Tirumurais are the hymns of the three great Shaivite saints, Sambandar, Appar and Sundarar and these hymns were the best musical compositions of their age. The first three Tirumurais of Tevaram are composed by Sambanthar, the three by Appar and the seventh one is composed by Sundarar. There is a saying about the Saiva trio that Appar sang for me, Sambanthar sang for himself. Appar and Sambanthar lived around the 7th century, while Sundarar lived in the 8th century, Sambanthar was a 7th-century poet born in Sirkali in Brahmin community and was believed to be suckled by the goddess Parvathi, whereupon he sang the first hymn. On the request of the queen of Pandya Nadu, Sambandar went on a pilgrimage to the south, the Jains provoked Sambandar by burning his house and challenging him to debate, but Sambandar eventually had victory over them. He was a contemporary of Appar, another Saiva saint, a Sanskrit hagiography called Brahmapureesa Charitam is now lost. The first volumes of the Tirumurai contain three hundred and eighty-four poems of Campantar, all that out of a reputed more than 10,000 hymns. Sambanthar is believed to have died at the age of 16 in 655 CE on the day of his marriage and his verses were set to tune by Nilakantaperumalanar who is set to have accompanied the poet on his yal or lute. Appar was born in the middle of the 7th century in Tiruvamur, Tamil Nadu and his sister, Thilagavathiar was betrothed to a military commander who died in action. When his sister was about to end her life, he pleaded with her not to him alone in the world
