Agananuru - An Outline

Agananuru (Tamil: அகநானுறு), a classical Tamil poetic work, is the seventh book in the Sangam literature anthology Ettuthokai. It contains 400 Akam (subjective) poems dealing with matters of love and separation. Other names for Agananuru include Neduntogai or Nedunthokai ("the long anthology"), Ahappattu, Ahananuru, and Akananuru.

Authors

As many as 145 poets are said to have contributed to Akananuru collection. Perunthevanaar, who translated the Mahabharatham into Tamil, is one of the authors.

Rudrasarman compiled this anthology at the behest of the Pandya king Ukkiraperuvazhuthi.

Date

It is highly likely that the poems in Akananuru collection were prevalent independently before they were collected and categories in this present form. The anthology is dated to around the first and the second century C.E. The poems probably are of a much earlier date.

Poetic characteristics

This book comes under the Akam (subjective) category in its subject matter. Ancient Tamil poems was categorised into the broad categories of Akam(அகம்) - Subjective, dealing with matters of the heaqrt and human emotions, and Puram (புறம்) - Objective, dealing with the tangibles of life such as war, politics, wealth, etc. The poems of this anthology are of the Akavalmeter.

A girl worried about his love who has gone for war

In the poems on Akam, the aspects of love of a hero and a heroine are depicted. The story of love is never conceived as a continuous whole. A particular moment of love is captured and described in each poem as the speech of the hero or the lady-companion or somebody else.

Akananuru contains 401 stanzas and is divided into three sections

1. Kalintruyanainirai (களிற்றுயானைநிறை), 121 stanzas
2. Manimidaipavalam (மணிமிடைபவளம்), 180 stanzas
3. Nittilakkovai (நித்திலக்கோவை), 100 stanzas