The Sangam literature is the historic evidence of indigenous literary developments in South India in parallel to
Sanskrit, and the classical status of the Tamil language. While there is no evidence for the first and second mythical Sangams, the surviving literature attests to a group of scholars centered around the ancient
Madurai (Maturai) that shaped the "literary, academic, cultural and linguistic life of ancient Tamil Nadu", states Zvelebil. On their significance, 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 dramatic Tamil poems. In their values and stances, they represent a mature classical poetry: passion is balanced by courtesy, transparency by ironies and nuances of design, impersonality by vivid detail, austerity of line by richness of implication. These poems are not just the earliest evidence of the Tamil genius." The Sangam literature offers a window into some aspects of the ancient Tamil culture, secular and religious beliefs, and the people. For example, in the Sangam era
Ainkurunuru poem 202 is one of the earliest mentions of "pigtail of
Brahmin boys". These poems also allude to historical incidents, ancient Tamil kings, the effect of war on loved ones and households. The
Pattinappalai poem in the Ten Idylls group, for example, paints a description of the Chola capital, the king Karikal, the life in a harbor city with ships and merchandise for seafaring trade, the dance troupes, the bards and artists, the worship of the Hindu god
Vishnu,
Murugan and the monasteries of Buddhism and Jainism. This Sangam era poem remained in the active memory and was significant to the Tamil people centuries later, as evidenced by its mention nearly 1,000 years later in the 11th- and 12th-century inscriptions and literary work. Sangam literature embeds evidence of loan words from Sanskrit, suggesting on-going linguistic and literary collaboration between ancient Tamil Nadu and other parts of the Indian subcontinent. One of the early loan words, for example, is
acarya– from Sanskrit for a "spiritual guide or teacher", which in Sangam literature appears as
aciriyan (priest, teacher, scholar),
aciriyam or
akavar or
akaval or
akavu (a poetic meter). The Sangam poetry focuses on the culture and people. It is religious as well as non-religious, as there are several mentions of the Hindu gods and more substantial mentions of various gods in the shorter poems. The 33 surviving poems of
Paripaatal in the "Eight Anthologies" group praises
Vishnu,
Durga and
Murugan.
Mayon is indicated to be the deity associated with the
mullai tiṇai (pastoral landscape) in the
Tolkappiyam. Tolkappiyar mentions
Mayon first when he made reference to deities in the different land divisions. The
Paripādal (, meaning
the paripadal-metre anthology) is a classical
Tamil poetic work and traditionally the fifth of the
Eight Anthologies (
Ettuthokai) in the Sangam literature. According to
Tolkappiyam, Paripadal is a kind of verse dealing only with love (
akapporul) and does not fall under the general classification of verses. Sangam literature (200 BCE to 500 CE) mentions
Mayon or the "dark one," as the Supreme deity who creates, sustains, and destroys the universe and was worshipped in the Plains and mountains of
Tamilakam.The Earliest verses of
Paripadal describe the glory of Perumal in the most poetic of terms. Many Poems of the
Paripadal consider
Perumal as the Supreme god of
Tamils. He is regarded to be the only deity who enjoyed the status of
Paramporul (achieving oneness with
Paramatma) during the
Sangam age. He is also known as Māyavan, Māmiyon, Netiyōn, and Māl in Sangam literature and considered as the most mentioned god in the Sangam literature.
Cēyōṉ "the red one", who is identified with
Murugan, whose name is literally
Murukaṉ "the youth" in the
Tolkāppiyam; Extant Sangam literature works, dated between the third century BCE and the fifth century CE glorified Murugan, "the red god seated on the blue peacock, who is ever young and resplendent," as "the favoured god of the Tamils." There are no mentions of
Shaivism in
Tolkappiyam.
Shiva and
Brahma are said to be forms Of
Maha Vishnu and considers Vishnu as The Supreme god in
Paripāṭal. There are two poems depicted as example of
Bhakti in Ancient
Tamil Nadu, one in the praise of
Maha Vishnu and other of
Murugan To Tirumal (
Maha Vishnu): {{Verse translation|italicsoff=y| In fire, you are the heat; in blossoms, the fragrance; among the stones, you are the diamond; in speech, truth; among virtues, you are love; in valour—strength; in the Veda, you are the secret; among elements, the primordial; in the burning sun, the light; in moonshine, its sweetness; you are all, and you are the substance and meaning of all. To Seyyon (
Skandha): The other gods also referred to in the
Tolkappiyam are
Vēntaṉ "the sovereign" (identified with
Indra) and
Korravai "the victorious" (identified with
Durga) and
Varunan "the sea god". The Sangam literature also emphasized on fair governance by kings, who were often described as Sengol-valavan, the king who established just rule; the king was warned by priests that royal injustice would lead to divine punishment; and the handing over of a royal
scepter, the
Sengol, denoting a decree to rule fairly, finds mention in texts such as the Purananooru, Kurunthogai, Perumpaanatrupadai, and Kalithogai. Further, the colophons of the
Paripaatal poems mention music and tune, signifying the development and the importance of musical arts in ancient Tamil Nadu. According to Zvelebil, these poems were likely from the late Sangam era (2nd or 3rd century CE) and attest to a sophisticated and prosperous ancient civilization. == Modern musical renditions ==