Kurincippattu

Kurincippattu is a Tamil poem comprised in the Pathinenkilkanakku anthology that belongs to the Sangam age equivalent to the period between 100 BCE - 100 CE. The Tamil poetic work Kurincippattu is composed in 261 lines of verses in the Achiriyappa meter and has much significance in Tamil literature. Renowned poet Kapilar wrote the poems in Kurincippattu, which narrates the tale of the romantic relationship between the hero and the heroine. A very old note at the conclusion of the poem remarks that Kapilar composed this to describe and impart the exquisiteness of Tamil poetry and Tamil literary tradition to Pirakattan (Brhadatta), a king from Northern India.

Kurincippattu elaborates the Kurinchi countryside of the mountainous region and states the names of around 100 varieties of plants. Some of the plant names include Aati (Lablab bean), Atumpu (Ipomoea pes-caprae), Nanti (Ervatamia divaricata), Pinti (Saraca indica) and Tumpai (Leucas aspera).

Content of Kurincippattu
The amatory idyll describes the tale of pre-marital love of 2 young people, the hero and the heroine who reside in the mountainous region. The lovers don`t want to reveal the fact of their relationship to their parents for the fear that they might disapprove of it and prevent them from meeting further. Even after encountering several obstacles, the hero and his lover arrange for recurrent nocturnal clandestine trysts. Whenever the hero is unsuccessful in meeting with the heroine, she tends to become lovelorn. Her heartache and sickness related to love is misinterpreted as apparent illness by her parents. They try to treat their dear daughter and seek various remedies, but the heroine shows no sign of recovery. This situation lasts for sometime, until the maids intervene and reveal in a suitable approach the real reason for her sickness to the mother of the heroine. After her parents find out about the clandestine affair of their daughter and the hero, the parents feel favourable towards their love affair. Near the end of Kurincippattu, Kapilar explains the eyes of the heroine as soaked with tears.

Again allegory heightens the story line of the poem. The heroine shows a character mapped by perseverance, loyalty and intense devotion, dedication and it"s her intense devotion that finally leads her to her grand union with the hero.

Kurincippattu, authored by the well known poet Kapilar, was written in the Achiriyappa meter and is one of the noted poetic works in Sangam literature.