Original Article ISSN (Online): 2582-7472 ShodhKosh: Journal of Visual and Performing Arts January-June 2024 5(1), 2699–2710 How to cite this article (APA): Rajarajan, R.K.K., and Sivagurunathan, S. (2024). Sanskritic Purāṇic Sources and the Tamil Mythic Legends in the Caṅkam Literature ‘Kalittokai’. ShodhKosh: Journal of Visual and Performing Arts, 5(1), 2699–2710. doi: 10.29121/shodhkosh.v5.i1.2024.2741 2699 SANSKRITIC PURĀṆIC SOURCES AND THE TAMIL MYTHIC LEGENDS IN THE CAṄKAM LITERATURE ‘KALITTOKAI’ R.K.K. Rajarajan 1 , S. Sivagurunathan 2 1 Director, Indian Knowledge Systems Gandhigram Rural Institute (Deemed to be University), Gandhigram 2 Department of Computer Science and Applications Gandhigram Rural Institute (Deemed to be University), Gandhigram ABSTRACT The classical phase of Tamil literature, which lasted from the second century BCE to the fifth century CE, includes a vast corpus that is divided into the Pattuppāṭṭu and Eṭṭuttokai, including the Tolkāppiyam. The Kalittokai is similar to the Paripāṭal, the 150 poems deal with the different landscapes and phases of love poems, it may be understood that the mythologies of the pan-Indian order and the typical Tamil idioms have gone a long way in the making of a cosmopolitan picture. The Tamils had no inhibition in taking from others and shared their ideas with others. In certain cases, the pan-Indian myths were altered to suit the Tamil taste, e.g., ‘Dharma’ is a pan-Indian remoulded to suit Tamil culture. Thus, the Tamil and Sanskritic mythological and legendary ideas have moved like the warp and woof in ancient Tamil literature. References to the Sanskritic sources of events are ample, and at the same time, no events in the Indian Epics are discernible. The semblance between the narratives of Kalittokai and Cilappatikāram may suggest a date of proximity to the epic. It all depends on where we fix the Cilappatikāram and Maṇimēkalai. Several layers of poems may be found in the Kalittokai, as is the case with Puṟam 400 and Akam 400. The earlier stratum may return to the BCEs and the later stratum around 400 CE. In an ocean of love poems, sources relating to the pan-Indian purāṇas are scattered sporadically. The Sanskritic sources and ideas had been systematically merged into the Tamil cultural heritage, and influence had an enormous upshot on the ancient Tamil literature. These show how the Āryan ideas had intermingled with the thought of the Tamils. Besides, it shows how Indian culture is an admixture of Tamil and Sanskrit ideas from very early times, starting with Tolkāppiyam. Corresponding Author R.K.K. Rajarajan, rkkrajarajan@yahoo.com DOI 10.29121/shodhkosh.v5.i1.2024.274 1 Funding: This research received no specific grant from any funding agency in the public, commercial, or not-for-profit sectors. Copyright: © 2024 The Author(s). This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License. With the license CC-BY, authors retain the copyright, allowing anyone to download, reuse, re-print, modify, distribute, and/or copy their contribution. The work must be properly attributed to its author. Keywords: Purāṇas, Myths, Tamil, Sanskrit, Kalittokai 1. INTRODUCTION The classical phase of Tamil literature dated from the second century BCE to the fifth century CE includes a vast corpus that is brought under the Pattuppāṭṭu (Ten Idylls) and Eṭṭuttokai (Eight Anthologies), including the Tolkāppiyam. The past generation of literary critics (e.g. Subrahmanian 1966, 1966a, 1981: 10-25) included the Patiṉeṇkīḻkkaṇakku (18 - Minor Works) and ‘Twin Epics’ under the Caṅkam category but scientific scholars normally avoid these from the list (Zvelebil 1974: 12-25). The chronology of these classics differs from author to author, taking the Tolkāppiyam to 1000 BCE (Ilakkuvanar 1994: 9) and others to the early centuries CE. Zvelebil assigns an extended period for the Tamil classics, called “Bardic Corpus” 100 BCE to 250 CE, and at the same time assigns specific dates for individual works; e.g. Kuṟiñcippāṭṭu 150-200 CE and Ciṟupāṇāṟṟuppaṭai 25-275 CE. The Kalittokai is a genre of its type, comparable to the Paripāṭal. It seems the work was concerned with Maturai and Vaiyai (vv. 30, 66, 91), and the Western Hills since no other city other than Kūṭal (vv. 29, 55, 67, 91) or Nāṉmāṭakkūṭal