Sangam Literature and its Cultural Context

Sangam Literature, spanning roughly the 3rd century BCE to the 3rd century CE, is the earliest and most significant corpus of Tamil literature. It provides invaluable, indigenous insight into the social, economic, political, and cultural life of ancient South India, primarily under the Chera, Chola, and Pandya kingdoms, distinguishing itself through its twin thematic division of Akam and Puram.

Akam stands for the interior, the individual, the feminine, and the varied phases of love. Women dominate the Akam. Puram stands for the exterior, the world, the masculine, violence and heroism. It is male-dominated.

Evolution and Thematic Division