A History of South India from Prehistoric Times to the Fall of Vijayanagar c19.s2.37

c19.s2.37

About the same time the Pāṇḍyan king Ativirarāma of Tenkāśī (c. 1564) achieved literary distinction by his *Naiḍadam* with its twelve *paḍalams* and 1,172 verses written in high style and full of conceits not always pleasing to a modern reader, but held in high esteem by pandits; it contains many echoes of phrases and sentiments from older classics like the *Jīvakacintāmaṇi* and the *Rāmāyaṇam* of Kamban. Easier in their style are the same royal poet's translations from Sanskrit originals—the *Kāśikaṇḍam* and *Kūrmapurāṇam*; and the small book on morals known as *Veṟṟivēṟkai* or *Narundogai* is simple enough to be followed by children, for whom it is meant. A contemporary of this royal author was Śērai Kavirājapiḷḷai who wrote *Tirukkaḷatti-nādar-kaṭṭalaikkalitturai-mālai* on the deity of Kālahasti at the request of the king; other works of Kavirājapiḷḷai were *Tirukkaḷatti-nādar-ulā*, *Tiruvaṇṇāmaliyār-vaṇṇam*, *Śēyūr-Murugan-ulā* and *Rattinagiri-ulā*. All the poems are marked by elegant diction and deep religious feeling. Varatungarāma Pāṇḍya, a cousin of Ativirarāma, was also a litterateur with varied interests; his three *andādis* on the Śiva shrine at Karuvai, i.e. Karivalam-vandanallur in Tinnevelly district, take high rank as pure literature; one of them employs ten metres and is called *Paḍirruppattandādi*; and the others are known from their metres as *Veṇbāvandādi* and *Kalitturai-andādi*. His *Piramōttira-kaṇḍam* is a theological poem in twelve *adhyāyas* of 1,310 verses on religious subjects. He also translated into Tamil the work on erotics known as *Kokkoha* after the name of the composer of the Sanskrit original. In the first half of the seventeenth century, Kandasāmi Pulavar (1621) of Tiruppūvaṇam wrote an *Ulā* on the local Śaiva shrine and a *Purāṇa* on Tiruvāppaṇūr. More famous was Andakakkavi Virarāghava Mudaliyār, pupil of Kacciyappaśiva of *Kandapurāṇam* and author of a *Purāṇa* and an *Ulā* on Tirukkaḷukkuṉṟam, an *Ulā* on Tiruvārūr and other works of the same type; he also wrote some poems no longer extant in praise of patrons and rulers, such as a *piḷḷaittamiḷ* on Vittinar Ammaiyappan of Śēyūr, a *vaṇṇam* on Pararājasinghan of Ceylon and an *Ulā* on the ruler of Kayattār, i.e. Mādai Tiruvengaḍanāthar mentioned above as the author of *Prabōdacandrōdayam*.