Explanation:

Explanation :

Sangam Period :

The word ‘Sangam’ literally means association. Here, it implies an association of Tamil poets that flourished in ancient southern India. The Ancient Tamil Siddhar Agastyar is traditionally believed to have chaired the first Tamil Sangam in Madurai. This period is known as the Sangam Period. Sangam literature is the name given to the earliest available Tamil literature. The Sangam age roughly extends between 300 BC and 300 AD*, although most of the work is believed to have been composed between 100 CE and 250 CE.

Sangam Literature – Three Sangams :

1. Madurai
2. Kapadapuram
3. Thenmadurai
4. Note:  All the works of the first two Sangams except Tolkappiyam (2nd Sangam work) are lost. Only the works of the third Sangam survives.

Sangam Literature – Tolkappiyam

It was composed by Tolkappiyar and the oldest extant Tamil work till date. Dated between 4th and 5th century CE, It offers information on social life, human psychology, political and economic conditions during the Sangam Age and it also discusses about Tamil grammar. The work is divided into three sections, each section further divided into nine chapters and contains a total of 1612 sutras which are extensive in their range. Sanskrit influence on this work is peripheral and very little.

Third Tamil Sangam

• The compositions of the third Sangam are classified into eight anthologies known as Ettuttokoi/Ettuthokai and ten idylls known as Pattuppattu.
• The third Sangam saw the Patinenkilkanakku. They mainly deal with moral values. The most important among them is the Thirukkural, also simply called the Kural. Other important works are Palamoli (by Munrurai Araiyar) and Acharakkovai (contains a description of the daily life of an orthodox Hindu, shows the influence of the Sanskrit Shastras).