Avvaiyar
Topic: Sangam Age and Early South India · NCERT: Beyond NCERT
Meaning
Avvaiyar is the name of a famous Tamil woman poet. More than one poet probably used this name in different periods. The Sangam-age Avvaiyar wrote poems that are now in the Purananuru, a collection of poems on war and public life. She shows that women in the Sangam world wrote poetry and were respected for it.
Example
The Sangam Avvaiyar was a close friend of the chieftain Adiyaman. Her poems praise him. A story says he gave her a rare fruit that was believed to grant a long life. Much later, a poet with the same name wrote short moral verses for children, such as Atthichoodi.
Don't confuse with
- The later Avvaiyar: she lived many centuries after the Sangam age and wrote moral verses for children. The Sangam Avvaiyar wrote puram poems about chiefs.