Pathinenkilkanakku
Also called: Eighteen minor works · Topic: Sangam Age and Early South India · NCERT: Beyond NCERT
Meaning
Pathinenkilkanakku means "Eighteen Minor Works". It is a group of eighteen short Tamil works. Most of them are didactic, which means they teach morals, good conduct and right living. Most were written in the centuries just after the main Sangam age. The group shows how Tamil writing moved from love and war poems towards teaching ethics.
Example
The best-known work in this group is Tiruvalluvar's Tirukkural, a book of short two-line verses on virtue, wealth and love. NCERT lists it among the key works of the Sangam tradition. The Naladiyar, a collection of moral verses, is also part of this group.
Don't confuse with
- Pathinenmelkanakku ("Eighteen Major Works"): this is the older Sangam collection, made up of the Ettuthokai (Eight Anthologies) and the Pattuppattu (Ten Idylls). Its poems are mainly about akam (love) and puram (war and public life).
Related concepts
- Tamilakam
- Sangam age
- Sangam literature
- Tamil Sangams
- Akam and puram
- Tinai
- Ettuthokai
- Akananuru
- Purananuru
- Pattuppattu