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Ilango Adigal
Ancient Tamil poet / From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
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Ilango Adigal (Tamil: இளங்கோவடிகள், Malayalam: ഇളങ്കോവടികൾ, romanized: Iḷaṅkōvaṭikaḷ) was a monk and a poet, sometimes identified as a Chera prince.[1][2][3] He is traditionally credited as the author of Cilappatikaram, one of the Five Great Epics of Ancient Tamil literature. He is one of the greatest poets from Cheranadu (now Kerala). In a patikam (prologue) to the epic poem, he identifies himself as the brother of a famous Chera king Ceṅkuṭṭuvan (Senguttuvan). This Chera king, as stated by Elizabeth Rosen, ruled over his kingdom in late 2nd or early 3rd century CE.[4][5] However, this is doubtful because a Sangam poem in Patiṟṟuppattu – the fifth ten – provides a biography of Ceṅkuṭṭuvan, his family and rule, but never mentions that he had a brother who became an ascetic or wrote one of the most cherished epics.[6] This has led scholars to conclude that the legendary author Ilango Adikal myth was likely inserted later into the epic.[6][7] In a 1968 note, Kamil Zvelebil suggested that, "this [Adigal claim] may be a bit of poetic fantasy, practised perhaps by a later member of the Chera Dynasty [5th or 6th century[8]] recalling earlier events [2nd or 3rd century]".[4]
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