Indian Epic Poetry: Ramayana Mahabharata
Indian Epic Poetry: Ramayana Mahabharata
Indian Epic Poetry: Ramayana Mahabharata
Tamil epics[edit]
Main article: The Five Great Epics of Tamil Literature
The post-sangam period (2nd century-6th century) saw many great Tamil epics being written,
including Cilappatikaram (or Silappadhikaram), Manimegalai, Civaka
Cintamani, Valayapathi and Kundalakesi. Out of the five, Manimegalai and Kundalakesi are Buddhist
religious works, Civaka Cintamani and Valayapathi are Tamil Jain works and Silappatikaram has a
neutral religious view. They were written over a period of 1st century CE to 10th century CE and act
as the historical evidence of social, religious, cultural and academic life of people during the era they
were created. Civaka Cintamani introduced long verses called virutha pa in Tamil literature,
[9]
while Silappatikaram used akaval meter (monologue), a style adopted from Sangam literature.
Later, during the Chola period, Kamban (12th century) wrote what is considered one of the greatest
Tamil epics — the Kamba Ramayanam of Kamban, based on the Valmiki Ramayana. The
Thiruthondat Puranam (or Periya Puranam) of Chekkizhar is the great Tamil epic of the Shaiva
Bhakti saints and is part of the religious scripture of Tamil Nadu's majority Shaivites.
Assamese epics[edit]
Main article: Assamese literature
In 14th century Madhav Kandali dubbed the epic Ramayana as Saptakanda Ramayana. In
chronology, among vernacular translations of the original Sanskrit, Kandali's Ramayana comes
after Kamban's (Tamil, 12th century), and ahead of Kirttivas' (Bengali, 15th century), Tulsidas'
(Awadhi, 16th century), Balaram Das' (Oriya) etc. Thus it becomes the first rendition of
the Ramayana into an Indo-Aryan language in the Indian subcontinent.[14]
Manipuri epics[edit]
Main articles: List of epics in Meitei language and Meitei literature
Meitei language, a 3500 years old Sino-Tibetan language of North East India is a language with a
rich granary of epic poetries, mostly written in Meitei script in PuYa, the Manipuri manuscripts.
Khamba Thoibi is regarded as the greatest of all the Meitei epics. It consists of approximately
34,000 verses, even longer than the Ramayana. The epic poetry has fifteen chapters (Pandups) and
ninety two sections (Taangkaks). It is based on the legendary love story of Khamba, a hero
in Kanglei mythology and Thoibi, the then princess of Moirang. The work is composed by Hijam
Anganghal, a legendary bard, born in Samurou.
Another epic is Numit Kappa, literally meaning "Shooting at the Sun". This 1st century BC Meitei epic
is based on the story of the hero Khwai Nungjeng Piba, who shoots one of the two shining suns from
the sky, to create the night.[citation needed]
There is Ougri, which are the collection of epic poetries, associated with religious themes. Other
epics include Shingel Indu by Hijam Anganghal, Khongjom Tirtha by Nilabir Sharma, Chingoi
Baruni by Gokul Shastri, Kansa Vadha by A. Dorendrajit, and Vasudeva Mahakavya by
Chingangbam Kalachand.
However, Great Sanskrit epics such as Mahabharata and Ramayana were translated into Meitei
language in the Medieval times.
Other translated epics include Meghnad Badh Kavya, Bhagavad Gita, and Ashtakam.