Professional Artists and Kings of Sangam Literature

Abstract

Among the things that mankind has composed to supplement its pleasures are the arts of music and koothu. These arts are inseparable from the history of the human race. Each race has created and cherished its own artistic traditions. The ancient Tamil race has also created and cherished its own artistic traditions. The Sangam literature is a repository of antiquity and pride in Tamil art. Sangam literature contains a lot of information about the life of the artists of the Sangam age and the relationship that existed between them and the philanthropists. Professional artists are the sections of people who have made a living using art professionally and with the proceeds earned from it. In Sangam literature, the artists are recorded as Panar (Singer), Porunar Soldier), Viraliyar (Female Songster), Agavanar (Dancer), Koothar Actor), Thudiyar (Mischievous person), Kodiyar (Those who carry a palanquin), Vairiyar (Stage Player), Paraiyar (Drummer), Muzhavar Farmer), Kinaivar (Minstrel-Drummer), Iyavar (Inferior), Kannular(Artificer), Aadunar (Dancer), Aadumagal (Female Dancer), Kinaimagal (Female Drummer), Paadini (Female Singer), Panmagal (Singer), and Padumagal (Singer). Among these professional artists, Panar, Viraliyar, Paadini, Kodiyar and their relations with kings and philanthropists are explained. They are those who make a living using art professionally and the income they earn from it. Moreover, instead of remaining in one place, they migrate to other places for material (occupational) income. They go to every town and dance and entertain the people and the king who lives there and make them happy. We can see the relationship between the king and the people who are so happy with them. The kings give gold and wealth to all the artists and remove the poverty of the artists and bring them to a state of wealth. Artists who have received gifts sometimes forget to dance. The kings made the artists stay in their palaces and performed cultural programmes and enjoyed them. In this way, these artists worked in relation to the king's qualities and in their Akam life. This article also examines the necessity and greatness of this relationship, the noble ideas put forward by the Sangam literature, and the fundamental character of the relationship.