An Interactive Journey
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The Tamil script. Key numbers. Literary vocabulary. Everything you need to begin exploring the world's oldest living classical literary tradition.
The Tamil Script
The Living Alphabet
Tamil script is a Brahmic abugida with 12 vowels, 18 consonants, and 216 combined consonant-vowel forms. It has remained largely unchanged for over 1,500 years.
In Numbers
Tamil Literature by the Numbers
Earliest dated Tamil inscriptions — among the oldest in South Asia.
The Thirukkural has been translated into more languages than any other Indian text.
Preserved in the eight anthologies, collected over several centuries.
Tamil is the only ancient classical language with an unbroken living tradition.
The Pathinenkilkanakku — eighteen minor works of the post-Sangam era.
Aram (virtue), Porul (wealth), and Inbam (love) — all of human life in couplets.
The Language of Tamil Poetics
Key Literary Terms
Daily Wisdom
A Random Kural
அகர முதல எழுத்தெல்லாம் ஆதி
பகவன் முதற்றே உலகு.
As the letter "A" is the first of all letters, so the Eternal is first in the world.
Chapter: The Praise of God · Book of Virtue
The Sweep of Time
Tamil Literary History at a Glance
Where to Next
Sangam Era
Ancient love poems and war ballads from 300 BCE onwards
→ காப்பியங்கள்The Epics
Five great narrative epics — Jain, Buddhist, and Hindu
→ கவிஞர்கள்The Poets
Thiruvalluvar, Avvaiyar, Kambar, and the great voices
→ திருக்குறள்Thirukkural
1,330 couplets on virtue, wealth, and love
→