The Life of Women in the Kurinji Landscape

குறிஞ்சி நிலத்துப் பெண்களின் வாழ்வியல்

Abstract

The term Kurinji occupies an important place in Sangam literature. Lexicons (Nikandus) also make reference to the term Kurinji. Mountains — and the continuous mountainous terrain formed by a succession of hills — were referred to as Kurinji land. Mountains and mountain-adjoining regions are designated as Kurinjithinai, representing the primary theme (mudhal porul) associated with this landscape. In the Kurinji land, women lived within a hierarchical structure comprising the mother, foster-mother (chevili-thai), the heroine (thalaivi), her companion (thozhi), the courtesan (parathai), the dancer (virali), daughters of hill-dwellers (varaiyar magalir), hill women (kodichiyar), the Kuratti (hill tribeswoman), and women of the bardic/wandering minstrel community (agavan magalir). Female voices predominate in the poems of the Kurinji genre. The primacy accorded to womanhood reflects a worldview centred upon the woman herself. The heroines of the Kurinji land extended their love and devotion to their male partners and those connected to them, both during the phase of clandestine love (kalavu) and within married life (karpu). In her married life, the Kurinji heroine led a shared, companionate existence. The Kurinji poems contain no distinct voice or role assigned to the mother; the mother appears specifically in contexts concerning the “declaration of virtue” (aRathodu nirthal). Beyond describing the natural beauty of the Kurinji landscape, the primary purpose of these poems is to persuade the hero (thalaivan) to marry the Kurinji heroine. This article seeks to elucidate the life of women in the Kurinji land, along with the associated social contexts and markers of lived experience.