Ethics of Kalavu in Kurinjippattu

Abstract

The poem Kurinjippattu is a classical Tamil poem from the Pattuppattu (Ten Idylls). It is composed by the poet Kapilar in Aasiriyappa meter, this 261-line masterpiece serves as a profound cultural bridge. It was specifically authored to enlighten the Aryan king Brahadatta on the unique nuances of Tamil virtue and the ethics of "Kalavu" (secret love).

This poem set against the backdrop of the Kurinji landscape, celebrates the blossoming love between a hero and heroine through the lens of Arathodu Nitral, a literary tradition where a confidante reveals the heroine’s secret love to her elders to facilitate a virtuous marriage. Kalavu in Tolkappiyam represents the pre-marital love union, often described as "furtive union" rather than mere theft, as it is based on mutual consent (Okkuvarum). There is another great treatise named Irayianar Akapporul which focuses mainly on love poems that talks about Kalavu (secret love) and Karpu (marital love).  In this poem, the hero’s perilous nightly descent through the mountain (Iravukkuri), the heroine anxiously fears for the hero’s safety as he journeys through an obstacle-filled path showing their true love. This article is a serene study of the development of theory of Kalavu as mentioned in the Tolkappiyam and Irayianar Akapporul the literary conventions employed by Kapilar in his Kurinjipattu.