Love, Mobility, and Materiality: A Critical Study of Merchant Imagery in Akanānūru

Authors

  • Prof. D. Uma Devi Professor of Tamil, Department of Indian Languages & Literary Studies, University of Delhi, New Delhi  Author

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.63300/kijts04052026.45

Keywords:

Sangam Literature, Akanānūru, Salt Merchants, Akam-Puram, Love, Trade, Mobility, Simile

Abstract

This paper examines the role of salt merchant imagery in Akanānūru and its significance in shaping the concept of love within Sangam poetics. Moving beyond surface-level description, the study argues that merchant figures function as a structural device linking emotional experience (akam) with socio-economic realities (puram). Through close textual analysis, the paper demonstrates how themes of mobility, risk, trade, and survival inform representations of love, particularly in contexts of separation. The study highlights how economic life is not external to love but deeply embedded within its poetic expression.

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Author Biography

  • Prof. D. Uma Devi, Professor of Tamil, Department of Indian Languages & Literary Studies, University of Delhi, New Delhi 

    Prof. D. Uma Devi*, Professor of Tamil, Department of Indian Languages & Literary Studies, University of Delhi, New Delhi. Email: dumadevi@mil.du.ac.in

    *Correspondence: umadchitra@gmail.com, Tel: +919811773769, 9625204330.

References

[1.] Govinden,K Thamilar Vanikam,MalarNilaiyam 1955.

[2.] Hart, George L. Poets of the Tamil Anthologies: Ancient Poems of Love and War. Princeton UP, 1975.

[3.] Krishnan,S (Trans).Pazhanthamizh Vanigargal: Sarvadesa Varthagaththin Munnodigal

[4.] Chennai;Kizhakku Pathippagam. 2016.

[5.] Mayilaiseeni Venkaatsamy., Palankala Tamilar Vanikam Sanga KalamNew Centenary Book House.1978

[6.] Mayilaiseeni Venkaatsamy ,Pandaith tamilagam (vanigam, nagarangal matrum panpaadu)

[7.] Ilangani pathipakam 2014.

[8.] Ramanujan,A.K.( Trans) Akanānūru., Penguin Classics, 1985

[9.] Ramanujan, A. K. Poems of Love and War: From the Eight Anthologies and the Ten Long Poems of Classical Tamil. Columbia UP, 1985.

[10.] Subramanian, N. Life in the Sangam Age. New Century Book House, 2010.

[11.] Zvelebil, Kamil. The Smile of Murugan: On Tamil Literature of South India. Brill, 1973.

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Published

01-02-2026

How to Cite

Uma Devi D. (2026). Love, Mobility, and Materiality: A Critical Study of Merchant Imagery in Akanānūru. KALANJIYAM - International Journal of Tamil Studies, 4(05), 971-979. https://doi.org/10.63300/kijts04052026.45

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