page_title: Tamil Sangams
hierarchical_section_title: Tamil Sangams
caption_attribution_description: English: Statue of w:en:Agastya (Agathiyar) in the w:en:Tamil Thai (Mother Tamil) temple in w:en:Karaikudi, Tamil Nadu, India தமிழ்: தமிழ்த் தாய் திருக்கோயிலில் அகத்தியர் சிலை
context_page_description: The Tamil Sangams or Cankams were assemblies of Tamil scholars and poets that, according to traditional Tamil accounts, occurred in the remote past. Scholars believe that these assemblies were originally known as kooṭam or "gathering," which was also a name for Madurai. Three assemblies are described. The legend has it that the first two were held in cities since "taken by the sea", and the third was held in the present-day city of Madurai.
  The Sangam period extended from roughly 200 BC to 200 AD, when the earliest extant works of Tamil literature were written. However, the name Sangam and the associated legends probably derive from a much later period.
  Whilst the accounts of first two Sangams are generally rejected as ahistorical, some modern scholars, such as Kamil Zvelebil, find a kernel of truth in them, suggesting that they may be based on one or more actual historical assemblies. Others reject the entire notion as not factual. Nevertheless, legends of the Sangams played a significant role in inspiring political, social, and literary movements in Tamil Nadu in the early 20th century.
context_section_description: The Tamil Sangams or Cankams were assemblies of Tamil scholars and poets that, according to traditional Tamil accounts, occurred in the remote past. Scholars believe that these assemblies were originally known as kooṭam or "gathering," which was also a name for Madurai. Three assemblies are described. The legend has it that the first two were held in cities since "taken by the sea", and the third was held in the present-day city of Madurai.
  The Sangam period extended from roughly 200 BC to 200 AD (early Chola period before the interregnum), when the earliest extant works of Tamil literature were written (also known as Sangam literature).  However, the name Sangam and the associated legends probably derive from a much later period.
  Whilst the accounts of first two Sangams are generally rejected as ahistorical, some modern scholars, such as Kamil Zvelebil, find a kernel of truth in them, suggesting that they may be based on one or more actual historical assemblies. Others reject the entire notion as not factual. Nevertheless, legends of the Sangams played a significant role in inspiring political, social, and literary movements in Tamil Nadu in the early 20th century.
caption: Agathiyar (Agastya), Chairman of first Tamil Sangam, at Madurai in the Pandiya kingdom. Statue of Agastya in the Tamil Thai (Mother Tamil) temple in Karaikudi, Tamil Nadu, India
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