Kampan

Kampan

▪ Tamil poet
born c. 1180, Tiruvaluntur, Tanjore district, India
died 1250

      sometimes called the finest Tamil poet, whose principal achievement is the epic Irāmāvatāram (Rama's Incarnation).

      Little is known about Kampan's life. That he was a masterful poet and knowledgeable about Tamil (Tamil literature) and Sanskrit literary traditions is evident from his Irāmāvatāram. Based on the Sanskrit Rāmāyaṇa by Valmiki, it is a climactic blend of earlier Śaṅgam (Śaṅgam literature) poetry, Tamil epics, the Alvars (Āḷvār)' fervor of personal bhakti (South Asian arts) (devotion) toward Rama, folk motifs, and Sanskrit stories, metres, and poetic devices. Instead of a just king and a perfect man, Rama is an incarnation of Vishnu and an intense object of devotion, dwarfing the Vedic gods; yet the emphasis is not on Vishnu but on dharma (“the law”), localized and Tamilized.

      Kampan revels in elaborate metaphor, hyperbole, and fanciful descriptions of virtue and nature in Irāmāvatāram. The poem is 40,000 lines long; the Yuttakāṇṭam (“War Canto”) alone, with 14 battles, equals the Iliad in length. The poem is also justly known for its variety of style, its humour, and its handling of the narrative, dramatic, and lyric modes. Kampan's popularity apparently extended north of Tamil country, influencing some episodes of Tulsi (Siva Dayāl Sāheb)'s Hindi version of the Rāmāyaṇa, and into northern Kerala, where 32 plays based on Kampan are enacted ritually with marionettes in Shiva temples.

* * *


Universalium. 2010.

Игры ⚽ Поможем написать курсовую

Look at other dictionaries:

  • Kampan — Kampan, chines. grobe Leinewand, auf der Insel Mindanao als Rechnungseinheit benutzt, das Stück zu etwa 2/5 Piaster …   Meyers Großes Konversations-Lexikon

  • Kampan — (ca. 12th century)    Kampan was perhaps the most important Tamil poet of the Middle Ages. He probably lived in the 12th century, though some traditions put him as early as the ninth.While there are a number of legends about his life, very little …   Encyclopedia of medieval literature

  • South Asian arts — Literary, performing, and visual arts of India, Pakistan, Bangladesh, and Sri Lanka. Myths of the popular gods, Vishnu and Shiva, in the Puranas (ancient tales) and the Mahabharata and Ramayana epics, supply material for representational and… …   Universalium

  • Воронеж, губернский город Воронежской губернии — Город Воронеж Флаг Герб …   Википедия

  • Воронеж (город) — Город Воронеж Флаг Герб …   Википедия

  • Колокола — Устройство типичного колокола: 1. хомут, 2. корона, 3. голова, 4. поясок, 5. талия, 6. звуковое кольцо, 7. губа, 8. устье, 9. язык, 10. заплечики Колокол металлический инструмент (как правило, отлитый из так называемой колокольной бронзы),… …   Википедия

  • kampas — 1 kam̃pas sm. (4); SD87, R, MŽ141, M 1. A1885,47 vieta, kur susikerta dvi linijos, plokštumos, sienos ar daiktai, kertė: Kertė iš lauko, o kam̃pas iš vidaus visumet J. Namų kampai B. Marti, užžibinus žiburį, atsisėdo kampe verpti Ašb. Klauso,… …   Dictionary of the Lithuanian Language

  • pešti — pèšti, pẽša, pẽšė tr. 1. SD340, R, K, J rauti (plaukus, plunksnas): Pešu plaukus SD203. Jobas pešė galvą savą CII272. Čiupryną nuo galvos pẽša – nebegali kentėt Kp. Pešamiejai triušiai y[ra] brangesni už paprastūsius Šts. Vanagas pẽša… …   Dictionary of the Lithuanian Language

  • prispirti — 1 prispìrti, prìspiria, prispyrė 1. intr. pridėti smūgį koja: Tinginiui duoda abiem kumstim į žandus ir keliu į pasturgalį prispiria Š. 2. tr. smogiant koja, spiriant priberti, prižerti: Jo žirgas ir prispiria žemių pilnas akis aniems dvylikai… …   Dictionary of the Lithuanian Language

  • Tamil language — Tamil தமிழ் tamiḻ Pronunciation [t̪ɐmɨɻ] Spoken in India, Sri Lanka, Singapore, where it has offi …   Wikipedia

Share the article and excerpts

Direct link
… Do a right-click on the link above
and select “Copy Link”