“Unave marundhu; marundhe unavu.” (Food is medicine; medicine is food)- Thiruvalluvar, poet
Literature of the Tamilakam region between 3rd century BCE to the 3rd century CE, which included present day Kerala and Tamilnadu, has many insights into the everyday life in the region. This corpus of prose and poetry is called Sangam literature, and offers a window into the lives of its people, rulers, and societal norm of the times.
“The Sangam people had a wide variety of vegetables in their diet, including drumsticks, brinjal, bottle gourd, ash gourd, bitter gourd, and pumpkin. Fruits like mangoes, jackfruit, bananas, pomegranates, and plantains were also popular.” - Subaraj Navaretnam, researcher, 2023
Pathupattu
Pathupattu is one of the eighteen Melkanakku, narrative texts in Sangam literature. It is a collection of ten poems, each offering a glimpse into various aspects of ancient life in peninsular South India, especially the Chera kingdom. Together, it provides accounts of food and agriculture in ancient South India.
Sangam songs are divided into categories called thinais, marking the distinct ecological zones. The topographic features of the five thinais—Kurinji, Mullai, Palai, Marutham, and Neithal influenced the daily life and culture of the people. Based on the favourable and unfavourable conditions of the area where they lived, people’s lives, livelihood, and food were locally sourced and remained in harmony with nature.
The poems describe the geography, mountains, and hilly areas in Kurinji thinai, forest and adjacent areas in Mullai thinai, paddy fields and adjacent areas in Marutham thinai, and sea and adjacent areas in Neithal. Though hierarchical differentiation is not visible in group work in Sangam society, differentiation based on food is present in the Pathupattu.
“Food is the main component of human life. Humans can be classified into distinct categories based on their food habits. The influence of caste, class, and ecology can have an impact on both eating patterns and food production.” - Dhanasree P.M., researcher, 2023
The Foods at the Thinais
“From the Malaipatukada (33:152), we learn that the Kurinji inhabitants had a hard time cultivating tubers because they had to fight wild boar and elephants to keep the harvest safe.” - Dhanasree P.M., researcher, 2024
Kurinji
Kurinji thinai is a hilly terrain with predominantly autumn and winter climates. Even though honey collection was their main profession, the people of this level cultivated their own millet, paddy, etc. In the section that mentions the merits of the Kurinji region under Nedunchezhiyan's (Pandya King circa 270 BC) rule, agarwood, sandalwood, and black pepper were the main items of foreign trade during the period. Roman traders were attracted to Tamilakam because of the commercial potential of pepper and spices.In the section that details the journeys of Pannar (a tribe of minstrels), we get information about the diet of Kuravar, the Kurinji inhabitants in Nannan's land (North Malabar). They entertained the travellers by cooking the honey that was readily available there. Pork roasted in ghee and cooked foxtail millet were served by the Kuravar. They also served toddy made from honey as part of their adithi maryatha (hospitality).
Mullai
Mullaithinna, where the area was forested and rainy and it was dark like the night, was inhabited by the Ayer and Aitier people who had adopted cattle herding as their main occupation. People selling milk and buttermilk, their speciality, is mentioned in the Pathupattu. Crops like kodo millet and horsegram were cultivated. In Chirupanattuppadai, there is a reference to Pannar’s on their way to the kingdom of Nalliyakodan (near Mahabalipuram) being served sweet and sour rice and cooked meat of the wild cow. They also included wild game meat. During the Pannars' journey to the royal court of the Pallava king Ilamtiraiyan, it is described that foxtail millet rice, which looked like crab eggs, with milk poured on it was offered to them. There are descriptions of the delicious combination of hyacinth bean lentils, which look like Indian kino flowers, cooked with kobo millet being served to the travellers.
Women of the Palai Thinai who stayed in huts in the waste land were hospitable to the bards and served rice and dishes cooked with sweet tamarind sauce and the meat of forest cattle." - Nallur Nathathanar, poet, between the 2nd and 3rd centuries AD
Palai
The Palai region was sandy forest and the season was summery. It has been argued that the landscape of old Tamilnadu lacked sandy dunes and these were drylands. Even when it was believed that the people of this land, the Maravar, were mostly robbers, they were used in border patrols and the armies of the kings. Though robbers, they welcomed the Pannars and were hospitable to them.In Perumbanatuppadai, the Marava women serve dried meat and boiled rice made from unwashed rice to visitors. The Palai people preserved meat by drying it. The harvested red rice, equated with inth (possibly queen sago or date palm seed), is specific to the Palai region. The rice and the meat of monitor lizard is served with eggs. The use of female dogs for hunting and the use of the meat of the monitor lizard points to the dry nature of the land and their hunting and agricultural practices.
"The Marutam landscape features agricultural fields interspersed with ponds and lakes. As per the Pathupattu, beaten rice, sugarcane, and murrel fish are specific to the Marutham land." - Dhanasree P.M., researcher, 2024
Marutham
Marutham is an arable area with six growing seasons. Paddy cultivation and sugarcane cultivation were the specialities of this region. In Chirupanatuppadai, the section about the farmers of Amur speaks about the hospitality of the farmer women. Their food was hand-milled white rice and crab curry made with crabs caught from the field. They ate pazhamchoru (the previous day’s rice gruel) and made beaten rice using the pestle. The making of the beaten rice points to the abundance of food in the region. The farmers offer white rice and curry made with poultry raised on their farms to the travellers. Cane juice was available to drink. They were also served fish curry made of murrel fish caught by fisherfolk. Liquor-selling women served them white rice cooked with boneless fish pieces. Moreover, fresh meat hunted by the female dog was served with white rice.
"As coastal regions were inhabited by the Sangam people, seafood was a significant part of their diet. They consumed various types of fish like sardines, mackerel, and anchovies. Crabs, prawns, and shellfish were also commonly eaten." - Subaraj Navaretnam, researcher, 2023
Neithal
Living near the ocean, the people of the Neithal Thinai were Parathavar who adopted fishing and salt extraction as their means of livelihood. The Parathavar served travellers old toddy and dried and baked fish. Rice porridge and fresh fish were also served. The footpaths had kozhumeen (possibly, anchovy) pieces set out to be sold. Dry fish and raw fish were important indicators of the Neithal lands.
"The disparity in social class between the Brahmin and the king is reflected even in their choice of food." - Dhanasree P.M., researcher, 2023
Anthanar
In the land of the Anthanar (priestly class), there were differences in the food of the high-born and the low-born. Rice along with pomegranate cooked in butter churned from fresh buttermilk, and a curry with black pepper and curry leaves was served with various kinds of pickles. Toddy was used by all the people and the king (except the Anthanars).Crops adapted to the climate and soil of different regions were cultivated and each group of people developed their own food culture. It became the history of the region more than the food culture. Each region had a different diet and food preference.
Royal Banquets
The chefs served a variety of meats and rice. The poem describes toddy being strained, sheep tied to trees, and fat dripping from roasting meat. The aroma of meat cooking in ghee filled the air. Freshly hunted meat, brought in by the female dog, was served with long-grained white rice. The king and his guests enjoyed the finest food, and the best rice was set aside for the king."One day, the king begged us to eat cooked rice made with unbroken grains that resembled jasmine buds, all of the same size, long and finger-like, with no streaks. It was served alongside curries mixed with roasted seeds."
In the bejeweled halls, smiling, attractive maids repeatedly poured intoxicating drink from full, spotless, golden vessels. Knowing it was time to eat, he urged me to sample the thick, cooked thigh meat of sheep that had been fed arukam grass. Even when I refused repeatedly, he continued to serve, including many tasty pastries in various shapes.” - Mudathamakkaniyar, poet, between the 2nd and 3rd centuries AD.
Many thanks to Dhanasree P.M. for collaborating on this article.
The exhibition is based on the Janal Article: ഭക്ഷണ സംസ്കാരം പത്തുപ്പാട്ടിന്റെ ആഖ്യാനത്തിൽ.
Exhibition Research & Content: Dhanasree P.M. and Janal Team, Kerala Museum (2024)
