pattuppATTu/Melkannaku
பத்துப்பாட்டு - the Ten Idylls

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The Ten Idylls consist of the following collections whose authors and the number of verses available are given in parentheses:

1. ThirumurukARRup patai (திருமுருகாற்றுப்படை) (நக்கீரர்) ( 317)
2. porun^arARRup patai, (பொருநர் ஆற்றுப்படை) (317) ,
3. ciRupANARRup patai (சிறுபாணாற்றுப்படை) (நல்லுர் நத்தத்தனார்) (269) ,
4. PerumpANARRup patai (பெரும்பாணாற்றுப்படை) (கடியலுர் உருத்திரங் கண்ணனார்) (248) ,
5. Mullaip pAttu (முல்லைப்பாட்டு) (நப்பூதனார் ) (103) ,
6. Mathuraik kAnchi ( மதுரைக்காஞ்சி ) (மாங்குடி மருதனார் ) (782)
7. n^edun^alvAdai (நெடுநல்வாடை) (நக்கீரர்), (188),
8. KuRinjip pAttu ( குறிஞ்சிப்பாட்டு) (கபிலர்) (261),
9. Pattinap pAlai (பட்டினப் பாலை) (கடியலுர் உருத்திரங்கண்ணனார்) (301) ,
10. MalaippadukadAm (மலைப்படுகடாம்) (இரணியமுட்டத்துப் பெருங்குன்று\ர்ப் பெருங்கௌசிகனார்) (583)

The composition of the Ten Idylls is described in the following verse:

திருமுருகு பொருநாறு பாணிரண்டு முல்லை
பெருகு வளமதுரைக் காஞ்சி - மருவினிய
கோலநெடு நல் வாடை கோல் குறிஞ்சி பட்டினப்
பாலை கடாத்தொடும் பத்து. (Anon)

In general, the concept of ARRup patai (ஆற்றுப்படை) is defined by TholkAppiar himself as the tribute or homage paid by poets and minstrels to Kings and patrons with the expectation of financial rewards or other gifts. The exception is ThirumurukARRup patai (திருமுருகாற்றுப்படை) which was sung by n^akkIrar (நக்கீரர்) in praise of Murugan (முருகன்) , the deity of the kuRinji (குறிஞ்சி) landscape, thiNai, (திணை).Based on the differences in the grammar, style and the induction of a deity instead of a human being as the patron, it is believed that the n^akkIrar who wrote ThirumurukARRup patai (திருமுருகாற்றுப்படை) was different from the one who wrote parts of the Ten Idylls or the one who wrote the grammatical text, adi n^Ul (அடிநூல்) .

Father Xavier S. Thaninayagam on the Ten Idylls in the Introduction to Landscape and Poetry, 1966

"The Ten Idylls contain lengthy and picturesque descriptions of the Tamil country and its seasons. Most of them are in the form of Aarruppatai, a literary device by which a bard or a minstrel who has received bountiful gifts from some wealthy patron is supposed to direct another to the same Maecenas. This gives the occasion to the poet, among other topics, to describe in great detail the natural beauty, fertility, and resources of the territory which has to be traversed to reach the palace of the patron.

These poems which are in the nature of guide-books and travelogues adopt a more credible and realistic device than those Tamil poems of a later age which utilize inanimate objects like the cloud and the wind as messengers or the media of poetic observation. The Aarruppatai is of a piece with Tamil realism and describes the journey as experienced by a human traveller, and that on terra firma.

Each of the Ten Idylls contains passages relevant to the theme of Nature. The first poem on the god, Murukan, contains descriptions of the natural beauty of spots most beloved by him, of his immanent presence in Nature, and of the flowers, trees and animals sacred to him. Minute and interesting descriptions of the hill country, of the dawn and the setting in of evening, and of the close life of the people with Nature, occur in Malaipatukataam, and Kapilar's famous Kurinjippaattu.

Few passages can rival the description of the North Wind and its effects, and the interplay of human emotions and sentiments as found in Netunalvaatai.The conventional regions of the Coola and Paantiya kingdoms, the Kaaveeri and Vaiyai which water them, and regional fusion (tinai mayakkam) are faithfully portrayed in the other poems which are intentionally panegyric. The greatness of a sovereign was assessed also by the fertility and the diversity of regions found within his kingdom and, therefore, descriptions of the landscapes of the territory of a sovereign often form an integral part of laudatory and heroic verse..."