நிலம்

நிலம்

நிலம் is the ground, in every sense the word will allow. It is the soil under foot, the parcel in the deed, the country one is from, the metaphysical substrate of being. The Tolkāppiyam (Poruḷatikāram 4) opens the entire akam poetic system by declaring நிலம் and பொழுது — land and time — as the foundational categories of love poetry. Every Sangam poem is set in a நிலம். The five tiṇais (kuṟiñci, mullai, marutam, neyta

நிலம், ஞாலம், பூமி / நிலம், மண் / ஞாலம் / நிலம் as poetic foundation