Challenges Entered: Down the Rabbit Hole

Project: Distractions while reading the Puṟanāṉuṟu

I have been reading the Puṟanāṉuṟu, on and off, for several years. I started because I was interested in finding persona appropriate poetry and storytelling which I could perform for Bardic competitions and fire circles. I kept reading it because I found the primary text gave me a fascinating glimpse into early Tamil culture. The more I read, the more the culture, the language, and the memory of the people who lived on these pages began to open up in my mind, unfolding, if I can make a typical Indian comparison, like a lotus. Every new piece of information I learned, every scrap, every detail just made me ask new questions of the text I had in my hands.

This led me to two side projects, an analysis of alcoholic beverages present in the Puṟanāṉuṟu, and the beginnings of a survey of naming patterns for Sangam era personas.

My research paper link is here: https://docs.google.com/document/d/1ycjrq35wwqXhyRbTs-RRqHaaf2AG0xRqwSaNzvKTlqc/edit?usp=sharing