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| Home > Regional Literature > Tamil Literature > Tamil Poets & Poetry
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| | Great Tamil Poets & Poetry
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Some of the great Tamil poets lived in the times of the mighty Chola kings (10th-13th centuries), a period of literary revival. Kampan`s Ramayana is the best in Tamil till today; Ottakkuttan wrote the Uttara Kanda, the last canto of the Ramayana; Pukazhenti popularized the Mahabharata with his simple adaptations in Tamil, and Chayam Kontar wrote a long war poem Kalingattu Parani, in the Sangam style. Didactic works, grammatical treatises and lexicons were produced from time to time by Jain writers.
The following centuries were the age of learned commentaries on Sangam poetry, Shaiva and Vaishnava philosophies, and literature influenced by Sanskrit. Some of these were the esteemed Bharatham by Villiputthurar, Thiruppuhazh (hymns) by Arunagirinathar and translations of many Puranas.
Some brilliant stray verses of this period have been collected in late anthologies like Kalamegham, Satthimutthapulavar and Padikkasu Thambiran. European Christian missionaries also took to Tamil in the 16th century, and the first book was printed in 1579. Muslim poets like Sakkari Pulavar and Umaru Pulavar brought new themes in Tamil writings in the 18th century.
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