Silappatikaram in the context of "Old Tamil"

Bharatanatyam is an Indian classical dance form that comes from Tamil Nadu, India. It is a classical dance form recognized by the Sangeet Natak Akademi, and expresses South Indian religious themes and spiritual ideas, particularly of Shaivism and in general of Hinduism.

A description of precursors of Bharatanatyam from the Natya Shastra date from around 500 BCE - 500CE and those in the ancient Tamil epic Silappatikaram date to around 171 CE. Temple sculptures of the 6th to 9th century CE suggest dance was a refined performance art by the mid-1st millennium CE. Sadiraattam, which was renamed Bharatanatyam in 1932, is the oldest classical dance tradition in India.

Kuṟuntokai (Tamil: குறுந்தொகை, meaning the short-collection) is a classical Tamil poetic work and traditionally the second of the Eight Anthologies (Ettuthokai) in the Sangam literature. The collection belongs to the akam (love) category, and each poem consists of 4 to 8 lines each (except poem 307 and 391 which have 9 lines). The Sangam literature structure suggests that the original compilation had 400 poems, but the surviving Kuruntokai manuscripts have 402 poems. According to Takanobu Takahashi – a Tamil literature scholar, these poems were likely composed between 100 CE and 300 CE based on the linguistics, style and dating of the authors. Kamil Zvelebil, a Tamil literature and history scholar, states that the majority of the poems in the Kuruntokai were likely composed between the 1st century BCE and the 2nd century CE. The Kuruntokai manuscript colophon states that it was compiled by Purikko (உரை), however nothing is known about this compiler or the patron.

The Kuruntokai poems are credited to 205 ancient poets. Of these, according to Kamil Zvelebil, about 30 poets names are of North Indian roots (Indo-Aryan) and rest are of Dravidian roots. The poems include Sanskrit loan words, contain 27 allusions to historical events and there are 10 borrowings from this work into the two famed post-Sangam Tamil works: Tirukkural and Silappatikaram.

Natrinai (Tamil: நற்றிணை meaning excellent tinai), is a classical work of Tamil literature, and traditionally the first of the Eight Anthologies (Ettuthokai) in Sangam literature. The collection – sometimes spelled as Natrinai or Narrinai – contains both akam (love) and puram (war, public life) category poems. The anthology includes 400 poems, mainly consisting of 9 to 12 lines, with a few ranging from 8 to 13 lines. According to Takanobu Takahashi, a Tamil literature scholar, the Natrinai poems were likely composed between 100–300 CE, based on linguistic features, style, and the dating of their authors. Kamil Zvelebil, another scholar of Tamil literature and history, dates some poems to the 1st century BCE. According to its manuscript colophon, Natrinai was compiled under the patronage of a Pandyan king named Pannatu Tanta Pantiyan Maran Valuti, though the compiler remains anonymous.

The poems are attributed to 175 ancient poets. Two of the poems are credited to the patron king. According to Zvelebil, the collection includes a few Sanskrit loanwords and makes 59 references to historical events. Several lines were later borrowed into renowned post-Sangam Tamil works such as the Tirukkural, Silappatikaram, and Manimekalai. The Tamil legend of Kannagi (or Kannaki), who tore off her breast in protest of her husband's wrongful execution, appears in Natrinai 312.

The Five Great Epics (Tamil: ஐம்பெரும்காப்பியங்கள், romanized: Aimperumkāppiyaṅkaḷ) are five Tamil epics according to later Tamil literary tradition. They are Cilappatikāram, Manimekalai, Cīvaka Cintāmaṇi, Valayapathi and Kundalakesi.

Three of the five great epics of Tamil literature are attributed to Tamil Jains, while two are attributed to Tamil Buddhists. Cīvaka Cintāmaṇi, Cilappathikāram, and Valayapathi were written by Tamil Jains, while the Manimekalai and Kundalakesi were authored by Buddhists. The first mention of the Aimperumkappiyam "five large epics" occurs in Mayilainathar's commentary, the Nannūl. However, Mayilainathar does not mention their titles. The titles are first mentioned in the late-18th-to-early-19th-century work Thiruthanikaiula. Earlier works like the 17th-century poem Tamil vidu thoothu mention the great epics as Panchkavyams. Among these, the last two, Valayapathi and Kundalakesi are not extant.