Age and Genre
Silappatikaram and Manimegalai are accepted to be composed post Sangam period (300 BCE to 200 CE). M. Varadarajan assessed the period to be between 100-500 CE, T.P. Meenakshi Sundaram as 5th century CE, Somasundaram Pillai calls in age of Buddhism and Jainism and places between 250 CE and 600 CE and Rajamanickam places both these in the 2nd century CE. Manimegalai has been accepted as a sequel of Silappatikaram and both these works are placed before the 5th century CE. It is generally accepted that these works might have been composed between 200 BCE to 500 CE. There is a controversy to the age of the author of Civaka Cintamani, Tirutakkatevar. There is one version that he lived before Kamban (9th century CE) as the viruttam metre, language and imagery was commonly used by Kamban. The other view is that it belongs to a period later than Kamban.
Read more about this topic: The Five Great Epics Of Tamil Literature
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