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Chola literature, written in Tamil, is the literature created during the period of Chola reign in South India between the 9th and the 13th centuries CE. The age of the imperial Cholas was the most creative epoch of the history of South India and was the Golden Age of Tamil culture. With the revival of Chola power in the middle of the 9th century, the avenues for the literature and art broadened. For the first time in history, an imperial state encompassed the entire South India bringing with it the safety and security to the people and provided the opportunity for the people to experience cultures beyond their own. Tamil became a language of the people. The literature during this period may be classified into religious, secular and political. ==Religious literature== During the imperial Chola period the ''Prabhanda'' became the dominant form of poetry. The religious canons of Saiva and Vaishnava sects were beginning to be systematically collected and categorised. The Cholas built numerous temples, mainly for their favourite god Siva, and these were celebrated in numerous hymns. Nambi Andar Nambi, who was a contemporary of Rajaraja Chola I, collected and arranged the books on Saivism into eleven books called ''Tirumurais''. One of these include a short poem by Gandaraditya, who was a Chola king during the early tenth century. The hagiology of Saivism was standardised in ''Periyapuranam'' (also known as ''Tiruttondar Puranam'') by Sekkilar, who lived during the reign of Kulothunga Chola II (1133 – 1150 CE). Sekkilar opus became the twelfth book in the Saiva canon. Religious books on the Vaishnava sect were mostly composed in Sanskrit during this period. The great Vaishnava leader Ramanuja lived during this period. Perhaps due to the animosity of the later Cholas towards the Vaishavites, there was no much literary activity in Tamil from this sect. One of the best known Tamil works of this period is the ''Ramavatharam'' by Kamban who flourished during the reign of Kulottunga III. ''Ramavatharam'' is the greatest epic in Tamil Literature, and although the author states that he followed Valmiki, his work is not a mere translation or even an adaptation of the Sanskrit epic. Kamban imports into his narration the colour and landscape of his own time. His description of Kosala is an idealised account of the features of the Chola country. Of the books on the Buddhist and the Jain faiths, the most noteworthy is the Jivaka-chintamani by the Jain ascetic Thirutakkadevar composed in the tenth century. This is the story of Jivaka, who was equally distinguished in war and peace, and tells the story of his youth during which he indulges in excesses and at his prime realises the hollowness of his existence and renounces everything to become a Jain ascetic. 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「Chola literature」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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