Pari, Pegan and Athigan (The Seven Great Patrons) as Deep Ecologists

Abstract

This paper attempts to study Pari, Pegan, Athigan, the seven chieftains or patrons as deep ecologists. Pari, Pegan, Athigan were the chieftains who ruled some parts of Tamilnadu in Sangam Age. Mentions of their generosity can be found in all sangam literary texts, the paper studies the work called Sirupanarttupadai, one of the idylls in Ten Idylls (Pathupattu). Ecocriticism is the study of the relationship between literature and ecology. It analyzes literary texts to find out the representation of nature in it. This paper studies the chieftains’ acts of benevolence as Deep Ecologist acts, based on the principle of Deep Ecology by Arne Naess who is one of the major proponents of philosophical Deep Ecology movement. It results in finding the deep ecologist ideas behind those chieftains’ acts of generosity, which have been considered mere acts of kindness rather than an attempt to safeguard nature. The study could bring the light of how the Tamil culture and literature promoted nature conservation, which can be used to educate today’s naturally degenerating world about their mindless acts.