படடனபபலயல கடடடககலயம கடல தலலயலம / Architecture and Marine Archaeology in Pattinappaalai

The Sangam literature is a collection of ten long poems known as Patthuppaattu (Ten Idylls). In it, Pattinappaalai serves as a historical record by offering detailed descriptions of ancient Tamil Architecture. The data found in the Sangam classical literature strengthened the physical evidence during the archaeological excavations. Pattinappalai portrays the majesty of the port city Kaveripoompattinam (Poompuhar) of the Chola regime and highlights its urban planning and structure. Many centuries later, marine archaeological explorations were conducted off the coast of this region and have revealed the submerged structural remains of the buildings that provide substantial evidence of this ancient Chola civilisation. This research paper aims to do a comparative analysis between the literary descriptions of the buildings evinced in Pattinappaalai and the architectural remnants discovered at the time of marine archaeology. It also synthesises the literary evidence with the real archaeological data to confirm the architectural excellence of the ancient Tamil port city Poompuhar.