Observing a corrupt man of the modern age, leaving his footwear outside, and entering the temple, a Tamil poet penned a short poem with an irony. While slippers protect the foot from dirt, the poet parodied saying that dirt (man) enters the shrine leaving his slippers outside.
Coimbatore: Observing a corrupt man of the modern age, leaving his footwear outside, and entering the temple, a Tamil poet penned a short poem with an irony. While slippers protect the foot from dirt, the poet parodied saying that dirt (man) enters the shrine leaving his slippers outside. With footwear being the symbol of man’s elegance, there are hardly any people on earth walking barefoot. But, in Tamil Nadu, how long have the people been wearing slippers? Did they start wearing shoes only after imitating the British? A chapter in a book on Sangam literature says ‘no’ the questions, with convincing proofs from the corpus of ancient Tamil literature.
“Among the people of the Sangam age, a period, dating centuries back before the birth of Christ, there was none, who walked without slippers” avers Sundara Avudayappan, author of the book Sanga Chevvi and assistant director, All India Radio, Tirunelveli.
He informs that footwear was called Seruppu, Thoduthol, Aranam, and Adiputhai in the Sangam era.
“Nowadays, we compare the annoyance of an enemy to the biting moottai poochi (Bed bug). But, the 257th song in Purananuru, a Sangam period work, compares the disturbance of an enemy with the annoying experience of wearing the sandals, inside which, a tiny pebble has got stuck. For even a man of the modern age, if some grit gets stuck between his foot and slipper, it becomes a nuisance. He is much reluctant to bend down and clear it since he is in a hurry. “Says Avudayappan.
The author points out that such a disturbing experience must have been felt only by a man, who regularly walked wearing his slippers.
“We simply believe that wearing a pair of shoes was introduced only by westerners. But, it is a wrong notion. The lines 21 to 23 in Paripadal, another Sangam period work, mention a pair of shoes, which was similar to what we are wearing today! The equivalent term for ‘shoe’ in classic Tamil was adayal. Since the pair of shoes covers almost the entire part of the feet, it was appropriately named in Tamil as adayal” explains Avudayappan.
Describing adayal, the Sangam age pair of shoes, though mentioning it as ‘sandals’ Vaidehi Herbert, a renowned translator, renders the lines in Paripadal thus into English
…Sandals made of cured hide of a hairy animal back, fit for sewing, soaked and tanned in coral-hued saltwater, as soft as the stripped skins of striped snakes, ornamented with peacock feathers…
But, in Paripadal the ‘person’ who wore this pair of shoes, was none other Lord Muruga in His abode Thiruperungundram !