Antāti: The Chain Verse
Why the biggest Tamil collection in the chant menu is called "Antatis."
அந்தாதி (antāti) combines antam ("end") and āti ("beginning"). It names a Tamil verse form with one rule: the last word (or syllable) of each verse becomes the first word of the next. Tradition credits the Shaiva saint Karaikal Ammaiyar with the first one. By Kambar's time (12th century) it was common enough to be used for poems in praise of almost anything. Fourteen of this site's Tamil chants (the Antatis collection in the chant menu) are antātis, including Abirami Antati, Arpudha Tiruvantati, Kanninun Cirutampu, Saraswati Antati and the Mudhal, Irandam and Munram Tiruvantati that open the Iyaṟpā section of the Naalayira Divya Prabandham. Vel Maaral is also a "garland" (māl/mālai) of verses, but it uses a different mechanism, a repeated refrain instead of a word chain (see its own structural note), so it isn't one. The Thirukkural's couplets stand alone.
The rule in practice
The seven antātis tabled below follow the rule literally, verse after verse. The closing word really does recur, sometimes with a small change of case or sandhi:
| Abirami Antati | …விழுத்துணையே. …vizhuth-thuNaiyE. (v.1 ends) |
துணையும்… thuNaiyum… (v.2 opens) |
|---|---|---|
| Arpudha Tiruvantati | …தீர்ப்ப திடர். …thīrppa thidar. (v.1 ends) |
இடர்களையா… idarkaḷaiyā… (v.2 opens) |
| Kanninun Cirutampu | …என் நாவுக்கே …en nAvukkE (v.1 ends) |
நாவினால்… nAvinAl… (v.2 opens) |
| Saraswati Antati | …தாளை வணங்குதுமே. …thAlai vaNangudhumE. (v.1 ends) |
வணங்குஞ்… vaNanguñ… (v.2 opens) |
The Iyaṟpā trilogy chains the same way:
| Mudhal Tiruvantati | …நீங்குகவே என்று …nīṅkukavē eṉṟu (v.1 ends) |
என்று கடல்கடைந்த… eṉṟu kaṭalkaṭainta… (v.2 opens) |
|---|---|---|
| Irandam Tiruvantati | …ஞானத் தமிழ்புரிந்த நான் …ñāṉat tamiḻpurinta nāṉ (v.1 ends) |
ஞானத்தால் நன்குணர்ந்து… ñāṉattāl naṉkuṇarntu… (v.2 opens) |
| Munram Tiruvantati | …வண்ணன்பால் இன்று …vaṇṇaṉpāl iṉṟu (v.1 ends) |
இன்றே கழல்கண்டேன்… iṉṟē kaḻalkaṇṭēṉ… (v.2 opens) |
A closed garland, not just a chain
Wikipedia's Antati article notes that "in some instances" the very last verse loops back to open the first, so the poem becomes a closed ring instead of a line: mālai, "garland", in the fullest sense. Among these seven that is not a rare exception. It holds for every one of them, including five of 100 or more verses, where coincidence would be very unlikely:
| Abirami Antati (100 v.) | உதிக்கின்ற… udhikkinRa… (v.1 opens) |
…உதிக்கின்றவே. …udhikkinRavE. (v.100 ends) |
|---|---|---|
| Arpudha Tiruvantati (101 v.) | பிறந்து… piRandhu… (v.1 opens) |
…காதல் பிறந்து. …kAdhal piRandhu. (v.101 ends) |
| Saraswati Antati (30 v.) | சீர்தந்த… sIrthantha… (v.1 opens) |
…பெருஞ் சீர்தருமே. …perum sIrtharumE. (v.30 ends) |
Kanninun Cirutampu closes more softly. It opens கண்ணி (kaNNi) and closes …காண்மினே (…kANminE), which share a root sound instead of a repeated word. The rule tolerates a near-rhyme at the edges of a poem, though not in the middle. The trilogy (100 verses each) closes as tightly as the others:
| Mudhal Tiruvantati | வையம் தகளியா… (vaiyam takaḷiyā…, v.1 opens) → …மாயவனை யேமனத்து வை (…māyavaṉai yēmaṉattu vai, v.100 ends) |
|---|---|
| Irandam Tiruvantati | அன்பே தகளியா ஆர்வமே… (aṉpē takaḷiyā ārvamē…, v.1 opens) → …அளவன்றால் யானுடைய அன்பு (…aḷavaṉṟāl yāṉuṭaiya aṉpu, v.100 ends) |
| Munram Tiruvantati | திருக்கண்டேன் பொன்மேனி… (tirukkaṇṭēṉ poṉmēṉi…, v.1 opens) → …தேனமரும் பூமேல் திரு (…tēṉamarum pūmēl tiru, v.100 ends) |
Vel Maaral's refrain structure and Abirami Antati's Grantha-letter colophon note are both worth reading alongside this page. Antāti is one of several generative Tamil verse patterns this site has verified examples of.