The Tamil Sangams were legendary gatherings of poets and scholars in ancient South India, traditionally described as three successive academies held under Pandyan patronage, though historical evidence primarily supports the existence of the Third Sangam in Madurai.
According to Tamil legends, the First Sangam (Muthachangam) was held in a city called Kapatapuram (or Then Madurai) which was later submerged by the sea, lasting 4,440 years with 549 members including gods like Shiva and Murugan. The Second Sangam (Idichangam) was convened in Kapatapuram (distinct from the first location in some accounts, though also lost to the sea), lasting 3,700 years with 1700 poets and 59 Pandya kings, with the only surviving work attributed to this era being the legendary Tolkāppiyam. The Third Sangam was established in Madurai and is the only one with historical attestation, lasting 1,850 years and producing the vast corpus of Sangam Literature, including the Ettutogai, Pattuppattu, and the epics Silappatikaram and Manimekalai.
Historically, the Sangam period is dated from roughly 300 BCE to 300 CE, marking the era when the earliest extant works of Tamil literature were composed, dealing with themes of love (Aham), war (Puram), governance, trade, and bereavement. While scholars debate the factual accuracy of the first two legendary Sangams due to the lack of concrete scientific evidence and the mixing of legend w