Which of the following Sangam works is an exhaustive grammatical and literary treatise in Tamil, traditionally considered the oldest surviving Tamil text?

💡 Solution & Explanation

Tolkappiyam, authored by Tolkappiyar, is the earliest surviving Tamil literary and grammatical work detailing phonology, morphology, and poetry rules. Texts like Purananuru and Silappatikaram are classical Sangam poetry and epic literature rather than comprehensive grammar treatises. This ancient text provides profound insights into the linguistic and socio-cultural life of early South India. The Sangam literature corpus comprises poetry composed across three distinct assemblies.