Elathi

About Elathi

Elathi - Elathi is a Tamil poetic work of didactic nature belonging to the Pathinenkilkanakku anthology of Tamil literature. This belongs to the 'post Sangam period' corresponding to between 100 – 500 CE. Elathi contains 80 poems written by the poet Kani Methaviyar. The poems of Elathi are written in the Venpa meter.

Elathi uses the analogy of the traditional herbal medicine known as elathi which uses six herbs such as elam (cardamom), ilavankap pattai (cinnamon), naagakesaram (made from the stamens of the Ceylon ironwood), milagu (black pepper), thippili (long pepper), and sukku (dried ginger). Elathi similarly uses six different maxims to illustrate correct behaviour.