works like the 17th-century poem Tamil vidu thoothu mention the great epics as Panchkavyams. Among these, the last two, Valayapathi and Kundalakesi are not extant.

These five epics were written between the 5th to 10th centuries and act and provide historical information about the society, religions, culture and academic life of Tamil people over that period. Civaka Cintamani introduced long verses called virutha pa in Tamil literature, while Cilappatikaram used akaval meter (monologue), a style adopted