Wikipedia
Patiṉeṇmēlkaṇakku is the collection of the oldest surviving Tamil poetry. This collection is considered part of the Sangam Literature and dated approximately between 100 BCE and 200 CE. Patiṉeṇmēlkaṇakku, the eighteen major anthology series, contains: Ettuthokai, the eight anthologies, and Pattupattu, the ten idyls. The songs in the Patiṉeṇmēlkaṇakku anthology are set in the Akaval style.
The Patiṉeṇmēlkaṇakku anthology contains 2,381 poems including the ten larger works belonging to the Pattupattu collection. These poems are attributed to 473 poets. Sixteen of the 473 poets are responsible for 1,177 of the 2,279 poems for which the name of the author is known. 102 of the poems are anonymous. Notably, the pathiRRuppathu collection exclusively collects poetry from the Cheral kings (from Kerala); whereas the other collections contain a mix of poetry patronized by diverse Tamil kings.