Nanmanikkatigai

Nanmanikkatigai 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. Nanmanikkatigai contains one hundred songs written by the poet Vilambi Naganaar. This poetic work is famous for its clarity and easy readability and is often a prescribed text for schools in Tamil Nadu. The poems of Nanmanikkatigai are written in the Venpa meter.The poems of Nanmanikkatigai each contain four different ideas. The name Nanmanikkatigai denotes this fact comparing the four ideas to four well-chosen gems adorning each poem. The following poem describes four different groups of people who cannot sleep well at night, namely, a thief, a lovelorn person, someone who hankers after money and a miser who worries about losing his money.