XXXi In the light of these ideas culled from the work we have only to reiterate that in the early period an eclectic spirit influenced one's approach to religion and there was absolutely no denomina tional thinking. God was God whether called by the name of Siva or Tirumāİ. Perhaps a word may be said about the influence of animistic ideas in the work. No doubt even by the time the Cañkam works took shape deism had started substituting animism, but nature had such hold on the author’s of poems that they continued to draw on her and give her all importance. The Mittiollayiram is by no means a spiritual work. Barring the invocation, God is utilized only for puposes of comparison. Throughout the work there are elements of the persistent animistic creed which is proof again of a pre-Pallavan age for this work. 8. A NOTE ON KAIKKILAs This work is of peculiar interest as combining history, and literature. The author's objective was perhaps to present Akam in the garb of Puram. All the Puram motifs handled by the poet stand apart from the Akam motif Kaikkilai. In a sense, this work is two works in one. If all the Kaikkilai verses were pulled out and presented separately, they would constitute a separate and complete work. The approach to Kaikkilai has to be different from that to the Puram themes. The Puram themes deal with reality up to a point and there is some historical information in them. In other words, they are informative, not absolutely imaginative. As regards the Kaikkilai part, it is nothing but a series of stories of frustrated one-sided love in the usual pattern of Kaikkiļai poetry. It is not necessary to go into a detailed analysis of the Kaikkilai portions, because there is nothing very unusual about our poets' handling of this motif. It is out and out emotional material based on the psychology of separation. Though different girls seem to be involved in the business as victims to one-sided love, the emotional ramifications could have
