Summary
Works by category and period
| Category | Sangam | Post-Sangam | Pallava / Bhakti | Chola | Pandya–Nayak | 18th century | 19th century | Total |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Akam | – | 6 | – | 1 | – | – | – | 7 |
| Bhakti – Christian | – | – | – | – | – | 5 | 1 | 6 |
| Bhakti – Islamic | – | – | – | 1 | 8 | 12 | 6 | 27 |
| Bhakti – Jain | – | – | – | – | 1 | – | – | 1 |
| Bhakti – Saiva | – | 3 | 72 | 37 | 56 | 16 | 5 | 189 |
| Bhakti – Vaishnava | – | – | 24 | 5 | 12 | 5 | – | 46 |
| Commentary (Urai) | – | 1 | – | 21 | 16 | 5 | – | 43 |
| Didactic (Neethi) | – | 12 | 1 | 13 | 13 | 22 | – | 61 |
| Drama & Isai | – | – | – | 2 | 3 | 13 | 4 | 22 |
| Grammar & Lexicon | 7 | 5 | 3 | 15 | 20 | 19 | 3 | 72 |
| Kappiyam (Epic) | – | 2 | 3 | 18 | 13 | 9 | 3 | 48 |
| Philosophy (Vedanta) | – | – | – | 4 | 16 | 5 | – | 25 |
| Prose | – | – | – | – | 4 | 7 | 14 | 25 |
| Puram | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | – | – | – | 4 |
| Puranam | – | – | – | 67 | 61 | 26 | 11 | 165 |
| Saiva Siddhanta | – | – | – | 6 | 92 | 10 | – | 108 |
| Sangam | 24 | – | – | – | – | – | – | 24 |
| Siddhar | – | – | – | 1 | 97 | – | – | 98 |
| Sitrilakkiyam (Minor genres) | – | – | 2 | 27 | 160 | 118 | 13 | 320 |
| Treatise (Sastra) | – | – | – | 2 | 6 | 1 | – | 9 |
| Total | 32 | 30 | 106 | 221 | 578 | 273 | 60 | 1300 |