Lilatilakam ( IAST: Līlā-tilakam, "diadem of poetry") is a 14th-century Sanskrit-language treatise on the grammar and poetics of the Manipravalam language form, a precursor of the modern Malayalam language spoken in the Kerala state of India.
Lilatilakam is an anonymous work, and is generally dated to the late 14th century. [1] It is attested by two (possibly three) manuscripts, and is not referred to by any other surviving pre-modern source. [2]
Lilatilakam (literally "diadem of poetry" [3]) calls itself the only disciplinary treatise ( shastra) on Manipravalam, which it describes as the "union" of Sanskrit and Kerala-bhasha (the regional language spoken in Kerala). [4]
The text is written in Sanskrit language, in form of a series of verses with commentary; it also features examples of Manipravalam-language verses. [4]