Ponnar Shankar is a folk tale set in the medieval period (990–1020 CE) as part of the post-Sangam history of the Tamil country. This period saw the rise and fall of many kingdoms, some of which were empires that exerted influence far and wide. It is also named as a source of their cultural materials and traditions, transmitted orally from one generation to another either by messages or testimony or speech or song or street theatre and many other forms.