Topic started by DangerKid on Tue Nov 30 01:22:09 .
All times in EST +10:30 for IST.

Say a student wants to teach himself to read the old Tamil literature. Just where does he start (What books can he acquire, what websites browse ?) in his quest for familiarity with the greater poetry ? Take for example, me. It is only with the greatest difficulty, that i can manage to decipher a typical line of Sangam poetry. For the most part, I have to rely on translations, elucidations, et al; these (the elucidations) are bound to be subjective. Can someone give me (and similar several) a starting point ?

Responses:

• From: Mani M. Manivannan (@ sji-ca-cache2.icg.net) on: Tue Nov 30 02:51:04
  
  DK,
  
  You are in Chennai, Tamil Nadu! You are surrounded by Tamil pulavars. A student should start with a teacher. And the teacher will point to the books. Buy them if you can. If not, there is always the library.
  
  By the way, how did you learn Shakespeare? You didn't jump in straight, did you? You had to start with something simple. You probably read a little Frost and some Byron and so on before you took on the master, didn't you? Sangam classics and Kamban are masterpieces of Tamil literature. Depending upon which facet of these you want to enjoy, you can start with Yappu or Urai. Chandra and friends have a lot of fun in the "veNba vadikkalAm vA" and related threads. Hang around there and pick up a few pointers. Then you will start reading them again for the sheer joy of it.
  
  Good Luck.
  
  
• From: venkat (@ vectra2.riken.go.jp) on: Tue Nov 30 05:47:18
  
  dangerkid,
  
  We are in the process of building a site, with some original resources and with lot of pointers related to our classical literature, have a look into http://members.xoom.com/yappu
  
  There is also a web based tutorial to teach yappilakkaNam there!
  
  The threads here in forumhub discuss various aspects of our classic literature. Come and have fun!
  
  
• From: sujata (@ h216-183-0-67.mt.fiberone.net) on: Tue Nov 30 09:39:32
  
  Hi Venkat,
  
  Kudos on the yappu website. I enjoyed going through the material there, reminded me of school, but this was fun.
  
  
• From: Chandra (@ fw-atlanta.atlanta.usweb.com) on: Tue Nov 30 10:25:55
  
  I compeletely understand your plight.
  
  A very good start is the three volume book by cilamboli cellappan called "canga ilakkiyath thEn". It is a compialtion of the serial lecture he gave on the 10 long poems of paththuppAttu.
  
  It is published by aidhinai padhippakam.
  It is excellent. That should serve as an icebreaker.
  
  It will be great if you can find a mentor in chennai. Nothing like it...kaRRaliR kEttalE nanRu.
  To understand cangkam literature, you must understand poruL ilakkaNam. Of course to do the latter you have to understand the former!.
  In any case, please get familiar with the akam and puRam hypergenre. Try to understand the spirit of it...what all that taxonomy and symbolism means. Actually it is much much more than symbolism. It was the tamil way of life with all those sentiments and music and what not.
  For example, ther system of music currently called carnatic music was what was called "icaith thamiz" (actually it was a superset of the current carnatic music...included music for group dances, war dances, and more "country"-like elements but with the same formalism or classicism).
  
  Start with very small poems like kuRundhokai.
  I would advise memorizing some of the early poems you start with. Only when you attempt to memorize them will you get fully familiar with the cangam era lanaguage. The peom will be running in the back of your mind all the time and be processed slowly but steadily. You will *own* the poem. It will pay off handsomely later. Be patient and do not try to jump from here to there.
  
  Team up with people like Vanchi and start a literary circle! I think you people can monetarily compensate some good pulavar to mentor you.
  
  
  
  
  
• From: Pas (@ pcpas.comm.utoronto.ca) on: Tue Nov 30 12:52:44
  
  I would also recommend the books by ki.va.jagannaathan which introduce Tamil literature in a friendly way; I think the book 'Thamizh nUl aRimugam" introduces 'pathiNen kIzkaNakku' nUl-s. He has a few on sangath thamizh. One on kaappiyams, some on thEvaaram etc... The popular magazines may also be coming back to serve Tamizh better. I saw a new column by ThamizaNNal in Ananda Vikatan "inikkum ilakkiyam' ...dealing with Kamba RaamayaNam...
  Being in Chennai, there are ample opportunities to join literary circles...good luck..
  
  
• From: Chandra (@ fw-atlanta.atlanta.usweb.com) on: Tue Nov 30 13:30:14
  
  Pasupathy,
  Thanks for mentioning kvj's book. I do have his "thamiz nUl Arimugam".
  Yes it is a very good book as is always the case with anything written by kvj.
  It gives high level view of the padhineN mErkaNakku and pathineN kIzkkaNakku in a small book.
  "canga ilakkiyath thEn" takes each p.pAttu poem and goes thorugh that in good detail. It is a wonderful book. It explains the concepts involved various difficult passages. It also gives the full text of the poem at the end of the chapter.
  
  I would strongly advise owning anything written by kvj. You simply come out with so much knowledge and insight when you read even a page or two of his writings.
  
  As for thamizaNNal's series on kamban, it looks like danger kid is interested in cangam literature. I would encourage people to study cangam literature instead of repeatedly focusing on medieval books such kamban. At this rate cangam literature will become obscure and get lost again. Remember that they were forgotten for many centuries until u.ve.ca found then again. Even his teacher mahavidwan meenakshisundhram pillai had no knowledge about them and cilambu!
  I read in Zvelebil that cangam lit. was even banned by some 16th century caivite scholar! He hated them for their secular outlook; he listed cilambu also of course for its equitable treatment of heterodoxies such as Jainism and Budhdhism.
  
  I have been memorizing cangam poems for the last two years.
  I have finished muruku, mullaippAttu and three paripAdals, portions of cilambu etc. I am 75% of my way through kuRinjcippAttu.
  Before you realize, years would have passed and find ourselves as the only people that know about cangam lit.
  Please look forward 50 years from now, and strive to be cangam experts at that time.
  We are under compulsions of time.
  These days people have diffiuclty even reading out loud Tamil passages smoothly.
  Let us not reduce them to the mysterious status of vedas. Let us not fossilize the cangam texts.
  
  
  
  
• From: Pas (@ pcpas.comm.utoronto.ca) on: Tue Nov 30 14:15:18
  
  Chandra,
  I agree...The reason I suggested ThamizhaNNal's column is I am not sure it will be only about Kamban...at the very end of his last column I vaguely remember him suggeting a Sangam poem as the topic of his next column...I have to wait and see.
  There are several Publishers coming up with books on Sangam..so I hope that the interest is kept alive...
  
  
• From: Chandra (@ fw-atlanta.atlanta.usweb.com) on: Tue Nov 30 15:06:14
  
  The problem is that publishers keep printing books on cangam but individuals like us and even the pattimanRam pulavars all keep ignoring cangam poems...
  I feel that there is not a single book that compeletely teaches poruL ilakkaNam from first principles. The reason...many of the scholars who write them are ignorant about the big picture...that is the poruL ilakkaNam was embodiment of the Tamil life and its philosophy...the relationship of the thiNais to Dravidian hinduism, to the various art forms such as carnatic music and bharatha nAtyam etc, and to the sentimenality of bhakthi movement and so on.
  
  Tamil scholarship reduced to pure textual scholarship. It lost touch with the Tamil way of life. Dravidian movement did its part there in no small measure.
  
  
• From: Chandra (@ fw-atlanta.atlanta.usweb.com) on: Tue Nov 30 15:34:14
  
  The problem is that publishers keep printing books on cangam but individuals like us and even the pattimanRam pulavars all keep ignoring cangam poems...
  I feel that there is not a single book that compeletely teaches poruL ilakkaNam from first principles. The reason...many of the scholars who write them are ignorant about the big picture...that is the poruL ilakkaNam was embodiment of the Tamil life and its philosophy...the relationship of the thiNais to Dravidian hinduism, to the various art forms such as carnatic music and bharatha nAtyam etc, and to the sentimenality of bhakthi movement and so on.
  
  Tamil scholarship reduced to pure textual scholarship. It lost touch with the Tamil way of life. Dravidian movement did its part there in no small measure.
  
  
• From: kp (@ dip14-ppp-161.bu.edu) on: Sun Dec 9 01:23:57
  
  My goodness! Reading this thread brings memories flooding back of how much I used to enjoy learning Tamil literature in high school. While friends chose Hindi or French for the easy marks, my father insisted on Tamil for the entire 12 years. But years have passed and all that remain are fading memories in these busy times. But this discussion is making me yearn to start afresh. I will be making an all too short trip to Chennai soon. I will keep these books in mind. What are some of the best Tamil book stores in Chennai where one can find the aforementioned books as well as browse? I really wish I had more time to devote to such delightful pursuits.
  
  

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