Kamba Ramayanam - A condensed version in English verse and prose. A Dictionary of Indian Literature: Beginnings-1850.
^ "Focus on Kamban, poet extraordinaire".Parliament Street, New Delhi: Delhi Tamil Sangam. Kamba Ramayanam - A Study with translations in verse or poetic prose of over four thousand of the original poems. The chapter talks about the hardships faced by the main characters in the epic, their practice of restraint, and their hopes for a better tomorrow. The chapter Sundara Kandam is considered very auspicious and is the most popular. On many occasions, Kambar talks about surrendering to Rama, who is a manifestation of Vishnu himself. It is also read in Hindu Temples and other religious associations. In some households, the entire epic is read once during the Tamil calendar's month of Aadi (mid-July to mid-August). This epic is read by many Hindus during prayers. He achieves the Virutham and Santham by effective choice of words. Kamban's use of Virutham (Sanskrit: vṛttam) and Santham (Sanskrit: chandas) in various verses is effective in bringing out the emotion and mood for storytelling. The compilation published by this committee in 1976 is what is used as the standard today. Meenakshisundaram called the Kamban Kazhagam (Kamban Academy). This task was taken up a committee of scholars headed by T. Kishkindha Kandam (Chapter: Kishkindha)Īs with many historic compilations, it was very difficult to discard the interpolations and addendum which have been added over a period of time to the original.These 123 sections contain approximately 12,000 verses of the epic. The Kandams are further divided into 123 sections called Padalam (படலம்) in Tamil.
The book is divided into six chapters, called Kandam in Tamil. References to the story can be found in the Sangam literature of Akanaṉūṟu,(dated 200 BCE–300 CE) and Purananuru (dated 200 BCE–300 CE), the twin epics of Silappatikaram (dated 2nd century CE) and Manimekalai, and the Alvar literature of Kulasekhara Alvar, Thirumangai Alvar, Andal and Nammalvar (dated between 5th and 10th centuries CE). Main article: Ramayana in Tamil literatureĮven before Kambar wrote the Ramavataram in Tamil in the 12 century CE, there are many ancient references to the story of Ramayana, implying that the story was familiar in the Tamil lands even before the Common Era.