The Central Institute of Classical Tamil (CICT) established in Chennai, has mapped out various plans including preparation of definitive editions of forty-one Classical Tamil texts and translation of these works into English and other major European languages as well as into major Indian languages and writing of a historical grammar of Tamil. Language being the autobiography of a people, our objective is to preserve and safeguard the invaluable treasure of the literary compositions in our language. If only we could delve into our past and recover the riches and wealth of the mighty treasure trove of Classical Tamil poetry, we will be amply rewarded by its lofty poetry, the poetry that strengthens and purifies the holiness of heart's affection and enlarges our imagination. Apart from these, reading the ancient Tamil texts such as Tolkappiyam, Ettuttokai, Pattuppattu, Tirukkural etc., provides a foundation for scholarship for the present and in this sense they do provide enlightened education.
It is heartening to write this foreword to the series of publications brought out by CICT, which I am sure, will do full justice to the masterpieces in Tamil without compromising on the quality of production. The Cankam corpus being a repository of our glorious culture, it behoves our present and future generations to study them and to convey their message and the vision of life embodied in them to the public at large. Let me, therefore, commend the series to the enlightened beings the world over.
I convey my heartiest thanks to the Director Shri A. Palanivel, Registrar Dr. Muhilai Raja pandian and the staff members those who are contributed their efforts to bringout this precious work of Aintinai Aimpatu.
Of the famed Patinenkilkkanakku writings, Aintinai Aimpatu is included in this volume consisting of the Tamil text, its translitera tion and three English translations. Though the Aintinai Aimpatu is believed to belong to the post-Sangam period, it is in no way inferior to the better known Sangam literature called Ettuttokai and Pattuppattu. They contain love poems which conform to the age-old akam tradition, unique to ancient Tamil literature. In each of these verses dealing with the five-fold divisions of reciprocal love between man and woman, an emotional situation is realisti cally recaptured and poetically presented against a setting best. suited to the theme. The chief merit of these pieces is the psycho logical realism which will attract the attention of any modern reader.
Aintinai Aimpatu by Märan Poralyanär deals with the five regional themes of kuriñci, mullai, marutam, neytal and pālai with ten verses to each tinai. The oft-quoted observation about this poem is that those do not know it may not know the sweetness of the Tamil language.
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