Tolkappiyam - Original Text (Based on the Porulatikaram Edition)

தொல்காப்பியம் - மூலம்: பொருளதிகாரம் பதிப்பினை முன்வைத்து

Abstract

Today we celebrate the text called Tolkappiyam as the identity of Tamil society. However, there was a time when this work was forgotten from the memories of Tamils in the Tamil landscape. This can be understood when we examine the reasons for the creation of Irayanar Agapporul (particularly regarding the Porulatikaram section). Although various grammatical texts were created after Tolkappiyam by absorbing the Tolkappiyam tradition, it remained an unknown text even in the nineteenth century. Tolkappiyam was not studied in that century to the extent that Nannul was studied. This can be understood through the printed editions published at the beginning of the nineteenth century. C.V. Damodaran Pillai mentions in his preface to the Tolkappiyam Porulatikaram edition that only one person, Tolkappiyam Varadappa Mudaliar, was available to teach the text. Thus, we can understand that Tolkappiyam manuscripts had been cut off from continuous reading tradition. The print editions that emerged in the 19th century, the linguistic research undertaken by Europeans, and their desire to master the language (for authority/religious propagation) created a situation of searching for ancient texts. In that context, learning about Tolkappiyam, searching for it, and publishing it occurred. These were carried out in two ways: publishing with commentary and publishing only the original text. Among these, this work is constituted as a discussion about the original text edition.