Tamil Nadu

However, Ilango and the Cheras are still remembered more for the contribution to Tamil literature rather than for Senguttuvan's military expeditions, when he conquered the entire country. Ilango Adigal wrote Silapathikaram which was the first Tamil (or is it in any language) epic that was written about a common man. As a matter of fact, most of the tamil epics are all about common men and how they led their life rather than on kings and queens. A common man's story written by a King.

Silapathikaram was a feminocentric epic, centered around Kannagi, theme that was also a first of its kind in a man centric world. It is clear Ilango was an orthodox Hindu as he is said to have attended a Vedic yajna. There is no evidence that he was a Jain.

The Ramavataram or Kamba Ramayanam of Kamban is an epic of over 10,000 verses, of 4-lines each. Kamba Ramayana is not a translation of the Sanskrit epic by Valmiki, but an original retelling of the story of the God Rama. The poetic work is well known for its similes. It is therefore so great that one is amazed by the imagination created.

Legend has it that the entire episode was written in one night by Lord Ganesha. Ganesha is said to have written the poems that Kambar dictated to him during the night, as Kambar procrastinated the work till the day before the deadline set by the King. There is a saying that Kamban veetu kattu thariyum kavi paadum, loosely meaning Even Kamban's loom can pen a poem.

Kambar has also written literary works like Er Ezhupathu (seventy songs on the greatness of agriculture) and the Mangala Vazhthu (praising the greatness and benovalence of the Kongu Vellala Gounder who were his patrons, Sadayappa Vallal also belonging to the community).

In his school final exam in Tamil, Vairamuthu stood first in the entire Madurai District and won a silver cup.After completing his school education, he joined Pachaiyappa's college in Chennai where he was acclaimed as the best speaker and poet.When he was in his second year of B.A. and barely nineteen years of age, Vairamuthu published his maiden anthology, Vaigarai Megangal. It was prescribed for study in the Women's Christian College. Thus, he achieved the distinction of a student poet whose work was taken into curriculum while he was still a student.

His second work, Thiruththi Yezhudhiya Theerppugal, in pudhu kavidhai form was published in 1979. He made his film debut in the succeeding year when he set lyrics for Bharathiraja's Nizhalgal.

Literary Influences

he is strongly influenced by Shelley,Keats,Khalil Gibran, Firdausi and Nizami have had a greater impact on him.

Vairamuthu is among those who take pride in the Tamil heritage and swear by the traditional form's capacity to convey with ease modern and even complicated ideas. He is not, however, averse to change or modernism and he uses with equal felicity free verse (puthu kavithai in Tamil), wherever it suits him. For him, content is more important than the form.

With 5,600 songs to his credit, he has published nine collections of poems for the discerning readers. His writings have also extended to genres such as novel, essay, biography and travelogue. In fact, 20 of the 32 books he has published in the last 30 years are in prose.

Notable Works

On the literature front, his notable works include Innoru Desiya Geetham, Indha Pookkal Virppanai-kkalla, Sigarangalai nOkki, Villodu Vaa Nilave and many others numbering to 30.

He has also introduced some foreign poets and their works to Tamil in his Ella Nadhiyilum En Odum. Some of his works are translated into Telugu, Kannada and Malayalam. The trend continues into hundreds of his film lyrics are translated into Hindi. His Chinna Chinna Aasai fascinated a Japanese troupe touring India so much, that they broke language barriers by singing the song during their shows.

Thanner Thesam

This Riviyal kaaviyam is about the 'sea odyssey'. Kalaivannan is the hero; Tamilrojaa is the heroine. A lot of scientific facts about the sea, water, and the universe are sown in this modern poetry(pudhukk kavidhai). The work depicts the adventure of fishermen's life at sea. "read".

Kallikattu Idhikasam

Kallikkattu Edhikasam (the epic of Kallikkadu, in literal translation) is one of his novels. It tells the agonising tale of a marginal farmer of a riverbed region of the Theni belt in southern Tamil Nadu. Kallikattu Ithikasam" - a confluence of various emotions like sadness, sufferings and depression -- crammed his mind for more than four decades. Finally, when it exploded, the natives of `Kallikadugal' found their biographies in the book. But with a silver lining. The novel won him the Sahitya Akademi award for Best Literary Work in 2003.

Karuvachi Kaaviyam

This depicts powerfully the facets of rural life in a remote corner of our State, was serialized in a popular regional weekly,Ananda Vikatan and won accolades. Owing to its huge popularity, the series was released as a novel

His given name at birth was Muthiah. However, when he passed away at the age of 54, on October 16, 1981, millions of Tamils remembered him only by the name Kannadasan. For Tamils all over the world, he epitomised their poetry style. Even those who couldn't read the poetry of Kamban or the maxims of Valluvan, could hum the compositions of poet Kannadasan.

A number count of his publications shows a tally of 109 volumes, which include 21 novels and 10 slim volumes of essays on Hinduism, captioned Arthamulla Indu Matham (Meaningful Hinduism). In addition, he produced about 4000 poems and approximately 5000 movie lyrics, between 1944 and 1981, all with an eighth grade education at the formal level. He was also an excellent example of this century's Tamil goliard.

There is no doubt that he had a penetrating eye and keen observational powers. He also did not live a cocoon-type of life. He dipped into everything that Tamil Nadu could offer - wine, women, drugs, politics, polemics, atheism and religious sanctuary. After enjoying everything, what he did was remarkable - he composed verses about all his experiences, with reflective self-deprecating humour, irony, and biting sarcasm. These verses touched the sympathetic chords of Tamils from all walks of life - school boys, undergrads, housewives, farmers, manual labourers, plantation workers, middle class representatives and even upper class elites.

Muthiah was a staunch atheist and a follower of the Dravidian atheistic movement. He had great love for the Tamil language and culture, and excelled in Tamil literature, prose and poetry. He once read the Thiruppavai of Andal, and was amazed at its mystic poetry, that was to have a deep and everlasting impact on him. After a lot of introspection, he decided to reconvert back into Hinduism, christened himself Kannadasan, dug deep into understanding Hinduism, and wrote his series of books on Hinduism.

"Yesu Kaviyam," the epic on the life of Jesus Christ was the last book written by the late Tamil poet laureate, Kannadasan

Poets laureate

Kannadasan was a poet Laureate when he died.

A house in Sirukootalpatti is now a memorial for the Tamil film music's evergreen favourites. The Kannadasan memorial museum was inaugurated on June 25.