” TAMIL is not just a LANGUAGE, it’s an ancient history”
Tamil is an old language spoken by the Tamil people of South India. Tamil is one of the longest surviving classical languages in the world. Tamil Language is classified as a classical language of India.
Tamil has a literary history of over 2000 years. Most of the Tamil literature is documented in various forms. In 1578 a Tamil Prayer book in Tamil old script names Thambiran Vanakkam was printed and published by the Portuguese Christian Missionaries. Because of that Tamil was considered as the first Indian language to be printed as a book. The university of Madaras published the first Tamil dictionary Tamil Lexicon one of the earliest dictionaries published in the Indian languages.
Tamil is one of the Dravidian Languages a family of around 26 languages. The closest major relative of the Tamil language is the Malayalam language. According to Hindu legend, Tamil is considered as a god (Tamil Thai) was created by Lord Shiva and Murugan.
Everybody has a question about that how an ancient language survived this much . the answer is the old south Indian kings have a literature knowledge in Tamil, so they organized various sources to develop literature in the Tamil language. Some south Indian kings such as Pandian kings created Sangam and collect and compiled such as universities.
Tamil sangams are acted as universities, they helped to document the works of literature in the Tamil language into various forms. Tamil sangams updated every time the technology is changed. Madurai Tamil Sangam which is has over 1200 years of history still working.
Tamil kings build huge temples rather than huge forts, so they curve the life history of god in the temple walls. the old Tamil script history is acknowledged in every temple in tamilnadu.
Study of Tamil becomes important to other Indians living outside Tamil Nadu only if they change their biased mindset against Tamil. If any one wants to understand the real India, they will have to visit Tamil Nadu, stay there temporarily and learn Tamil. Many westerners have done it in the past and went back in awe of the language. G.U. Pope from England translated into English the Tamil literary works – The ThirukuRaL the Naaladiyaar and the Thiruvaasagam, a saivaite poetic work. The Government of Tamil Nadu, in memory of this Tamil savant, installed his statue on the Marina in Chennai, on the occasion of the Second International Tamil Conference in Chennai, in the year 1968. Bishop Robert Caldwell, Ellis,Beschi and Kamil Zvelibil are the other westerners who took a great interest in the study of Tamil. Several other unsung westerners have also studied Tamil with dedication.
Caldwell’s “ A Comparative Grammar of the Dravidian Languages” ( 1856) , introduced Tamil studies outside Tamil Nadu. The Tamil Nadu government also installed the statues of Beschi and Robert Caldwell on the Marina, Chennai, in 1968. Dr. Asko Parpola, the Finnish linguistic scholar has devoted his entire life for the study of Tamil and for the decipherment of the Indus seals. Dr. George Hart, Professor of Sanskrit and Tamil, University of California, Berkeley, the USA. has authored many books in Sanskrit and Tamil. In 2015, he was honoured with the Padmasri award, the third highest civilian award, by the Government of India…
