THE  MODERN  RATIONALIST

The first World Tamil Classical Language Conference got off to a rousing start in Coimbatore on Wednesday, the 23rd June, 2010 in the presence of a massive gathering.

Thiru M.K.Stalin, Deputy Chief Minister of Tamil Nadu, while welcoming the dignitaries and gathering at the inaugural function of the conference, praised highly of  the fineness, beauty, richness and grandeur of Tamil language.

Inauguration by the President

Inaugurating the five-day event, Her Excellency the President of India, Tmt. Pratibha Devisingh Patil, hailed Tamil as the living language of the world, which has got the oldest literature. She said that many concepts intrinsic to India’s society and critical to its polity were found in Tamil discorse over the millennia. The  message of peace, universality and the spirit of equality was propounded in a Sangam poem more than 2000 years ago, referring to a poem in Purananooru.

Prof.K.Anbalagan, Finance Minister of Tamil Nadu, read the citation of the award “Kalaignar M.Karunanidhi Classical Tamil Award” and the President of India presented the award to Thiru Asko Parpola, renowned Indologist, for his work on the Dravidian hypothesis in the interpretation of the Indus script, who said Old Tamil was best preserved in Dravidian linguistic traditions.

Calling Tamil an old living language with an extraordinary volume of literature and grammar, the President said Thirukkural, written by Thiruvalluar was a remarkable treatise on ethics, Silapathikaram and Manimekalai were works of excellence, as were the epics of Jeevakachintamani, Kamba Ramayanam, and the soul-stirring hymns of Nayanmars and Alwars.

The poems and songs of Subramania Bharathi evoked in the minds of the people ‘deep feelings of patriotism during our freedom struggle’

Emphasising that “the history of the Tamils is our nation’s pride,” she said, “The Tamil ethos based on pluralism, tolerance and a humanistic approach had  contributed in a variety of ways to India’s progress and in shaping its identity as a nation that was rich in art, music, architecture and lietrature.”

“The next generation of Tamils must anchor as well as equip themselves with knowledge of Tamil culture, literature and values”, the President said.

 Chief Minister Kalaignar M.Karunanidhi

Presiding over the inauguration, Tamil Nadu Chief Minister M.Karunanidhi said there was a worldwide consensus that Tamil possessed greater merits than the 11 parameters laid down for declaring a language classical.

“Tamil is not only an international language, it is like a mother for all the languages of the world,” he said.

Noting the roots of Tamil words that were present in any languages of the world, Mr.Karunanidhi said such words differed only in form but retained the meaning. Quoting extensively from works  such as the Valmiki ramayana, Arthasastra and Purananooru, he stressed that the Tamil people had an ancient origin and a hoary past.

Though the demand to classify Tamil as a classical language was made over a hundred years ago, it was the United Progresive Alliance government at the Centre that granted the status (in October 2004) to the language. It was after the declaration that such a meet was being organised for the first time, he added.

Prof. Asko Parpola

Professor Parpola said the Union Government had rightly recognised Tamil as a classical language, the status that is fully deserved in view of “its antiquity and its rich literature that in quality and extent matches many other classical traditions of the world.”

“Old Tamil texts constitute the only source of ancient Dravidian linquistic and cultural heritage, not yet much contaminated by the Indo-Aryan tradition. Without it (Old Tamil Texts), it would be much more difficult, if not impossible, to penetrate into the secrets of the Indus script and unravel the beginnings of India’s great civilisation,” he said.

“None of these very few earliest traces in Sanskrit is older than the roots of Tamil. Tamil goes back to Proto-Dravidian, which, in my opinion, can be identified as the language of the thousands of short texts in the Indus script, written during 2500-1700 BCE. There are of course, different opinions, but many critical scholars agree that even the Rigveda, collected in the Indus Valley about 1000 BCE, has at least half a dozen Dravidian loanwords,” he told the large gathering.

Governor released souvenir

His Excellency the Governor of Tamil Nadu Thiru Surjith Singh Barnala, who handed over the first copy of the conference souvenir to the President referred to the influence of the Tamil language on several important language families of the world and said the language had been ever-growing.

K.Vivathamby

Thiru K.Sivathamby, Sri Lankan Tamil scholar and Chairman of the Academic Committee for the event, requested the Chief Minister to take steps to publish a monogram highlighting the greatness of the Tamil language, culture and society. “The publication should be brought out in all the UNESCO recognised langauges.This should be done for the benefit of children, the Tamil diaspora and non-Tamils. Tamil is one of the oldest secular languages of India spoken in six to seven countries and enjoyed a constitutional position there,”   he added.

George L.Hert

George L.Hert, Chair, Tamil Studies, University of California, Berkeley, said the conference would strengthen research in Tamil, which was a part of the Indian heritage. This old language had a great corpus of literature of excellent poetic quality and grandeur from the Tamil Nadu, parts of Kerala and the northern region of Sri Lanka. The literature, around 2000 years old, portrayed the human experience in a rich fashion, he said and read out a verse each from Purananooru and Ainkurunooru.

Grand pageantry

A colourful three hour procession with 40-float pageantry depicting various memorable phases of Tamil Nadu culture, literature and history took place in an eight-km stretch of the arterial Avanashi Road in Coimbatore  as part and parcel of the World Tamil Classical Language Conference began in the morning. The floats symbolised the spirit of the conference, providing an insight into the rich legacy of Tamils.

The President, the Governor and the Chief Minister watched the floats from a specially erected dais.

The floats provided vivid images of the achievements of the Tamil people, right from literary excellence to economic strength. Love, friendship, devotion, valour, love for nature, unity, architecture in the State, pioneering shipping for trade, the bravery of women, the sacrifice of revolutionary warriors, the contribution of farmers and toilers and an emphasis on envionment protection were among the 40 themes presented by the floats.

Riding horses, men in traditional attire waved flags of the conference and led the peagantry. They were followed by a group playing the nagaswaram.

(Compiled by DKB)