CHENNAI: The Central Institute of Classical Tamil (CICT), which got its first permanent director recently, has kickstarted various projects on diverse topics. The key initiative is to make available online the original editions of 41 classical works of the Sangam period and post- Sangam period, including Tholkappiyam and Thirukkural, in PDF format. Many of the original editions were published in 1812.
40 books published by the institute would be hosted as ebooks in the CICT website and would be accessible to everyone. Talking to Express, Dr R Chandrasekaran, the first-ever permanent Director of CICT, said that the institute had also sent many proposals to the Centre for creating Tamil Chairs in various universities across the country as well as in foreign countries.
“Lots of palm-leaf manuscripts have been digitised by the institute and we are making arrangements to make available the original manuscripts through a search engine,” he added. Stating that the CICT office would relocate to a new spacious building at Perumbakkam in January, Chandrasekaran said that the government had invited applications for 40 vacancies, including registrar, professors, assistant professors, administrative staff etc.
“Once the Covid-19 crisis is over, the appointments would begin,” he said. Another major initiative of the institute is to translate Thirukkural into 22 languages, mentioned in the Eight Schedule of the Constitution. “The Centre had ordered the translation works, and we have already translated it into five languages. The translated books would be made available on our website,” Chandrasekaran further said. The CICT has so far published around 40 books on various subjects in English language, and they would be made available as e-books through the website.
“These books include four volumes of commentary on Thirukkural, authored by Professor Manavalan of the University of Madras. He has compiled the English commentaries by 18 authors for each Thirukkural couplet and it is a treasure trove for researchers,” he added. Between 2007 and 2018, many scholars were requested to take up research projects on ancient Tamil works, and a total of 280 project papers are available with the institute. Dr Chandrasekar said the CICT was also engaged in translating one of the most significant works of the late epigraphist Iravatham Mahadevan -- Early Tamil Epigraphy from the Earliest Times to the 6 Century AD.