The Hindu : Tamil Nadu / Chennai News : Digital version of `Tamil Thaatha' compilations

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Sunday, Mar 12, 2006

Tamil Nadu

Tamil Nadu - Chennai

Digital version of `Tamil Thaatha' compilations

Special Correspondent

"Manuscripts readable as insects eat between the lines"

CHENNAI: The Pondicherry centre of the French School of Asian Studies has digitised some of the literary collections and compilations of `Tamil Thaatha' U.Ve. Saminatha Iyer at the U.Ve.Sa. Library here.

No money to preserve manuscripts

Donating a set of compact discs and a computer system to the library, literary scholar Eva Wilden expressed concern at the "lack of money and know-how" for preserving palm and paper manuscripts available in this part of the country, and said, "quite a lot of them are still readable because, luckily, insects have a habit of eating between the lines."

Former Anna University Vice-Chancellor V.C. Kulandaiswamy said, Tamil had been recognised as a classical language largely based on the compilations of U.Ve.Sa.

"A language is considered classical only by the classical literary works available in it," he said.

He wanted the Government to upgrade the library as a classical Tamil research centre.

Yeoman service to Tamil

Avvai Natarajan, former Vice-Chancellor of the Tamil University, commended the French organisation for doing yeoman service to the Tamil language without much fanfare. The Madras University Vice-Chancellor, S.P. Thyagarajan, recalled the services of U.Ve.Sa. and the association he had with the university.

Dominic Goodal, Director of French School of Asian Studies, said the forum, which had 17 centres spread over Asia, would continue to work for the digital documentation of other literary and Agama works.

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