A seven-member crew of musicians and Tamil scholars presented Kamba Ramayanam at Kambar Mandapam near Thayar Sannidhi inside Sri Ranganathaswamy Temple in Srirangam for Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Saturday.
Ilangai Jeyaraj, who was part of the team, flew down from Sri Lanka to explain the essence of Kamba Ramayanam to the Prime Minister. Mr. Jeyaraj has been the president of Kambar Kazhagam in Sri Lanka for the past 45 years.
Expressing happiness over the Prime Minister’s visit to the temple ahead of the consecration of the Ram Temple at Ayodhya, Mr. Jeyaraj, who is also a Pattimandram moderator, told The Hindu that his presentation to Mr.Modi focussed on the essence of Kamba Ramayanam that righteousness will prevail (Aram Vellum, Paavam Thorkkum).
“Mr. Modi often cites Thirukural in his speeches and this has helped popularise the the great Tamil classic across the world. With the visit of Mr. Modi to Srirangam and the Kambar Mandapam, Kamba Ramayanam too will become popular across the world,” Mr.Jeyaraj said.
Priya Ramachandran anchored the presentation and gave a brief introduction on Kamba Ramayanam. She translated into English the four Tamil verses of Kamba Ramayanam sung by Carnatic Vocalist Sikkil Gurucharan, who was accompanied by Charulatha Chandrasekhar, Charulatha Ramanujam, and Janani Lakshminarayanan on Veena, Violin, and Tambura, respectively.
Tamil Scholar T. Gnanasundaram explained to the Prime Minister the distinguishing features of Kamba Ramayanam and Valmiki Ramayanam. The presentation lasted for about 35 minutes. After listening to their presentation and greeting them, Mr. Modi left to offer worship at Sri Ramanujar Sannidhi.
