Chief Minister M.K. Stalin will release 29 books, including Patthupattu, a section of Sangam literary works with commentaries, by the third week of September.
Of the 29 books, all except Patthupattu are translated from English as part of the Muthamizh Arignar Translation Project launched by the Tamil Nadu Textbook and Educational Services Corporation. It covers a wide range of topics.
“We are also releasing the translation of the Venkatraman series on Physics, which is preferred by students of IIT and other higher educational institutions. The series can be likened to The Feynman Lectures on Physics by Nobel Laureate Richard Feynman,” said Sankara Saravanan, Joint Director of Translation at the Corporation.
Gurucharan Das’ India Unbound, Fali S. Nariman’s India’s Legal System and Kanakalatha Mukund’s The View from Below are some of the books translated from English. “The Chief Minister will also release books for the benefit of students pursuing mechanical and civil engineering in Tamil medium. The books were originally published by S.S. Chand,” Mr. Saravanan said.
He said the Corporation was actively participating in book fairs across the State and, in the last two years, it had sold books worth ₹25 lakh. “We have very rare books, particularly those published in the 1960s and 1970s. Of the 865 books published during that period, we have been able to trace 635,” Mr. Saravanan said.
The Corporation, which has decided to publish all Sangam literary works with commentaries, has completed the commentaries on Patthupattu.
“We are giving the final touches. The commentaries are written by competent persons. They are written in such a way that even a 10th standard student could understand them,” said P. Saravanan, Assistant Director and general editor of the project.
He expressed the hope that the works would rekindle interest in ancient Tamil works among the younger generation. The price is also affordable. All the 10 books of patthupattu can be bought for ₹600.
