46 ancient Tamil classics to be published in Braille script

CHENNAI: Visually challenged literature students interested in ancient Tamil poetry will soon be able to read and enjoy its richness without any help.
Central Institute of Classical Tamil (CICT) is planning to bring out 46 ancient Tamil epics including Silappatikaram, Manimekalai, Tolkappiyam and Narrinai in Braille script.
The institute is planning to bring the Braille version by December 2022. It plans to give it to the visually challenged students for free of cost.
“In any college, there will be two or three visually challenged students pursuing Tamil literature. But, there are no Braille books of ancient Tamil literature available to them. They have to depend on others. Now, these Braille versions of texts will ensure that they can read the ancient literature on their own,” said R Chandrasekaran, director of CICT.
All these volumes will contain Tamil text and simple interpretations of poems. So far, only Tirukkural has a Braille version among ancient Tamil epics. The work began in March 2022.
“This is the largest collection of literature to be converted into Braille texts. Even the interested persons among the general public can also get the copies of Braille textbooks,” he added.
CICT also is translating Manimekalai, an ancient Tamil-Buddhist epic in 18 different languages including Malay, Chinese, Japanese, Thai and Korean.
“The translation of Manimekalai has been completed in six languages including Thai, Telugu, Kannada and Hindi. We expect all translations to be ready by March next year,” Chandrasekaran said.
A sequel to the earliest Tamil epic Silappatikaram, Manimekalai was composed by Seethalai Sathanar and has several reformist ideas of abolishing prisons and prostitution, prohibition, eradicating hunger among others. Researchers say that it was the only surviving ancient literature which speaks about Buddhist philosophies. When this project is completed, it will be the second widely translated Tamil epic after Tirukkural.