Epic MaNimEkalai

[N. Ganesan]

Esteemed Indologists,

It is usually written in books about the Buddhist epic, MaNimEkalai
- rare indeed in that M. is one of the handful texts to have survived
in India proper - that Thiru. u. vE. cAminAtaiyar, the great editor
of Classical Tamil texts. Refer for example, to works by
Paula Richman, Anne Monius, A. Veluppillai and Peter Schalk.

Some years before Thiru. UVS published his MaNimEkalai edition,
a full maNimEkalai edition has appeared in print. In 1894 A.D.
That editor was Tirumayilai CaNmukam PiLLai, a student of
puracaippAkkam aTTAvatAn2am capApati mutaliyAr.
I had the honor of holding the first M. editon in Maraimalai ATikaL
library, Chennai. A photograph of its front page is given
in mA. cu. campantan, accum patippum (Foreword by
mE. vI. vENukOpAlappiLLai; some may know that Zvelebil
studied under V. PiLLai), tamizar patippakam, 1980.

It is important that this First edition of Tirumayilai
CaNmukam PiLLai be reprinted as such by photographic scanning.
No doubt, later editions of Thiru. UVS would be an improvement,
but worthwhile to compare. Hope Heidelberg, Cologne or French
Institute of Indology can accomplish this. Thanks for your
kind attention.

Does UVS mention about Tirumayilai CaNmukam PiLLai's earlier
edition in his MaNimEkalai edition?

Regards,
N. Ganesan







_______________________________________________________________
Get Free Email and Do More On The Web. Visit http://www.msn.com