Musiri college student transliterates Naaladiyar poems into Brahmi

V. Lavanya, a third-year BA Tamil student from Arignar Anna Government Arts College in Musiri, has transliterated the 400 poems of the post-Sangam era literary text Naaladiyar into Brahmi script, with explanatory passages in modern Tamil, creating a work that she hopes will encourage others to explore the linguistic heritage of the State

V. Lavanya, a third-year BA Tamil student from Arignar Anna Government Arts College in Musiri, has transliterated 400 poems of the post-Sangam era literary text Naaladiyar into Brahmi script, with explanatory passages in modern Tamil, creating a work that she hopes will encourage others to explore linguistic heritage of the State.

“We had an opportunity to learn about Brahmi and other ancient scripts at a workshop conducted in our department by Saiva Sarkunan, headmaster, Government High School, Mela Kalkandarkottai, who has transliterated the entire Thirukkural into Brahmi. I wanted to do something similar, and decided to focus on Naaladiyar,” Ms. Lavanya told The Hindu.

She has done this despite suffering from partial visual impairment in one eye.

Mr. Sarkunan said that Ms. Lavanya’s project was laudable because of her quick mastery over the ancient script. “I was able to transliterate the Tirukkural into Brahmi only after getting a diploma, but Lavanya has picked it up in a matter of weeks. She could inspire more young people in future,” he said.

Ms. Lavanya’s teachers have helped edit the manuscript. “To make it more accessible to today’s readers, we have asked her to transliterate and translate the text in modern Tamil along with the Brahmi version,” said T. Manjula Devi, head, Department of Tamil.

The budding scribe hopes to aim for post-graduation and crack the civil services exams after she completes her BA.

Brahmi script uses a system of diacritical marks to signify vowel and consonant sounds, and is written from left to right.