tamilnation.org congratulates - and salutes Dr.K.Kalyanasundaram and the Project Madurai team of volunteers from many parts of the the globe on their sustained, determined and successful 10 year effort to bring Tamil literature to the world wide web. The Project Madurai 10th Anniversary CD released in January 2008, now enables these Tamil electronic texts to be accessed off line as well.

The CD contains all Tamil electronic texts released by Project Madurai up to December 2007. The e-texts are made available in all three formats -  TSCII, Unicode and PDF. The e-texts in the CD include the Sangam Classics, Thirukural, Tolakappiyam, Auvaiyar's Writings, Tamil Epics such as Cilapathikaram, works of modern Tamil Writers like Bharathy, Bharathidasan, Kalki as well as works by Eelam Tamil writers. A complete index of the etexts in chronological order appears here - and a classified subject index appears here

The print revolution brought Tamil from the ola leaves to paper, from the select few literati to the many. The digital revolution is bringing Tamil from paper to the computer and the internet. Swaminathatha Iyer and Thamotherampillai heralded the Tamil renaissance in the 19th century. Today, a Tamil digital renaissance is taking place - and is helping to bring Tamil people together not simply culturally but also in political and economic terms. The  contribution made by Dr.K.Kalyanasundaram and the Project Madurai team of volunteers to this renaissance will find an enduring place in the memory of the trans state Tamil nation - a growing togetherness of more than 70 million Tamil people living in many lands.

The Introduction to Project Madurai in Tamil in 1998 by Dr.N.Kannan (who later founded the Tamil Heritage Foundation) was aptly titled "எழுதாக் கிளவி (வேதம்) முதல் இலத்திரன் பதிப்பு வரை! - From Vedas to Electronic Publishing".

" கணினி மூலம் தமிழ் மையங்கள் அமைப்போம்,
கணினி மூலம் தமிழ் இலக்கியத்தை பதிப்பிப்போம்,
கணினி மூலம் பள்ளிகள் நடத்துவோம்,
கணினி மூலம் நட்புப் பாலம் அமைப்போம்.
தொழில் திறனும், தமிழ் வளமும் கை கோர்க்கும் நேரமிது. இதில் நம் பங்கு என்ன என்பது, நாம் தீர்மானிப்பதில் உள்ளது. "

Many years ago in 1956, Professor Dr. Kamil.V. Zvelebil wrote in Tamil Culture (Vol. V, No. 4. October, 1956) - a Journal edited appropriately enough by Rev.Father Xavier Thaninayagam  -

"The following works of art and literature are among the most remarkable contributions of the Tamil creative genius to the world's cultural treasure and should be familiar to the whole world and admired and beloved by all in the same way as the poems of Homer, the dramas of Shakespeare, the pictures of Rembrandt, the cathedrals of France and the sculptures of Greece:

1. The ancient Tamil lyrical poetry compiled in ‘The Eight Anthologies’; this poetry is so unique and vigorous, full of such vivid realism and written so masterfully that it can be compared probably only with some of the pieces of ancient Greek lyrical poetry;

2. The Thirukural, one of the great books of the world, one of those singular emanations of the human heart and spirit which preach positive love and forgiveness and peace;

3. The epical poem Cilappathikaram, which by its "baroque splendour', and by the charm and magic of its lyrical parts belongs to the epic masterpieces of the world;

4. The school of Bhakti both Vaishnava and Saiva, which is one of those most sincere and passionate efforts of man to grasp the Absolute; and its supreme literary expression in the works of Manikkavasagar, Tirugnana Sambandar, Nammalwar and Andal.

5. The philosophical system of Saiva Sidhdhantha, a system, which may be ranked among the most perfect and cleverest systems of human thought;

6. The South Indian bronzes of the Chola period, those splendid and amazing sculptures belonging to the best creations of humanity,

7. The Dravidian temple architecture, of which the chief representatives are perhaps the temples of Tanjore, Chidambaram and Madurai.

These seven different forms of contribution without which the world would be definitely less rich and less happy, should engage the immediate attention of all who are interested in Tamil culture; they should all dedicate their time and efforts to make known (and well and intimately known) to the whole of the world these heights of Tamil creative genius."

Project Madurai volunteers have during the past ten years  dedicated "their time and efforts to make known (and well and intimately known) to the whole of the world these heights of Tamil creative genius " contained in the language and literature of the Tamil people.

Dr. S.Jayabarathi from Malaysia and founder of the Agathiyar Discussion List, discussing the reasons for naming the project as Project Madurai commented in 1998:

"... Our proto-historical legends say that there was already a Madurai called Then Madurai (Southern Madurai). This was situated in the land of Kumari, by the river called Kanni. The first academy/library called Sangam was established here. The first scholar to preside over that first Sangam or Thalai Sangam was iRaiyanaar. He is identified with 'Thiripuram eriththa virisadaik KadavuL' .... Then we come to the 19th century. There was a great awakening of the Tamils and U.V. Saminatha Aiyer, Thamodharam Pillai, and others brought to light many of the ancient Tamil works which had hitherto remained in obscurity. ... A Tamil Sangam was formed in Madurai by Prince Paandi Thurai Thevar and other scholars. This was the Fourth Madurai Tamil Sangam. So naming the proposed electronic text archive project devoted to Tamil literature after this great historic city Madurai is very appropriate."

Project Madurai has served to underline the deep rooted reality that language is not simply a matter of communication. "மொழி என்பது வாழ்க்கை".  And "தமிழ் எங்கள் சமூகத்தின் விளைவுக்கு நீர்".  The words of Eamon de Valera on "Language & the Irish Nation" will find a reasonance in many Tamil minds and hearts -

 "Language is more than a symbol. In it is stored the accumulated experience of a people... to part with it would be to loose the key to our past, to cut away the roots from the tree. ..."  

Albert B Franklin, writing in the Journal of Tamil Studies, September 1972 on 'The Tamil Language in the Modern World' commented -

"...It has become increasingly apparent over the last century, that Tamil is indeed one of the world's great languages and that in it is expressed one of the world's great and ancient literatures...Such mystic outpourings as the poems of Thirumular, such philosophical penetration as that of Sankara and Ramanuja, such scientific brains as that of the other Ramanuja, the mathematician, or that of the late Nobel Prize winner C. V. Raman do not arise in barren soil. Nor do the exquisite arts of Carnatic music and Bharata Natyam. Imagination of this category springs from a richly intricate and articulate linguistic symbolism..."

Yes, we too are a people with an ancient heritage, a rich language and literature and a vibrant culture and we have a meaningful contribution to make to the fabric of an emerging one world. In Mahatma Gandhi's telling words, by all means 'let us open our windows to the world but let us not be blown off our feet'. International consciousness will not grow by the suppression of one nation by another. It is at the heart of an enlightened national consciousness that the universalising values of liberty, fraternity and equality are born.

"...It is at the heart of national consciousness that international consciousness lives and grows. And this two-fold emerging is ultimately the source of all culture..." Frantz Fanon at the Congress of Black African Writers, 1959

It is when we understand this, it is when we stand firmly on our own feet, that we may also truly understand the words of Kanniyan Poongundran in Purananuru, written two thousand five hundred years ago - words which continue to touch, move and inspire -