ரா. இராகவையங்காரின் செவ்விலக்கியப் பதிப்புகளை அடையாளப்படுத்தலும் மதிப்பிடலும் / Unique Identification and Evaluation of the Classical Literary Editions of Ra. Ragavaiyangar

Abstract

Ra. Ragavaiyangar was born in Thennavarayan Pudukottai in the Sivagangai district of the Pandian country. He has published 16 books. Among them, there are nine texts which belong to the classical genre. Among them, the first editions are “Ainthinai Impathu”, “Thinaimalai Nootraimpathu” and “Muthollayiram” of Ra. Ragavaiyangar. S. Karumbayaram mentions that the first edition of “Thinaimalai Nootraimpathu” was published by Ra. Ragavaiyangar in the year 1908. However, it can be known that in 1904, “Thinaimalai Nootraimpathu” was published by Ra.Ragavaiyangar. Ragavaiyangar also published a book giving more explanation about some of the facts about the “Tholkappiyam” Seiyullurai”. He also wrote an explanation for the book when he taught the students of Annamalai University at the request of many associates. In his edition of “Perumpanatrupadai” by doing extensive research, he concluded that Thondaiman Ilanthiraiyan was the heir of the Pallava dynasty. In his book “Pattinapalai” he had done extensive research on Thirumavalavan and established through apt evidence that Thirumavalavan and Karikal Peruvalathan are not the same. The majority of the Keelkanakku books were published by Madurai Tamil Sangam. He published the Keelkanakku books that were not published before his time and had been identified by his publisher's note. It is noted that “Muthollayiram” is the only book he published as text text-only edition. His editions are well-known for indicating the differences in the explanations of the classical texts, additional explanations of the texts and proper documentation and attribution to other writer’s works. Hence, this study does an intensive study on the select editions of Ra. Ragavaiyangar.

Keywords

• ra.ragavaiyangar
• classical tamil literature
• editions
• evaluation.