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The Central Institute of Classical Tamil (CICT) is a body established by the Government of India with a view to promoting the cause of Classical Tamil. It is located in Chennai.
The CICT was formerly known as the Centre of Excellence for Classical Tamil (CECT) and had been functioning at the Central Institute of Indian Languages, Mysore, a branch of the Department of Higher Education, Language Bureau, Ministry of Human Resource Development. In May 2008, the CECT was moved to Chennai and was rechristened as the Central Institute of Classical Tamil (CICT). The chairman of the new institute was the then Chief Minister of Tamil Nadu M. Karunanidhi. The governing body for Classical Tamil Institute (TLPB) was also changed as Aimperumkuzhu (literally "5-membered great team") and Enperayam (literally "8-membered great committee") under two vice-chairmen, V. I. Subramoniam and V. C. Kulandaiswamy, with the chairman for this governing body being M. Karunanidhi.[ citation needed ]
In 2012, the CITC published the only Meitei translation of the Kural. [1] The work was undertaken by Soibam Rebika Devi, a botanist, linguist, and translator from Imphal, Manipur, who translated the complete work in prose form. The translation was completed in about a year and a half's time. [2] It is considered the first ever translation of a Tamil work into the Meitei language. [2] [3] The translation was part of CICT's project of translating the Kural into multiple languages including Telugu, Kannada, Nepali, Punjabi and other Indian languages. [4] The translation was officially released in Imphal in March 2014 by the governor of Manipur. [5] In November 2014, the CICT planned to recite the Meitei translation along with translations in 9 other languages to commemorate the launch of the institution's Telugu and Kannada translations of the Kural text. [6]
Since May 2012, the CICT was functioning from the premises of Road Transport Corporation at Taramani. The government acquired a land at Perumbakkam and a fund of ₹ 246.547 million was allotted in 2017 to construct a building. [7]
Since 2022, the CICT functions from its own building at Perumbakkam, a southern neighbourhood of Chennai. Built at a cost of ₹ 246.5 million on a 16.86-acre land, the four-storied building has a total built-up area of 70,000 square feet. [7] The building houses a library and conference halls on the ground floor, office of the director and administrative offices on the first floor, offices of the academic staff on the second floor, and multimedia center on the third floor. [7] As of 2022, the CICT has 22 academic staff and 23 non-academic staff. [7]
The CICT is engaged in the task of developing Tamil through various programmes of its own. The Institute is responsible for the Kural Peedam Award.
The following are the ten major projects of The Centre of Excellence for Classical Tamil (CECT):
The Tamil Language Promotion Board (TLPB) has been changed as Aimpermkuzhu and Enperayam, with the board reconstituted.[ citation needed ]
Languages spoken in the Republic of India belong to several language families, the major ones being the Indo-Aryan languages spoken by 78.05% of Indians and the Dravidian languages spoken by 19.64% of Indians; both families together are sometimes known as Indic languages. Languages spoken by the remaining 2.31% of the population belong to the Austroasiatic, Sino–Tibetan, Tai–Kadai, and a few other minor language families and isolates. According to the People's Linguistic Survey of India, India has the second highest number of languages (780), after Papua New Guinea (840). Ethnologue lists a lower number of 456.
Indian literature refers to the literature produced on the Indian subcontinent until 1947 and in the Republic of India thereafter. The Eighth Schedule to the Constitution of India has 22 officially recognised languages. Sahitya Akademi, India's highest literary body, also has 24 recognised literary languages.
Since the Iron Age in India, the native languages of the Indian subcontinent are divided into various language families, of which the Indo-Aryan and the Dravidian are the most widely spoken. There are also many languages belonging to unrelated language families such as Munda and Tibeto-Burman, spoken by smaller groups.
The Tirukkuṟaḷ, or shortly theKural, is a classic Tamil language text consisting of 1,330 short couplets, or kurals, of seven words each. The text is divided into three books with aphoristic teachings on virtue (aram), wealth (porul) and love (inbam), respectively. Considered one of the greatest works ever written on ethics and morality, it is widely acknowledged for its universality and secular nature. Its authorship is traditionally attributed to Valluvar, also known in full as Thiruvalluvar. The text has been dated variously from 300 BCE to 5th century CE. The traditional accounts describe it as the last work of the third Sangam, but linguistic analysis suggests a later date of 450 to 500 CE and that it was composed after the Sangam period.
Sarvajna and Tiruvalluvar are popular Kannada and Tamil poets, respectively. Statues of Sarvajna in Tamil Nadu and Tiruvalluvar in Karnataka has been unveiled in August 2009 as a symbolic effort to bolster ties between the two Indian states, whose relationship has been strained by issues related to sharing of Kaveri water and Hogenakkal water supply power project.
Tirukkural, also known as the Kural, an ancient Indian treatise on the ethics and morality of the commoner, is one of the most widely translated non-religious works in the world. Authored by the ancient Tamil poet-philosopher Thiruvalluvar, it has been translated into at least 42 world languages, with about 57 different renderings in the English language alone.
Tirukkural remains one of the most widely translated non-religious works in the world. As of 2014, there were at least 57 versions available in the English language alone. English, thus, continues to remain the language with most number of translations available of the Kural text.
Kannada has at least eight translations of the Tirukkural available as of 2014. Both prose and verse translations have been made in Kannada.
Telugu is one of the Indian languages that has had the earliest Tirukkural translations in modern times. As of 2000, there were at least 14 translations of the Kural text available in Telugu.
As of 2015, there were at least three Gujarati translations available of the Tirukkural.
As of 2015, Tirukkural has been translated into Punjabi at least twice.
Herbert Arthur Popley was a Christian missionary of London Mission, Erode, known for his literary work as a translator of the Tirukkural and his skill in rendering Tamil Christian music in the Carnatic style. He was secretary of the All-India Y.M.C.A. At the time of his death, he was president of the local Y.M.C.A. and a director of the Coonoor Co-operative Urban Bank Ltd. He died in Coonoor on 9 May 1960 at the age of 81.
Charles Edward Gover (1835–1872) was a British folklorist in Madras, India. He was one of the earliest translators of the Tirukkural into English.
A. Chakravarti, who served the Indian Educational Service (IES), was a professor of philosophy at the Presidency College in Chennai, India. He is known for translating the Tirukkural into English.
P. S. Sundaram (1910–1998), born Pazmarneri Subrahmanya Sundaram, was an Indian professor of English, best known for translating the Tirukkural and various Tamil classics into English. He had degrees in English from the University of Madras and the Oxford University. He served as professor of English for about 40 years in different parts of North India.
P. C. Kokila is an Indian professor of Hindi, who is best known for translating the Tirukkural into Gujarati.
Soibam Rebika Devi is an Indian translator who is best known for translating the Tirukkural into Meitei.
S. Srinivasan is an Indian civil engineer, who is best known for translating the Tirukkural into Kannada.
Tarlochan Singh Bedi is an academician better known for translating the Kural into Punjabi.
Directorate of Language Planning and Implementation (DLPI) is a directorate of the Government of Manipur in charge of the language planning and the implementation of policies of Meitei language as well as other indigenous vernaculars of Manipur.
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