|
A Video Essay on Tamil
M. V. Bhaskar and K. T. Gandhirajan [also
in PDF]
[see also Temple
Mural Paintings of Tamil Nadu - M.V. Bhaskar and K.T. Gandhirajan]
19 June 2006
 In
south India is a culture with a continuous literary tradition
more than 2000 years old. With 80 million speakers, Tamil is one
of the few languages besides Greek that is both classical and
modern. This video essay outlines in images and music the
development of the rich Tamil culture and writing systems. The
origins of its earliest written script, found on cave walls, is
a mystery. Some say it descends from the still undeciphered
Indus script used 4000 years ago in modern Pakistan and
northwestern India and that the Indus people spoke Dravidian,
ancestral to Tamil
The Archaeology Channel (
www.archaeologychannel.org ), a non-profit, streaming media
channel for archaeology-related content, founded by the
Archaeological Legacy Institute (ALI), Eugene, Oregon, USA, is
webcasting Part 1, produced and directed by M. V. Bhaskar and
co-directed by K. T. Gandhirajan.
 On
the first day that UR went online - June 19, 2006 - it drew 8639
visitors according to Mr. Richard D. Pettigrew, the founder of ALI.
The second day had 9942 hits. "While the video has been attracting
an approximate average of 10000 visitors daily, Indian visitors rank
#10 among all those coming to the page. Why?" wonders Dr. Pettigrew.
Originally produced at the instance of Dr. E.
Annamalai, former Director, Central Institute of Indian Languages
and now Visiting Professor Emeritus, Yale, the 26 m video tracks -
through music and images, and archaeology and literary history - the
first 800 years of the known history of Tamil.
'Semmoothai' - a play staged on the red palai dunes
of Terikkadu in southern Ramanathapuram by Dr. Murugaboopathy and
his theatre group Manal Magudi invokes UR.
Antediluvean myth, the art of interpretation
(tinai), epochs of poetry, Brahmi caves, Asokan Brahmi, Vatteluttu,
Grantham, modern Tamil script, ancient petroglyphs, Indus script,
Jaina influence and medieval Hinduism are the broad themes explored.
There are performances in the video, each good enough to stand on
its own without the rest of the video - an Amba or Temmangu style
rendition of Silappadikaram by Poompuhar Sellakkunju at the
confluence of Kaveri and Bay of Bengal, Silappadikaram in classical
dance ballet by Sreelatha Vinod, a 'numerical' prayer by the
devotees of Mel Sittamur Jinalayam, Tirumurai by Tiruppanantal
Tyagaraja Oduvar and instrumental performances (Bugiri, Kuval) by
Karikkiyur Irulas.
The video is a "successful conversion of a verbal and emotive
content into a captivating visual and aural content", says E.
Annamalai. |
