Cover page of Kamba Ramayanam
Credit: Website/https://www.penguin.co.in/
New Delhi: Penguin Random House India (PRHI) on Monday announced the publication of the first complete multi-volume English translation of Kamba Ramayanam, a Tamil version of the epic Ramayana by 12th-century poet Kampan.
The monumental project, undertaken by six scholars and translators of the Tamil language, is expected to be released between 2028-30.
Widely considered as the Tamil literary tradition's greatest poem, Kampan's Ramayana is celebrated for its innovative use of language, the psychological depth of its characters, and its profound engagement with themes of power, truth, and divinity.
The six books of Kampan's Ramayana, consisting of 42,000 lines of verse, will be divided into seven volumes along with an introductory volume -- "Volume 1: Bāla", "Volume 2: Ayodhyā", "Volume 3: Āranya", "Volume 4: Kiskindhā", "Volume 5: Sundara", and "Volume 6 and 7: Yuddha Part 1 and 2".
The team of noted scholars and translators include Shiv Subramaniam from Emory University, professor David Shulman from Hebrew University, professor Whitney Cox from University of Chicago, independent scholar Jennifer Clare, professor Archana Venkatesan from UC Davis and Aniruddhan Vasudevan from Princeton University.
"The 12th-century poet, Kampan, created a Tamil Ramayana in 10,000 verses, each of them a miracle. His work encompasses and gives voice to an entire civilisation, its landscapes, its people, its primary values, profound emotions, and visions of the world.
"We are thrilled that Penguin will be publishing an English translation of the entire text in individual volumes by a close-knit team of six translator-scholars. This will be the first complete, fully annotated, literary translation of Kampan into a Western language," professors Venkatesan and Shulman, who also serve as the volume editors and the authors of the introductory volume, said in a statement.
The influence of Kampan's Ramayana extends far beyond Tamil Nadu, and impacts literary traditions in Kerala, parts of the Indian peninsula, and even Southeast Asia.
According to the publisher, despite its vast influence, a "reliable and complete English translation of the text has been long overdue", largely due to its immense size.
"With both the general and specialist reader in mind, this translation will aim to convey the sensibility, spirit, and beauty of Kampan’s magnificent poem. I am thrilled this has found its home at Penguin! I eagerly look forward to working closely with these highly accomplished scholars, and to seeing this collection make its way to readers soon," said Rea Mukherjee, commissioning editor at PRHI.