The contribution made by Christianity to the treasure-house of Tamil literature, cannot be underestimated. In the previous lessons, you learnt about the two great Christian classics of இரட்சணிய யாத்திரிகம் and தேம்பாவணி. In this lesson you shall learn about some of the lesser known but noteworthy Tamil classics which Christianity has given us. Although several Christian classics are known to have been written in Tamil, we do not have all of them now. Hence, we shall learn about the five classics, namely, திருவாக்குப் புராணம், திரு அவதாரம், கிறிஸ்து மான்மியம், சுடர்மணி and இயேசு காவியம்.

    The authors of these five classics belong to different social and religious orders, but are united by their love for Tamil. The desire to tell the story of Christ’s life and the doctrines of the Bible in an epic form, is also a common factor between these authors.

    Kanakasabaipillai is the author of திருவாக்குப் புராணம். He was born in Sri Lanka in 1815. His forefathers, including his parents, were all Saivaites. But, drawn by the Christian Reformist Group, they embraced Christianity. Apart from திருவாக்குப் புராணம் Kanakasabaipillai has produced several works based on the ancient Tamil traditions.

    We do not know much about the author of. கிறிஸ்து மான்மியம்.
But it is believed that he was called சங்கைத்தொஷ் ஐயர் and that the work was printed in 1891 in the Lutheran Mission Press at Tranquebar.

    திரு அவதாரம், a long epic was written by மாணிக்கவாசகம்
ஆசிர்வாதம். He was born in 1865, in a small village called சூரங்குடி
in Tirunelveli District. He devoted himself to the service of God at a very early age.

    சுடர்மணி, which deals with the life history of Jesus Christ, was written by S.Aarokkiasami. He was born in 1912 near Villupuram. He was a mathematical genius, and served as a teacher and headmaster in several schools in South Arcot District. Sudarmani was published in 1976 by the author’s son, A.P. Antony Raju.

    Kaviarasu Kannadasan needs no introduction to the Tamils all over the world. He has written thousands of songs for Tamil films. But few of his admirers know that he is the author of இயேசுகாவியம், which he himself referred to as an immortal work - இறவாக் காவியம்.

    The main theme of all the five classics mentioned in this lesson, is the story of Christ and the Old Testament. These classics occupy an important place in the history of Tamil literature.