Kamba Ramayana

Tamil language version of the
Ramayana, the earlier of the two great
Hindu epics. The Kamba Ramayana was
written in ninth century by the southern
Indian poet Kamban. As with all vernacular renditions of the Ramayana,
Kamban did not simply translate
Valmiki’s Sanskrit epic, but adapted
and added to it as he saw fit. Of particular interest is his heroic portrayal of
Ravana, the demon-king, who is the villain in the original story. This shift may
reflect feelings of regional pride, since
Kamban was from southern Indian.
Ravana’s kingdom of Lanka is generally
identified as the island of Sri Lanka in
the Indian Ocean, southeast of the
Indian mainland.