ABSTRACT
The devotional Bhakti poetry in Tamil comprises the hymns of the Saiva and Vaisnava saints, the nayanmars and alvars, the twelve Tirumurais, and the Nalayira tivya prapantam. Many scholars have attempted full or partial translations of both the canonical texts. The note-worthy Saiva translations are from Norman Cutler – A Gift of Tamil: Translations of Tamil Literature, Songs of Experience: The Poetics of Tamil Devotion, T.N. Ramachandran – Tirukkovaiyar, Tiruvaachakam – Tamil Text and English Translation and G.U. Pope – Tiruvacagam. A number of translations of Vaisnava Literature, especially that of Nammalvar’s hymns are available. Some noted translators are J.S.M. Hooper – Hymns of the Alvars , P. S. Sundaram – Tiruppavai, Nacciyar Tirumoli, Krishna Srinivas – Thiruppavai, Sri Aurobindo – Nacciyaar Tirumoli, Tiruvaymoli. N. Kurattalvar Aiyengar – Tiruvaimoli of Sathakopa, S. Satyamurthi Ayyangar – Tiruvaymoli – English Glossary , Srirama Bharati – The Sacred Book of Four Thousand, Norman Cutler – Songs of Experience: The Poetics of Tamil Devotion, John Carman and Vasudha Narayanan – The Tamil Veda – Pillan’s Interpretation of Tiruvaymoli . A.K. Ramanujan – Hymns for the Drowning: Poems for Visnu by Nammalvar , Prema Nandakumar – Tiruviruttam: The Drama of the Love Divine , Archana Venkatesan – Tiruviruttam, Francis Clooney – Tiruvaymoli (a few poems in his book).
