ಕುರುಂಟೋಕೈ: குறுந்தொகை: Kuruntokai (Tamil Text, Kannada Transliteration, Translation And Commentary)

Bharatidasan's dream about the future of Tamil language, literature and Culture is coming true. His life-long desire that Tamil literature should be made known through translations into numerous world languages is being fulfilled.

Where is the day

when the honey -river

will pour into my ear the news of this worlds' wish

incessantly

to see mother Tamil,

my Tamils' poems

in a thousand tongues?

Central Institute of Classical Tamil has undertaken the onerous task of getting forty-one ancient Tamil Classics translated into English and other western and Indian languages as these immortal works reflect the sweetness of Tamil, its strength, its uniqueness, its heritage, its richness and its grandeur.

Now we are proud to launch the Kannada translations of Ettuttokai and Pattuppättu, ably done by a select band of scholars led by Thiru, R. Srinivasan associated with the reputed Bangalore Tamil Sangam.themes and motifs to several succeeding generations of poets. Some of the sub-genres and motifs which Tamil poetry gained later spread to other Indian languages including Sanskrit.

Kuruntokai is a masterpiece in the akam literary tradition of Cankam literature. It comprises a graphic presentation of the rich variety of the social life of the Tamils of the period, especially their emotions during the various phases of love. The strength of character of the hero and his confidant, the heroine and her confidante standsout as classic example in the literature of all ages. The natural settings and the interplay of nature with the moods of the lovers is unique to this anthology which is rare to find in any other literature.

What is known as Ettuttokai (eight anthologies) consisits of Narrinai, Kuruntokai, Ainkurunuru, Pattuppattu, Paripatal, Kalittokai, Akanānur u and Purananūru. Poems of diverse hands are grouped into these anthologies on the basis of metre, content or length of the verse. Love is the exclusive theme of akam anthologies whereas puram refers to subjects such as war, fame, philanthropy and death.