Thembavani

An Epic In Pure Tamil Written 300 Years Ago By an Italian Priest Costanzo Giuseppe Beschi S.J. (Veeramamunivar) in 1726.It consists of 3615 விருத்தப்பாக்கள் (90 TYPES OF RHYMED QUATRAINS) translated into unrhymed quatrains in free verse in ''sprung rhythm'' style. 356 நிகழ்வுகள் (EPISODES). 100...
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An Epic In Pure Tamil Written 300 Years Ago By an Italian Priest Costanzo Giuseppe Beschi S.J. (Veeramamunivar) in 1726.It consists of 3615 விருத்தப்பாக்கள் (90 TYPES OF RHYMED QUATRAINS) translated into unrhymed quatrains in free verse in ''sprung rhythm'' style. 356 நிகழ்வுகள் (EPISODES). 100 +கதாப்பாத்திரங்கள் (CHARACTERS). 100+ தலங்கள் (LOCATIONS).THE AIM OF THE EPIC IS TO PRIMARILY PROPAGATE VIRTUEகடவுள் வணக்கம் Obeisance to God (Opening verse)சீரிய உலகம் மூன்றும் செய்து அளித்து அழிப்ப வல் ஆய்,நேரிய எதிர் ஒப்பு இன்றி நீத்த ஓர் கடவுள் தூய,வேரிய கமல பாதம் வினை அறப் பணிந்து போற்றி,ஆரிய வளன் தன் காதை அறம் முதல் விளங்கச் சொல்வாம். O Marvelous God, mighty Creator, Preserver and Destroyer of the three worlds,O Transcendent One, with nothing to compare with directly, let me prostrate myselfAt Your pure, honeyed, lotus feet, praise You so that my past sins may be removed,And narrate the story of ''Valan the Excellent'' in order to primarily propagate virtue!தேம்பாவணிtēmpāvaṇi1726A GARLAND OF UNFADING HONEY-SWEET VERSES TRANSLATED INTO ENGLISH VERSE WITH SANDHI-SEPARATED TAMIL TEXT BY M DOMINIC RAJ (2019).Costanzo Giuseppe Beschi was born in the town of Castiglione delle Stiviere in the district of Mantua on November 8, 1680. He finished his secondary education at the Jesuit School in Montero where the three subjects of rhetoric, humanities and grammar were taught. Desiring to become a priest, he joined the Society of Jesus in 1698 and studied philosophy for three years from 1701-1703 in Bologna, and theology for four years from 1706-1710. He was ordained priest in 1709. His studies included not only philosophy and religion but also the learning of languages like Latin, French, Portuguese, Greek, and Hebrew.On hearing about the work done in India by the Jesuits returning to Italy from India, Beschi was eager to come to India. He was sent by his superiors to India in 1710 and landed in Goa and then came to join the Madurai Province of the Jesuits. Though he was given priestly duties in plenty which involved a lot of travelling, he passionately followed his desire to master the local language, literature and culture. He studied Sanskrit, Tamil as well as Telugu from pundits. He gained mastery in Tamil and because of his boldness in defending the correctness of his convictions, he was fondly called by people as Dhairiyanathar (The Fearless Guru). His magnum opus Thembavani was presented for ratification as a classic in the Academy of Poets (Sangam) and received their approval and the poet was given the title Veeramanunivar (The Courageous Ascetic).Thembavani is eminently comparable to other world classics in other languages like The Iliad, The Odyssey, The Ramayana, The Mahabharata, The Aeneid, and The Divine Comedy. In fact, Beschi wrote this epic to silence the local Tamil pundits that the foreigners who had come to preach a new religion in a strange language will never succeed in their endeavour. Mastering Tamil, Beschi composed Thembavani, presented it before the Academy of Poets, received their approbation and the title VEERAMAMUNUVAR (The Courageous Ascetic). He composed the epic keeping Joseph (Valan) as the hero and Mary as the heroine and wove into several characters and episodes appropriate to the unravelling on the story of Joseph, Mary and their God-son. The book also carries the sandhi-separated (simplified) Tamil text as a free add-on for the use of those who know Tamil. The Tamil text is out of print for the last several decades and is found only in a few libraries worldwide. This is one more reason to include the Tamil text in its entirety. The book carries an Introduction by the well-known Tamil scholar Prof. P. Marudanayagam who has translated several books including works of Classical Tamil Literature.Prof. Alexander Beecroft of the University of South Carolina ranks THEMBAVANI as the third among a list of untranslated world epics. Now THEMBAVANI will quit that list.