Tamil - "The Living Classical Language" Prof.Udaya Narayana Singh Director, Central Institute of Indian Languages, Mysore.

Prof.Udaya Narayana Singh's Inaugural Address at the first meeting of the Tamil Language Promotion Board held on 10th December 2005.

"Among the languages we know
There is none so sweet as Tamil" - Bharatiyar.

Unenviable position

• There is no doubt that Tamil occupies a very special position in the history of Indian Cultural traditions.
• In spite of natural calamities and man-made ones like war, the language of Tamil has kept its literature and culture alive because of its inherent strength and deep-rootedness.

Cultural Give-and-Take

• There has been much glorification of Sanskrit, only after the 'discovery of Sanskrit' – thanks to the efforts of Sir William Jones by setting up Asiatic Society.
• Over the millennia, both Tamil and Sanskrit together have contributed significantly to the making of India and consequently, there has been much of give and take between the Dravidian and Aryan cultural groups.
• Thus, it is now time to emphasise the classical nature of Tamil language in particular and Dravidian tradition in general.

The Announcement of September 17, 2004 on ‘Classical languages’

• To the surprise of many, the Government of India created a special category called 'Classical Languages' and declared Tamil as a classical language on September 17, 2004.
• Though the matter was raised, discussed and debated in the Parliament several times earlier, this was the first time a firm decision was taken.

Set of Defining Criteria

There is a set of criteria adopted for defining a classical language, which includes:

• A Body of ancient literature and texts considered to be a valuable heritage
• Original literary tradition and not a borrowed one
• Great antiquity with early texts dating back to at least 1500 years
• The status of classicality would too apply to those situations where there is a discontinuity between the early stages and its later time.