About Maha Kavi Sree Bharathi Vidhyalaya in 11/A, Chennai salai, Opposite Worth Trust, Katpadi. Vellore., Vellore

Sahitya Akademy Develops Translation as a Project Work

Mahakavi Subramanya Bharati’s (1882 – 1921) Tamil poems and prose works are getting translated into English by Sahitya Academy. The Sahitya Akademy, an independent organization established by the Government of India for the promotion of literature in Indian languages.

Life and Struggles

Subramanya Bharati was a freedom fighter, free thinker and reformer. He lived only for 39 years and his life, his patriotism, passion on India nationalism and active participation in independent struggle have left an indelible impression on the hearts of Tamils. He is regarded as one of the greatest poets of India and he always considered Tamil as his mother and India as his mother nation. The poet was able to articulate in popular languages like Sanskrit, Hindi, Bengali and English. He was good at both poetry and prose. His poems awakened the freedom fire in the hearts of Tamil mass.

Though Subramanya Bharati lived only for 39 years, his collected works of poems and prose make a volume of 600 pages. The poems of Subramanya Bharati showed variety, vitality, musical rhymes and profuse spirit and emotion. Some 60 representative poems of Subramanya Bharati was translated into English by Dr. Prema Nandakumar. The translator lauds for the manifold and magnificient poetic achievement Subramanya Bharati.

The present efforts of Sahitya Akademy is to translate both prose and poetry of Subramanya Bharati into English. The Chennai sub-centre of the southern regional office of the Akademy has developed this huge task as a project work. Sirpi Balasubramaniyan, popular Tamil poet and convener of the Tamil Advisory Board of the Akademy, was instrumental for mooting the proposal before the Akademy. The response was overwhelming response and support from Tamil literary personalities. Even there is a desire to translate complete collections into all Indian languages also.

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