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CHENNAI, INDIA, August 9, 2004: An international group, led by N. Kannan of Korea Ocean Research Development Institute, is attempting to create a Web database of Tamil literary works which languish in ancient palm leafs and old books. In Chennai recently, Dr. Kannan spoke about his pet project which was conceived and implemented from his base in Boeblingen, Germany. The Tamil Heritage Foundation wishes to start a global Tamil movement to preserve online the wealth of information in rare and old Tamil works. It scans Tamil-speaking areas throughout the world for valuable materials in text, speech and visuals, which it digitizes and archives. The initial funding for this venture was provided by Dato S. Samy Vellu, Minister for Works, Government of Malaysia, and the president of Malaysian Indian Congress (MIC), during the Tamil Internet 2001 Conference held at Kuala Lumpur. The group also wants to upload several books of Tamil heritage from Europe’s libraries, and collect Tamil material in other Indian languages. Digitizing the information in ancient palm leafs and old books makes them easily readable and available for Tamil lovers, students, teachers, libraries and research organizations the world over. According to Dr. Kannan, existing manuscripts provide a wealth of knowledge. For example, several works recorded on palm leaves contain astronomy, mathematics, shipbuilding and even, so he claims, rocket technology.



At present, the bi-lingual site uses Murasu for the Tamil font. It features photo archives of Tamil culture, audio archive of dialects, folklore, religious and literary discourses, video archive of traditions, festivals, dance, drama, temples, theatres, art galleries and historical monuments. It also details the evolution of the Tamil script. Dr. Kannan welcomes contributions, (not just monetary, but also rare or ancient scrolls and manuscripts that can then be digitized, uploaded, and returned to their owners), and any interesting information on the language or its evolution, or details about activities happening in any part of the world. He also wishes to present the Foundation’s proposals to the State government, and work with other non-governmental organizations that share the same passion.

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