3 Review(s)

Adopting the voice of a mother, poets lovingly praise gods and men. For hundreds of years Tamil poets have been composing devotional texts in which they adopt the voice of a mother and address praises to an extraordinary child. The poems, called pillaitamil (literally ‘Tamil for a child’), form a major genre of Tamil literature. Since the twelfth century, when the first known pillaitamil was written in honour of a Chola king, many of these poems have been composed in praise of the quintessentially Tamil god Murugan and South Indian goddesses, as well as saints and venerated monastic abbots. In recent times pillaitamils have been dedicated to Prophet Muhammad, Virgin Mary and Baby Jesus, as well as notable political figures and movie stars. Extraordinary Child provides a sampler of translations from, and analyses of, seven pillaitamils of particular religious, aesthetic or political significance. Paula Richman’s insightful and comprehensive introduction initiates the reader into the pillaitamil tradition by explaining what a pillaitamil does and how contemporary audiences can learn to savour the subtleties of the verses.