இரமயணமம இரமர அமமனயம ஒர ஒபபடட நகக / A Comparative Study of Ramayana and Ramar Ammanai

The Ramayana is a globally renowned epic. It exists in numerous versions across various countries. Among them, Valmiki's “Ramayana” in Sanskrit and Kambar's “Ramayanam” in Tamil hold significant prominence. Kambar claims that he translated Valmiki's work without altering a single word; this study highlights the significant changes seen in Kambar's version. “Ramar Ammanai” emerges as a form of folk literature that has been created from these two foundational texts. This Ammanai is characterised by its extended narrative poems that echo with the common people's thoughts and emotions. There is limited scholarly attention given to Ammanai in the Tamil literary space. This paper aims to connect this gap by investigating "Ramayana” and “Ramar Ammanai.” This study is designed to uncover the hidden themes in light and suggest solutions to existing problems. The primary objective is to display how the core themes in Valmiki's “Ramayana”, Kambar's “Ramayanam” and “Ramar Ammanai” both align and deviate. To investigate, Valmiki's “Ramayana”, Kambar's “Ramayanam”, “Ramar Ammanai” and relevant scholarly articles were thoroughly reviewed and a thematic analysis was employed. Both quantitative and qualitative data were collected and analysed to pursue this study. The research design is descriptive and it incorporates a historical approach to study the historical characters in Valmiki and Kambar's “Ramayanam”. Moreover, a comparative study is used to distinguish the traits of the characters by portraying the narrative structures of “Ramar Ammanai”. Then, a psychological study is employed to disclose the embedded emotions of the characters. It reveals that while “Ramar Ammanai” incorporates with the core themes of Kambar's “Ramayanam” and Valmiki's “Ramayana”, its narrative flow deviates in certain aspects. Ramar Ammanai's unique creation is distinct from traditional conventions and makes it easily accessible to the common folk.