Glimpses Of Kamba Ramayana - English

S Srimoolanathan has analyzed Kamba Ramayana through a glimpse of the Tamil version of the epic composed by the famous Tamil poet Kamban. Reputed to be based on Valmiki's writings, the book contains excerpts from the Kamba Ramayana which was written around the 12th century AD. The plot of Kamba Ramayanam is different from that of Valmiki's original Ramayanam in several aspects.

The poet's use of Santham and Viruttam-style compositional techniques gives Kamba Ramayanam its literary value. While Santham refers to the verse's melody or meter, Viruttam describes the speed of the verses. The Kamba Ramayanam is a truly remarkable literature because of these two features, especially for Kamban’s choice of verses that befitted Viruttam and Santham.