20 Development of Literature
Government which bestows attention to these ancient works and tries to preserve all of them.
After that period, commentaries were written to the great works in Tamil like Kural, Pattuppattu, Silappathikaram, Tholkappiam etc.. Thus grew the form of prose in Tamil literature. Prose commentaries, those written by Nachinarkiniyar, Parimelalagar and Sivagnanamunivar of later age are of great importance. They are delightful and instructive,
Many translations were made during this period in Tamil before the Moslem conquest of Tamil Nad. But they have not found. a perma- nent place in Tamil literature. They are known to only very few dim and dusty scholars. Like the Ramayana which was translated into Tamil, anotlier great epic the Mahabaratha was also translated. But this Mahabaratha was translated by Perundevanar four centuries before Kamban brought out his translation of the Ramayana, The other translations like Tiruvilayadal ‘Puranam and other Thala puranams did not capture the imagi- nation of the people precisely because of their mythological and myth-making aspects.
The rise of . Prapandhams marks a definite phase in the development of Tamil literature. They are poems written in praise of God as the first cause and essence of all things in the world, �
