Role: Tamil Poet
Birth
Kambar was born as the son of Aathithan, in the 12th century in the year 1108AD in a place called Therazhundur of Nagapattinam District in TamilNadu. He was known to be born after the period of the Vaishnavite philosopher Ramanujar.
Early Life of Kambar
Kambar was grown in the house of a rich farmer Sadaiyepa Vallal in Vennai Nellur. As a child, he had an interest to learn the ancient languages Sanskrit and Tamil. Then he had a passion for writing poems. He wrote a number of poems after learning the basics in the rhetorical tradition. Kambar had a son named Ambikapathi.
Kavi Chakravarthy Title
He got an invitation from the Chola King, after the King heard about his talent. Kambar got the title Kavi Chakravarthy (The Emperor of Poets) from the Chola King, once the King was aware of the reputation made by this great poet. Moreover, the king gave him the massive land and named that land as Kamba naadu.
Kambar’s Ramavataram (Kamba Ramayana in Tamil)
He rewrote the Ramayana in the Tamil language in his format with 11,000 stanzas. He remade the Indian epic Ramayana, which was originally written by the poet Valmiki of North India. Kambar’s Ramayana was also called as Ramavataram. He had written Ramayana in 15 days without sleeping at night. In early periods, Ramavataram was agreed into the holy fringes, only because it has the name ‘Rama”. For the first time, the presentation of this Ramavataram was done at the court hall in the Sri Ranganathaswamy Temple located in Trichy.
Literature works by poet Kambar
He wrote a devotional poem or song “Saraswathi Andhadhi” in glorify of Hindu Goddess Saraswathi. Kambar’s nine of the text works are very famous in Tamil. In praise of the Vaishnava saint Nammalvar, he wrote the “Sadagopar Andhadhi”. This “Andhadhi” is a form of Tamil poem, in which the final word of each verse becomes the beginning word for the next verse. On honor of the 11th century Pallava King Karunakara Tondaiman, he had written the poem “Silaiezhupathu”. The other works of Kambar includes the Thirukkai Vazakkam, Erezhupathu, Kangai Puranam and Mangala Vaalthu.
Memorial of Kambar
The 1000 years old, Kambar memorial is situated in a village known as Karutpatti in Sivagangai District near the Nattarasan Kottai. Here the very old tomb of Kambar is present, which serves as the tourist spot for local people. Ramayanam by Kambar includes various literature forms of Tamil like Veera Tamil, romantic Tamil and Aanmeega Tamil. There is a famous saying or idiom in Tamil that “Kamban Veetu Kattuthariyum kavipaadum” which means the oldest spinning machine from Kambar’s house will sing poems, since that is present in Kambar’s house. The literal meaning is that whomever s friend or neighbor of Kambar will gain the knowledge like him. Then the people living in the region, near the Kambar memorial have the habit of taking soil from this memorial and placing that on the baby’s tongue. By doing this, those people believe their baby will grow up with good Tamil knowledge.
Another memorial for him known as “Kambar Manimandapam” is present in Sivangagai District, where there is a separate temple for “Tamil Thaai” who is the language god for Tamil. In many countries and states, there is an association called “Kambar Kazhagam” to preach the Kambaramayana for the people.
Honors of Kambar
Kambar has been the milestone for the Tamil scholars that none had reached. He was also known as “Kamba Naatazhvar” at his time. Many Tamil authors from the modern world have written the books on the poet Kamban.
Death
Kamban is known to have been died in the year 1250AD.