Interpretation of Tamil Folk Creations

Professor N. Vanamamalai usually and fondly called as ‘Naa Vaa’ was born on 07.12 1917 at Nanguneri near Tirunelveli. He was a graduate in Chemistry and a post graduate in Tamil. His literary career spanned nearly four decades during which he worked extensively on Tamil literature and history, philosophy and religion. Almost all his writings were published by N.C.B.H. These included articles collected under the title Studies in Tamil Folk Literature’ in 1969. This work was recognised by the Government of Tamil Nadu as a seminal contribution to Tamil literature. Madurai Kamaraj University published six folk ballads edited by him. He also started ‘Aaraaichi’, a quarterly Tamil research journal focusing on Tamil literature, history, religion and philosophy. Professor Vanamamalai was also a director and a member of the editorial committee of N.C.B.H. As a committed Marxist scholar, he established a strong Marxist school of thought that has continued to exert a powerful influence in the academic and social spheres. Professor Naa Vaa passed away on 02.02.1980. He was conferred D.Litt by Jaffna University, Sri Lanka, posthumously.