Chithrakavyam

Chithrakavyam was written about 100 years ago in grantha lipi by Sri Ramabhadrachariar. This work is comprised of two parichchedas or parts, the first one made of 400 slokas and the second of 100 Bandams. His grandson, Sri S. R. Srinivasa Raghavan of Bombay made these handwritten manuscripts available to Sri P. K. Srinivasan and Sri K. Sampath, which enabled them to transliterate and publish it. This book is full of puzzles, riddles and cross words in “poem form.”

Sri Sundapalayam Ramabhadrachariar, a Maha Kavi (Great Poet), was born in 1840 in the village of Sundapalayam, near Coimbatore. Hailing from a well educated family, he enriched his knowledge by constantly interacting with scholars and pandits who visted his family. He had authored over 20 such works through out his life. In spite of his fame, he led a very simple and orthodox life. He died in 1904 at the age of 65.

His poetical works are noted for their versatility, purity, elegance, mastery of language, originality in thought, rich imagery, majesticity of expression, aptness in the choice of words, word play, sweetness in recitation and adaptability to music. Many such poems are intended for and capable of being embedded in pictures. For all these reasons, he is considered a Maha Kavi (Great Poet). All of these characteristics are being reflected in his master piece, Chithrakavyam.

One of his works, “Hayagreevar and Sri Lakshmi slokas” was published as a book by Sri P. K. Srinivasan and Sri K. Sampath. The book contains all slokas composed by Maha Kavi along with translation in Tamil. A copy of the book can be downloaded by pressing the link above or on the image.

Sri P. K. Srinivasan, B.Sc., our father was always very much into Sanskrit and Carnatics music. Even though he retired from Government of India in 1982 after a hectic service, he was more busier reading and researching his pet topics. He designed and developed his own technique to simplify Sanskrit and teach them to one and all. During his brief visit to the USA in 1991, he taught Sanskrit. He has contributed many articles on Carnatic music and Bharatha Natyam in the magazines of Shanmugha of Bombay and Saptagiri of Tirumalai Thirupathi Devasthanam.

He was fascinated by the richness of Maha Kavi Ramabhadrachariar’s works and decided to publish Chithrakavyam. Although he yearned to transliterate Maha Kavi Ramabhadrachariar’s Chithrakavyam several decades ago, he only obtained the original manuscripts sometime in 1997. The condition of the 100-year handwritten manuscripts was very bad with lots of missing words and sentences. Through his insight and deep understanding, he was able to transliterate, fill in and complete the work. He deserves as much credit as the composer. He died in 1998 at the age of 76.

Prof Sampath, M. Pharm, youngest brother of Sri P. K. Srinivasan and husband of Kavi Ramabhadran’s great grand daughter, was very much attached to our father. He worked closely with my father to help realize their dreams of spreading Sanskrit. He worked tirelessly to get the book Chithrakavyam published after my father’s death in 1998. He is still committed to his goals of spreading my father’s message across. Until a few years ago, he was very active in his field of Pharmaceutical studies.