Ilakkanavilakkam, which is popularly known as Tholkappiyam in parvo, is a standard treatise on Tamil Grammar containing all the three divisions of Tamil Grammar in three parts. Now we place before the public the second volume of the third part, dealing with Purathinai of Porulathikaram. We have already placed before the public Ezuthathikaram, ography, and Sollathikaram dealing with letters and words. The remaining parts of Porulathikaram dealing with subject matter, rhetoric, prosody, conventions etc. are already in the press. The author of this work. Vaithianatha Desigar, is a most respected person among the distinguished grammarians of the seventeenth century, coming from a family of Tamil scholars attached to the Dharmapuram monastery; he was for sometimes preceptor to the sons of one of the governors of Madura Naiks in the southern districts. As grammarian, poet, scholar and teacher, he has contributed substantially to the development of sound scholarship in his period, the continued effect of which is discernible even today. When presenting a treatise on Grammar, we think it necessary to say a few words about Grammar in general and its usefulness in directing the mental activities on right lines to achieve the ideal of human nature and to develop it harmoniously to the full perfection which it is capable of, but we reserve detailed introduction, giving all particulars about our language, the grammatical studies in general and in particular and other linguistic information, which are essential to bring our language and grammatical studies in the proper perspective in the international academic studies, to the last volume of this work. We are profoundly indebted to Thiru N. Mahalingam, B. Sc. M. I. E, leading industrialist and well-known savant of Tamil for his gift to this library, of a hand-written copy of Ilakkana vilakkam, which, along with a very old printed edition, long out of print, has been the main basis of this publication. We thank the learned editor, Thiru Panditha Vidvan, T. V. Gopala Iyer, M. A., B. O. L., for bringing out a self-contained volume giving all parallel citations in the original and all aids a student would like to have. We are thankful to our learned Librarian. Prof. V. Gopala Iyengar. M. A., for his general supervision of the editorial and printing work and to Messrs Vetrivel Press for their neat and speedy execution of the printing. We wish to record our gratitude to the Government of Tamil Nadu for their annual publication grant which has made this publication possible.
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