Kannaki and the annals of Cilappatikaram are foremost among the Tamil epics. The focus of Masterpieces of Indian Literature and Art: Tears of Kannaki: Annals and Iconology of ‘Cilappatikaram’ is on iconology and visuals bearing on the subject. Designed in five nodal chapters, the book in two parts includes two annexure-s, glossary, bibliography (Part I), and Roman transcription of the Cilappatikaram followed by a comprehensive index (Part II), prepared by the publisher. Part I presents a copious picture of the following aspects: — Introduction dealing with formal details and date of the epic — Enumeration of the sequence of mythology of Kannaki — Iconography as may be summarized from each chapter (katai) — Iconology of Kannaki and the Cilappatikaram events — Two annexure-s dealing with ‘religious imagery and architecture in Classical Tamil Literature’ with special reference to Kalittokai and Manimekalai However, the main work is discussed in chapters III-V. For illustrations the author had done fieldwork from Kotumkallur in Kerala through Early Cola in Tamilnadu to Sri Lanka and Prambanan in Java. Part II of the book presents the epic in Roman transcription. This part is evidenced by telegraphic notes within the format of the text. More than 140 photographic samples are presented to bring to our eyes the events that took place 2,000 years ago.

About the Author

R.K.K. Rajarajan is Associate Professor in Visual Studies in the School of Arts and Aesthetics of the Jawaharlal Nehru University. He had his basic studies in Madurai Kamaraj University and his M.Phil. & Ph.D. at the Tamil University, Thanjavur. He was post-doctoral fellow of the Alexander von Humboldt Foundation (Bonn) in the Free University (Berlin). He was on the teaching staff of the Eritrean Institute of Technology, Asmara and Gandhigram Rural University, Gandhigram for some time. The author’s Master of Philosophy thesis was on the art history Alakarkoyil temple (the historica l divyadesa-Maliruncolai), and doctoral work on Nayaka architecture and iconography, published by the Sharada Publishing House (Delhi, 2006) in two volumes. His other publications includes Studies in Art History of India (ed. 2010), Rock-cut Model Shrines in Early Medieval Indian Art (2012), and Minaksi-Sundaresvara: Tiruvilaiyatar Puranam in Letters, Design and Art (with Dr Jeyapriya, 2013). However, the outstanding publications are in international journals published from Rome (East and West), Napoli (Annali dell' Universita di Napoli “L'Orientale”), Oslo (Acta Orientalia), Sheffield UK (Religions of South Asia), Berlin (Berliner Indologische Studien), Reinbek (Festschrift of Professor Helmut Nespital), South Asian Studies (Cambridge), The Quarterly Journal of the Mythic Society (Bangalore), several conference proceedings and felicitation volumes.