Prime Minister Narendra Modi has appreciated the works of Kanniyakumari-based Tamil scholar and folklorist A.K Perumal, saying he had done an extraordinary work of preserving the story telling tradition of Tamil Nadu.
In his monthly Mann Ki Baat programme, the Prime Minister said the works of Mr. Perumal, who had travelled across Tamil Nadu to collect details about folk arts for his books, were really inspiring.
A native of Parakkai and student of Professor Jesudosan, Mr. Perumal was Professor of Tamil, Arignar Anna College, Aralvaimozhi. As Mr. Modi pointed out, he had written more than 100 books on folk tradition, oral storytelling, Ramayana in folk tradition, a voluminous book on puppetry, besides a detailed book on the history of Kanniyakumari district. Recently, he co-edited a collection of essays on the classical link between Tamil and Sanskrit with another scholar, S. Rajaram.
“He has another passion. He has done a lot of research on temple culture and puppetry,” Mr. Modi added.
