I am not a hardcore religious person, but somewhere it stayed in my subconscious mind that reading "Sundara Kanda" at the trying times will bring in good things. I always used to recommend the same to my friends and sister, gift them a copy of "Sundara Kanda", even though till now I hadn't got a chance to do so. Right now I am jobless, somewhere the insecurity is trying to creep in and I thought why not we practise what we used to preach. Then I changed my mind - why "Sundara Kanda" alone, why not whole of "Ramayana". It had been many years since I read that epic last time. So I started reading "Ramayana", written / translated in Tamil by the renowned poet of classic literature - "Kambar". Since I had read the Valmiki Ramayana also, I noticed small changes adapted to Tamil nativity, which I found intresting the liberties taken while adapting to local culture.
Instance 1: Sita's marriage:-
Vishwamitra brings Rama & Lakshmana to Mithila, where King Janaka is performing the "Yagna". There was an old & strong bow, on breaking it Rama claims the hand of Sita and their marriage takes place. This is what was in Valmiki's version. Kambar on his adaptation makes it as a love affair. He creates a romantic situation that Rama and Sita exchange glances in the garden & fall in love with each other on the eve of the "Yagna" rituals. The immortal romantic lines "Annalum nokkinaan, avalum nokkinaal.." (Hero saw her, she also saw him) was thus born. When the news of Rama breaking the bow reaches Sita, instead of happiness she feels scared that whether she might have to marry some stranger (Stanza. 53) and felt overjoyed when she learns that it was the guy whom she met last evening and loved. Kambar's adaptation is loosely based on the romances of "Thalaivan - Thalaivi" (Hero, heroine) in the famous "Agananooru", that mirrored the glorious love life in ancient Tamil culture.Instance 2: Ravana kidnaps Sita:-
In the Valmiki's version, on seeing the real identity of Ravana who initially disguised as a beggar, Sita swoons and falls down immediately & he carries her on his shoulder and flies away in "Pushpak". There was this physical contact between Ravana and Sita. But in the conservative South Indian culture, especially Tamil, unnecessarily touching woman other than mother and wife is not allowed & practised also. Men always keep a distance from the woman and restrained from even eye contact with other's wife (piran manai nokkamai). So Kambar adapts to Tamil milieu that Ravana dislodges the whole of Panchavati with Sita inside, carries the hut and plants the same in Asoka Vanam in Sri Lanka (Stanza No. 159).In Kamba Ramayana, while Rama reaches Kishkinda in search of Sita, the "vanaras" give a bundle of jewels saying that the lady being kidnapped threw these things. Rama asks Lakshmana to identify them. Lakshmana identifies only the anklets of Sita saying that since he did "patha pooja" (offering prayers at her feet) everyday to her, he could identify that jewel only, indicating that he hadn't seen the body & jewels of Sita, representing the conservativeness of Tamil culture (Once again "piran manai nokkamai"). But Valmiki's Ramayana has no such dramatic incident.
An intresting point to be noted in this incident is that Rama and Lakshmana follow the chariot's wheel mark's that run for some distance that gradually disappeared after some point - Indians had an idea about the runway and take off for a flying object.
Instance 3: Sukreevan dignifies Tara
Another departure from Valmiki's Ramayana, pointed out by my Bala mama (Brother in Law), is the relationship between Sukreevan and Tara. Valmiki's Ramayana says that the "Vanara" king Vaali banishes his brother Sukreevan and marries his wife Ruma. After years Sukreevan manages to kill Vaali and "owns" Vaali's wife Tara. Valmiki's Ramayana tends to portray the "vanaras" as not so cultured as they are monkeys. But Kambar dignifies the "Vaanaras" and their life as living with moral code, by changing this episode a bit. Sukreevan annoints Tara as "Rajamatha" (Mother of the nation) and coronates Vaali's son "Angadha" as crown prince. An intresting deviation from the original.
Instance 4: Sita hugs Hanuman:-There is this incident in Valmiki's Ramayana. After coronation Rama bids good bye to everybody with gifts in Ayodhya, and Hanuman receives a Sita's pearl necklace as a gift. But Hanuman chews it and spits which angers everybody around him. Hanuman says that he couldn't find his soulmate Rama in those pearls. Overwhelmed by Hanuman's selfless love, Rama asks Sita to give Hanuman a bear hug, the thing which she had done for Hanuman only. But in Kambar's adaptation, this incident is not mentioned. Again due to Tamil culture, Kambar might not have digested the concept of Rama's wife hugging another man. If anybody had come across this incident in "Kamba Ramayanam", please let me know.
Instance 5: Ravana as Dravidian hero:-
Valmiki's Ravana was a ruthless demon. But Kambar's Ravana was a brave soldier who had defeated "deva" and ruled the three worlds of Hindu mythology. Kambar had a soft corner for Ravana as he belonged to Dravidan land - southern part of India. In ancient India people of Tamilnadu, Kerala, Karnataka, Andhra Pradesh and regions beyond Southern parts of Vindhya are called as Dravidans & of Northern land are called as Aryas. So as per geographical classification, Rama is an Aryan, Ravana is a Dravidian while Kambar who translated Valmiki's work is also a Dravidian. I think the reason for Kambar's softcorner is now evident. So Kambar portrays Ravana as a hardcore devotee of Lord Shiva, a fearless warrior but fell for the conspiracy of Surpanika - Ravana's sister, who thought Ravana was responsible for her husband's death. According to Kambar's version, Surpanika poisons Ravana to own Sita as a prestige symbol and give her all pleasures as Sita was living a life of an ascetic with her husband. Ravana keeps the war going through as ego problem rather than love for Sita. Instance 6: Rama's coronation:-In the final part of Kamba Ramayanam, Kambar shows his gratitude to Sadaiyappa Vallal, who patronised Kambar financially by writing that "During Coronation, the ancestors of Sadaiyappa Vallal took the crown and gave to Vashista Maharishi, who placed it on Rama's head and crowned him" (Poem no. 38, Yuddha Kanda). Kambar manages to dignify the lineage of Sadaiyappa Vallal by associating them with Rama's coronation.
(Very similiar incident happened in last century. Every Tamil devotee is aware of this devtional song - "Marudhamalai maamaniye murugaiyyah, Devarin kulam kaakkum velaiyyah.." written by famous poet & lyricist Kavignar. Kannadasan, sung on Lord Muruga in Marudamalai, Coimbatore. It means like this "Oh! Marudamalai Muruga, who takes care of Deva(r)'s dynasty..". The "Devar" in the question is supposed to have double entendre - it not only denoted the "Deva"s (Gods) but also the famous studio owner "Devar" of "Devar Films" who was also a major contributor to Marudhamalai temple by constructing steps from foothill to the top & patronised Kannadasan for a long. It was Kannadasan's gratitude / tribute to Devar by making him immortal as long as this song lives in the hearts of Tamil devotees.)
The Tamil version's are available as follows.
1. Valmiki Ramayanam - Swami Sidhbhavananda Ashram Publications, Thuraiyur. Price: N/A, Pages: N/A (I read this book only earlier).
1a. Valmiki Ramayanam - Poet. B.S. Acharya, Narmada Publications, Rs. 120/-, 32 illustrations.
2. Kamba Ramayanam (many publications available) but my favourite is by Poet. C. Thirunavukkarasu, Narmada Publications, Rs. 140/-, 511 Pages & 32 illustrations.