this is my first mail to the group... i am (was) a lurker in the group too. the file on meikirthigal is awesome, and quite readable too. thanks a lot!
i have a question, probably a silly one. how were the poems of ancient tamil poets (like elangovadigal, kambar) preserved (or passed on?). were they written on copper plates, or olaichuvadi? if it is olaichuvadi, doesnt it get spoilt with time?
The ancient tamils used olaisuvadi like the egyptians using papyrus and the were cured and preserved unfortunately most of them are in British museums and universities
People did se Olaichuvadi and agreed it had limioted life however people copied and recopied the works and passed onto several gnerations...even now we can find several olaichuvadi copies of same work. There are a plenty of manuscripts in thanjai saraswath mahal.