Kamba Ramayanam
The original version of Ramayana was written by Sage Valmiki. This epic of 24,000 verses of a Raghuvamsa prince, Rama of Ayodhya, whose wife Sita is abducted by Ravana, a mighty emperor. In Hinduism Rama is the Seventh incarnation of Lord Vishnu, one of the Hindu holy trinity (Brahma and Shiva completing the trinity).
The Ramavataram or Kamba Ramayanam of Kamban is an epic of about 11,000 stanzas as opposed to Valmiki's 24000 couplets. The Rama-avataram or Rama-kathai as it was originally called was accepted into the holy precincts in the presence of Vaishnava Acharya Nathamuni.
Kamba Ramayana is not a translation of the Sanskrit epic by Valmiki, but an original retelling of the story of the God Rama. The poetic work is well known for its similes.
Legend has it that the entire episode was written in one night by Lord Ganesha. Ganesha is said to have written the poems that Kambar dictated to him during the night, as Kambar procrastinated the work till the day before the deadline set by the King.
There is also a legend that Ottakuthar, an eminent Tamil poet and a contemporary of Kambar also composed Ramayanam. Tradition has it that Ottakoothar was ahead of Kambar as the former had already finished 5 Cantos but when the king asked for an update, Kambar, a master of words, lied that he was already working on the Setu Bandhalam, upon which Ottakoothar feeling dejected threw away all his work. Feeling guilty, Kambar recovered the last two chapters of Ottakoothar's composition and added into his own. Bala kaandam, Sundara kaandam, Yudha kaandam, Ayodhya kaandam are four main parts of six parts called Kaandam in Kambaramayanam.
Read more about this topic: Kambar (poet)