Illustrator : Ram Waeerkar 

Vol. No : 713

This Chitra Katha is adapted from a Tamil book written by an Italian priest, Fr. C.J. Beschi. The book is one of the earliest prose works in the Tamil language. 

Fr. Beschi or Veeramamunivar as he was known, came to India in the 17th century and settled down in Madurai. He studied Sanskrit, Telugu and Tamil and became proficient in all three languages. 

Besides Paramartha Guru he has several other books to his credit. He also wrote the first dictionary in Tamil and a tratise on Tamil grammar. 

Whatever might have been the intention of Fr. Beschi in writing these tales, over the years they gained increasing popularity in Tamil Nadu, Andhra Pradesh and Karnataka. The Guru is known by the name Paramananda in Andhra Pradesh and as Gampa Guru in Karnataka. In Kannada several stories, skits and essays have been written with the Gampa Guru as the central character. In fact a distinct school of humour named Gampa Sahitya has come into being in Kannada.