I think many of the current/recent poets take inspiration from old tamil poems. Many of Kannadasans songs have very indepth meaning.
Recently I was watching 'satti suttadhada' and 'kan pona pokkile' in youtube. What golden words. The words on 'nagarigam' in the kan pona pokkile.....if those were the words 30-40 years ago, what would have he written, if he was alive now?
He summarized Swami Vivekananda's teachings in 'aaru maname aaru', one of my favorite songs too. I also watched vaanambadi 'aan kaviyai vella vandha' - that has beautiful lines 'varuvadellam kadhalithal vazhvadevvaaru, than vazhakayiye kadhilathaal puriyum appodhu'.
Kannadasan's genius was his simplicity, lyrics that appeal to the common man, at the same time depth and meaning attached.