Remembering Pandithurai Thevar
Today, March 21st marks the birthday of a great patron, protector of, and poet in Tamil, yes that is Pandithurai Thevar. He was born in 1867.
Patron
That was the period our native languages were suffering due to 150 years of foreign rule, and the eroded powers of our kings and landlords on account of successive man-made famine. In Tamil Nadu (then Madras Presidency), you can find a standing example in Ramanathapuram district where Pandithurai Thevar, who also hails from a Zamindari family, As a result, the traditional Tamil scholars perished without support. The palm leaf manuscripts maintained by them were also disappearing. Christian Missionaries had printing machines as part of their proselytizing agenda. To face their onslaught we also had to move our literature and dharmic texts to print which in turn required funding. This is exactly where we recall the services of Pandithurai Thevar (hereinafter referred to as Thevar) with gratitude. Consider the following sample of sponsorship support of wor Thevar:
- He honored U V Swaminathan Iyer by inviting him to Ramanathapuram and providing material support for printing Manimegalai (one of the five great epics of the Tamil language), Pura Porul Venpamalai, etc.
- Thevar had helped him to publish Sunnagam Kumaraswamipulavar’s books like Dandiyalankaram.
- Assisted in the editing efforts of Arumukha Navalar.
- Assisted in the study of Swami Vibulananda‘s poetical–musical works.
- Aa. Singaravelu Mudaliar compiled the information for the encyclopedia and Thevar sponsored the publish it as ‘Abidhana Chintamani‘.
- Thevar himself compiled and published books including a collection of Tamil poetry and Saiva Manjari
- The ‘Somasundara Vilasa Mansion‘ was built by him near his father’s house, and became an art and literary center, hosting Tamil poets and scholars.
Tamil Sangam IV
Above all, he played a major role, in establishing a modern version of Tamil Sangam which is known as the Fourth Tamil Sangam. In short, the first three Tamil Sangams, known as the Sangam Era, are celebrated for the original works of Tamil literature such as Puranaanooru and Aganaanooru, providing us with a glimpse of the values adhering to an ethos of Tamil-speaking Bharatiyas. One such most quoted line is Yaadum Oore Yaavarum Kelir, equivalent to the Vasudeva Kutumbakam principle. Tamil scholars’ works include U V Sa, Raghavayangar, Arasan Sanmuganar, Ramasamy Pulavar, Sabapati Navalar, and Subramanian Kavirayar were published in the Senthamil magazine published by the Tamil Sangam.
Protector
Thevar had an uncompromising attitude towards cherishing Tamil as cited above and he would go to any extent to ward off the evil attempts of enemies of our native culture, art, and language. We will quote two such instances.
Once, a Scottish priest came up to Thevar and told him that in many places in Thirukkural, there were no Edugai or Monai (the equivalent of Chandas in Sanskrit literature). He had corrected all of them and printed the correct Thirukkural. Realizing the priest’s ignorance about the spirit of Thirukkural, Thevar bought all the printed books and manuscripts from him and burnt them on fire so that the trash of the Scottish priest does not see the light of day!
Around 1901, attempts were made to remove the Tamil subject from the syllabus of Chennai University. To stop this, Surya Narayana Shastri and Pooranalingam Pillai met Thevar in person and asked for help. Thevar immediately convened the Madurai Tamil Sangam and passed a resolution to show his opposition. Madras University understood the popular mood and announced that it would abandon the decision to remove Tamil.
Poet
Thevar was himself a poet and the following is a list of his contribution to Tamil literature.
- Sivajnanapuram Murugan Kavadi Chindu.
- Shivajnana Swami Irattai Manimalai.
• - Raja Rajeshwari Pathikam.
One more reason why we Bharatiyas should salute Thevar. As a patriot, he donated Rupees One and a half lakh to the indigenous ship project of V O Chidambaram Pillai.
Thus, in just 44 years Pandithurai Thevar made huge contributions to the language- Dharma- a nation that would stand for several centuries. Thevar took leave of us on 2nd December 1911
Note:
1. Text in Blue points to additional data on the topic.
2. The views expressed here are those of the author and do not necessarily represent or reflect the views of PGurus.
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