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Rajagopal Muthukumaraswamy (1936-2017) a publisher, librarian, translator and a Tamil scholar. He is also the Managing Director of South India Saiva Siddhanta Works Publishing Society Ltd., (also known as Kazhagam).
Muthukumaraswamy has been known to Tamil research scholars for more than 6 decades. As a writer he has contributed in translating famous English classics such as Kadathapatta David ( David Copperfield ), Wakefield Pathariyar ( The Vicar of Wakefield ), Karumani Malar ( Black Tulip ), Thayathu (Talisman) by Sir Walter Scott, Sirumi Eithi ( Heidi ) by Johanna Spyri, Indira Priyadharshani & 1008 Commemoration Bibliography. He has also compiled a bibliography of Tamil books jointly with Dr. S. R. Ranganathan, the father of the Library Movement of India.
Born in Chennai, Muthukumaraswamy had his education in Madras. After graduation in 1957 he trained in Library Science. Education: B.A. (Hons) (Tamil Literature) (1957) Pachaiyappa's College, M.A. (1958), D.L.S. (1959), B.Lib.Sc. (1961).
In 1980, he joined as the General Manager of South India Saiva Siddhanta Works Publishing Society Ltd. and was promoted to Managing Director in 1983. Apart from publishing old manuscripts and rare books, the Kazhagam is running a library called Maraimalai Adigal Library which was started in remembrance of Maraimalai Adigal and he started his career as a Librarian from this library. The library is considered important to Tamil Research Scholars. As a librarian he has helped more than 500 scholars to prepare their Thesis for Ph.D., M.Litt., & M.Phil., degree. He showed keen interest in collecting papers related to Tamil and Tamils history & culture. Likewise, few of the collections was utilized to publish a book in 1946 called Madras Presidency Tamil Sangam this is recorded by the author in the book called 'Antinomies of modernity essay' & his work is also recorded in another book called The Province of the Book as, 'The publishing house Saiva Siddhanta Kazhagam, which has a central place in Tamil publishing history. V. Subbiah Pillai and his heir apparent R. Muthukumaraswamy had built this library over the years as the place for Tamil imprints'. Also, he is the editor of the Tamil literary Magazine called SenTamizh Selvi.
Shiyali Ramamrita Ranganathan (S.R.R.) was a librarian and mathematician from India. His most notable contributions to the field were his five laws of library science and the development of the first major faceted classification system, the colon classification. He is considered to be the father of library science, documentation, and information science in India and is widely known throughout the rest of the world for his fundamental thinking in the field. His birthday is observed every year as the National Librarian's Day in India.
Tirumular was a Tamil Shaivite mystic and writer, considered one of the sixty-three Nayanmars and one of the 18 Siddhars. His main work, the Tirumantiram, which consists of over 3000 verses, forms a part of the key text of the Tamil Shaiva Siddhanta, the Tirumurai.
Sambandar, also referred to as Thirugnana Sambandar, Tirujnanasambanda, Campantar or Ñāṉacampantar, was a Saiva poet-saint of Tamil Nadu who lived sometime in the 7th century CE. He was a child prodigy who lived just 16 years. According to the Tamil Shaiva tradition, he composed an oeuvre of 16,000 hymns in complex meters, of which 383 (384) hymns with 4,181 stanzas have survived. These narrate an intense loving devotion (bhakti) to the Hindu god Shiva. The surviving compositions of Sambandar are preserved in the first three volumes of the Tirumurai, and provide a part of the philosophical foundation of Shaiva Siddhanta.
Thiruvarur Viruttachala Kalyanasundaram, better known by his Tamil initials Thiru. Vi. Ka, was a Tamil scholar, essayist and activist. He is esteemed for the strong humanism of his essays, the analytical depth of his commentaries on classical Tamil literature and philosophy, and the clear, fluid style of his prose. His works, along with those of V. O. Chidambaram Pillai, Maraimalai Adigal, and Arumuga Navalar, are considered to have defined the style of modern Tamil prose.
Sēkkilān Mādēvadigal Rāmadēva, known popularly by his family name as Sekkizhar, was a saint and a contemporary of Kulottunga Chola II. He compiled and wrote the Periya Puranam in 4253 verses, recounting the life stories of the sixty-three Shaiva Nayanars, the devotees of Shiva. Sekkizhar himself was later canonised and his work, the Periyapuranam became the twelfth and final book of the sacred Saiva canon.
Maraimalai Adigal was a Tamil orator and writer and father of Pure Tamil movement. He was a fervent Saivite Hindu. He wrote more than 100 books, including works on original poems tand dramas, but most famous are his books on his research into Tamil literature. Most of his literary works were on Saivism. He founded a Saivite institution called Podhunilaik Kazhagam. He was an exponent of the Pure Tamil movement and hence considered to be the father of Tamil linguistic purism. He advocated the use of Tamil devoid of Sanskrit words and hence changed his birth name Vedhachalam to Maraimalai.
Appar, also referred to as Tirunāvukkaracar or Navukkarasar, was a seventh-century Tamil Śaiva poet-saint. Born in a peasant Śaiva family, raised as an orphan by his sister, he lived about 80 years and is generally placed sometime between 570 and 670 CE. Appar composed 4,900 devotional hymns to the Hindu god Shiva, out of which 313 have survived and are now canonized as the 4th to 6th volumes of Tirumurai. One of the most prominent of the sixty-three revered Nayanars, he was an older contemporary of Thirugnana Sambandar.
Devaneya Pavanar was a prominent Tamil scholar who wrote over 35 research volumes. Additionally, he was a staunch proponent of the "Pure Tamil movement" and initiated the Etymological Dictionary Project primarily to bring out the roots of Tamil words and their connections and ramifications with Nostratic studies.
Anna Salai, formerly known as St. Thomas Mount Road or simply Mount Road, is an arterial road in Chennai, India. It starts at the Cooum Creek, south of Fort St George, leading in a south-westerly direction towards St. Thomas Mount, and ends at the Kathipara Junction in Guindy. Beyond the Kathipara Junction, a branch road arises traversing westwards to Poonamallee to form the Mount-Poonamallee Road while the main branch continuing southwards to Chennai Airport, Tambaram and beyond to form Grand Southern Trunk Road. Anna Salai, which is more than 400 years old, is acknowledged as the most important road in Chennai city. The head offices of many commercial enterprises and public buildings are located along Anna Salai. It is the second longest road in Chennai, after Poonamallee High Road.
Thani Tamil Iyakkam is a linguistic-purity movement in Tamil literature which attempts to avoid loanwords from Sanskrit, English and other languages. The movement began in the writings of Maraimalai Adigal, Paventhar Bharathidasan, Devaneya Pavanar, and Pavalareru Perunchitthiranaar, and was propagated in the Thenmozhi literary magazine founded by Pavalareru Perunchithiranar. V G Suryanarayana Sastri, a Professor, was a 20th-century figure in the movement; in 1902 he demanded classical-language status for Tamil, which it received in 2004.
Kalyanasundaram Anbazhagan was an Indian politician. He was a long-standing leader of the Dravidian movement and was the General Secretary of Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam party for nine terms. He has held several cabinet ministerial portfolios in the Tamil Nadu government under M. Karunanidhi including Finance, Education and Health and Social Welfare. He was elected as a member of the Tamil Nadu Legislative Assembly on nine occasions. He was earlier elected to the Lok Sabha the lower house of India's Parliament from Tiruchengode and was also a member of the Madras Legislative Council. He was popularly referred to as Perasiriyar (Professor), though he was a Lecturer in Tamil in Pachaiyappa's College before resigning to contest elections in 1957.
Parithimar Kalaignar, a Professor of Tamil at the Madras Christian College, was the first person to campaign for the recognition of Tamil as a classical language.
The religious views of Periyar E. V. Ramasamy resulted in him being considered the Voltaire of South India. Both opposed religion virulently because, in their views, the so-called men of religion invented myths and superstitions to keep the innocent and ignorant people in darkness and to go on exploiting them. Periyar has been a harsh critic of the Aryan influenced Hinduism in Tamil Nadu, more than the faiths of Islam, Buddhism and Christianity. He has spoken appreciatively of these other faiths in India finding in their ethics principles of equality and justice, thus advocating them if they can prove an alternative to Brahamanic Hinduism. With regards to institutionalized religion being used for personal gain, Periyar stated that "religion goes hand in hand with superstition and fear. Religion prevents progress and suppresses man. Religion exploits the suppressed classes." As religions, however, they are prone to be hit by accusation of superstition, exploitation and irrationalism.
Sundararaj Theodore Baskaran is an Indian film historian and wildlife conservationist.
Munnirpallam Sivasubramaniam Purnalingam Pillai was a Tamil language-writer and Dravidologist.
The South India Saiva Siddhanta Publishing Society Tinnevely Ltd. was founded in the year 1920 and started its function from Tirunelveli. Thiru. V. Thiruvarangam Pillai and Nellai Tamil saivites formed this company to publish books on Tamil and Saiva Samayam. Thiru. V. Thiruvarangam Pillai had good contact with Maraimalai Adigal who was also a great saivite lecturer. Maraimalai Adigal was an English professor at Madras Christian College, Tambaram. The Madras operation was taken care by Thiru V.Subbiah Pillai.
Madurai Adheenam is the oldest Saivite adheenam, a form of Hindu monastery, in South India. It was established more than 1,300 years ago, and is said to have been rejuvenated by Thirugnana Sambandar. It is located near the Meenakshi Amman Temple in Madurai, Tamil Nadu, one of the most important Shiva–Shakti shrines. It is an active centre of Saiva Siddhanta philosophy.
Saiva or Shaiva may refer to:
Meykandar, also known as Meykanda Devar, was a 13th-century philosopher and theologian who contributed to the Shaiva Siddhanta school Shaivism. His literary work known as Śiva Jñāna Bodham on Shaiva Siddhanta has enjoyed great vogue and prestige among Tamilians compared to other well-known Hindu philosophies such as Advaita of Adi Shankara and Vishistadvaita of Ramanuja.
Valluvar year, also known as the Thiruvalluvar year, is an officially recognized Tamil calendar system for use in Tamil Nadu. It is calculated on the basis of the supposed year of birth of the Indian poet-philosopher Valluvar. When comparing it with the widely used Gregorian calendar, Thiruvalluvar year will have an additional 31 years. For instance, the year 2021 in Gregorian calendar way is 2052 in the Thiruvalluvar year.
