Tamil professor Kalanidhi Thavithu Adigal
We used to say, “Tamil is more than our life”. Or we hear someone says it. When a trouble came to our Tamil, he was valued Tamil above his own life, the Tamil professor Kalanidhi Thavithu Adigal, known as Ven. Singarajar Thavithu.
He was born on June 28, 1907. He changed his name David Adigal to Thavithu Adigal in Tamil. June 1, he went sadly to bed after that night were Jaffna Library was burned. June 2, 1981, he never rise up again. He passed away.
David Adigal is a Tamil professor from Jaffna. Etymologist. Multilingual expert. He has a great love for Tamil. He is a native of Thumbalai of Jaffna. Thavithu Adigal studied primary and secondary education at St. Patirisyar College, Jaffna, then passed the London Matriculation Examination and then passed the London University Bachelor’s Examination with Distinction.
He worked as a teacher from 1936 to 1967 at St. Patirisyar College, Jaffna, where his father studied. With the encouragement of Nallur Swami Gnanaprakasar, he learned Sanskrit language and obtained his master’s degree in it from the University of London.
After that he started learning the languages mainly living in the lower country and the main languages living in the upper country. After that, by focusing on the Tamil language and comparing it with other languages, following the comparative etymological dictionaries started by Swami Gnanaprakasar, he published the comparative etymological dictionaries in several parts starting from 1970. Thavithu Adigal has also written and published separate books. One of them is “We stand for…”. After retiring from teaching, he stayed in a room on the top floor of Patriyar College, where he had taught in the last part of his life. It was pointed out that Thavithu Adigal lost his live because of the shock of hearing the news that the library had been set on fire.
Jaffna library burning is an immortal fire! Tamil people will carry the memories of this fire even after generations. Every year my heart is filled with the memories of Thavithu who died because he could not bear the news of Jaffna burning.
(Correction by Tamilpriya)
HISTORICAL BACKGROUND OF THE JAFFNA LIBRARY FIRE
BURNING OF THE JAFFNA LIBRARY 01.06.1981
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