Subramania Bharati
Chinnaswamy Subramania Bharathi (March 11, 1882 – March 11, 1921) was a poet, writer, journalist, freedom fighter and social reformer. He is also known as Bharatiyar and Mahakavi. Bharathi was a pioneer of modern Tamil poetry with an excellent knowledge of Tamil poetry and prose. He has written poems and articles on Tamil, Tamil welfare, Indian liberation, women’s liberation, caste denial and various religions. He nurtured a sense of liberation in the minds of the people through his writings. King Ettappa Nayakkar conferred the title of Bharati, also known as Mechi and Kalaimagal, on her poetry. Bharathiyar’s books were nationalized by the Tamil Nadu state government in 1949. Bharathiyar was the first patriotic writer in India.
Bharathi lived in a turning point in Indian history. Bala Gangadhar Tilak, U. Way. Saminathiyar, w. E. Chidambaram Pillai, Mahan Aravind and others were his contemporaries. He considered Vivekananda’s student sister Nivedita as his guru.
Biography
Bharathiar was born on December 11, 1882 in Ettayapuram, then in the Thoothukudi district of Tamil Nadu (then Tirunelveli district) to Chinnaswamy Iyer and Ilkumi Ammal. Although his maiden name was Subramanian, he was called Subbaiah. In 1887 Ilkumi Ammal disappeared. So, Bharatiyar grew up with his grandmother Bhagirathi Ammal.
The poet expressed his fictional energy while still in school at the age of eleven. In 1897 he married Sellammala. He reached poverty in 1898 due to a loss of business. He informed the king of Ettayapuram about this and asked for financial assistance in the letter. Later he got a job at Ettayapuram Palace. Shortly afterwards, he quit his job and moved to Kasi. He stayed there from 1898 to 1902. Later Bharati was brought by the king of Edayapuram and lived in a palace. After seven years of songwriting, Bharathi’s song ‘Vivekapanu’ was published in 1904 in Madurai. Throughout his life he worked as a magazine editor at various times and as a Tamil editor at Sethupathi High School in Madurai.
Bharathi is fluent in Tamil, English, Hindi, Sanskrit and Bengali. He also translated other language literatures.
Bharatiyar monuments
The Government of Tamil Nadu is honoring the house where he lived in Ettayapuram, the house where he lived in Tiruvallikeni, Chennai and the house where he lived in Pondicherry as memorials to the memory of Mahakavi Bharathiar. A polytechnic college for women and a Bharathi Mani Mandapam have been set up in Ettayapuram where she was born. A seven feet high statue of Bharati was erected in the central hall and inaugurated by the Chief Minister of Punjab Darbar Singh on 13-02-2000. There is also a photo exhibition on Bharati’s biography.
Death
In January 1921, Tiruvallikeni fell ill after being attacked by an elephant at the Parthasarathy temple. A few days after he suffered from severe constipation. Then died September 12, 1921 at 01:30 AM. The house where he spent his last days is in Tiruvallikeni.
Source: Wikipedia
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