Hi Friends,
Todays Personality of the Day is Our Tamil Thatta - Swaminatha Iyer
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U. V. Swaminatha Iyer
Special Editio for MVMK Groups
Dr. U.V. Swaminatha Iyer
Dr. U. V. Swaminatha Iyer (Uttamadhanapuram Venkatasubbaiyer Swaminatha Iyer
Tamil: உத்தமதானபுரம் வேங்கடசுப்பையர் சாமிநாதையர்), 1855 – 1942 C.E., was a
Tamil scholar and researcher who was instrumental in bringing many
long-forgotten works of classical Tamil literature to light. His singular
effort over five decades brought to light major literary works in Tamil and
contributed vastly to the enrichment of its literary heritage. Dr. Iyer
published over 91 books in his lifetime, on a variety of matters connected to
classical Tamil literature, and collected 3067 paper manuscripts, palm leaf
manuscripts and notes of various kinds. He is affectionly called as "Tamil
Thatha" (Grandfather of Tamil)
Contents[hide]
* 1 Early life
* 2 Academic career
* 3 Manuscript recovery
* 4 Contributions to Tamil music
* 5 His autobiography
* 6 Awards
* 7 Death and legacy
[edit] Early life
Utthamadhanapuraam Venkatasubramanian Swaminathan was born on February 19, 1855
C.E. in the village of Suriaymoolai in the house of his maternal grandfather,
near Kumbakonam in present-day Tamil Nadu. His father, Venkatasubbaiyer, was a
musician and Sivakatha exponent who earned his living by giving discourses on
the Hindu texts; by the nature of his profession, he travelled a lot. Observing
his son's aptitude, Venkatasubbaiyer made all efforts to educate the boy and
put him in the care and tutelage of noted Tamil scholars.
Swaminatha Iyer had his early education in Tamil under some teachers in his
native village. Although his father Venkatasubbaiyer, a musician, wanted his
son to learn music, Swaminatha Iyer was inclined to concentrate on Tamil. When
he was 17, he became a disciple of Mahavidwan Meenakshisundaram Pillai, a Tamil
scholar, who was in the service of the Thiruvavaduthurai Adheenam in the old
Thanjavur district. This was one of the wealthy Saiva mutts in Tamil Nadu,
which patronised Tamil teachers and men of letters and propagated its religious
philosophy through them. Swaminatha Iyer learnt Tamil under the guidance of
Meenakshisundaram Pillai for five years. During this period, he earned the
goodwill of the mutt head, himself a Tamil scholar.
After a few years of study in Kunnam, Swaminatha Iyer moved to Mayavaram and
continued his study of Tamil literature with Meenakshisundaram Pillai.
[edit] Academic career
Tyagaraja Chettiar was the head of the Tamil Department at the Government
College, Kumbakonam. A student of Meenakshisundaram Pillai, he was a man of
great erudition and was held in high esteem alike by his pupils and by the
public. When Chettiar retired, he recommended that Swaminatha Iyer be invited
to take his place. Swaminatha Iyer was duly appointed to that post on February
16, 1880. During his tenure at the College, Swaminatha Iyer met Ramaswami
Mudaliar. The friendship between them proved to be a turning point in
Swaminatha Iyer's life. Mudaliar was responsible for persuading Iyer to edit
and publish the ancient Tamil classics. Swaminatha Iyer had till then confined
his enjoyment of Tamil literature to medieval works. Mudaliar also gave him a
handwritten copy of Seevaga Sindhamani for publication.
[edit] Manuscript recovery
As the Civaka Cintamani was a Jain classic, Swaminatha Iyer went to the homes
of learned member of the Jain community in Kumbakonam to get some doubts
cleared. He also read the Jain epics and collated several manuscript versions
and arrived at a correct conclusion. It was due to his efforts that the Cevaka
Cintamani was published in 1887. From that time onwards, he began to search for
Sangam classics with a view to editing and publishing them. After the Cevaka
Cintamani, the Pattupattu was published.
Thus began Swaminatha Iyer's long search for the original texts of ancient
literary works during which he regularly worked with S. V. Damodaram Pillai. It
was a search that lasted until his death. Many people voluntarily parted with
the manuscripts in their possession. Swaminatha Iyer visited almost every
hamlet and knocked at every door. He employed all the resources at his command
to get at the works. As a result, a large number of literary works which were
gathering dust as palm leaf manuscripts in lofts, storerooms, boxes and
cupboards saw the light of day. Of them, the Cilappatikaram, Manimekalai and
Purananuru were received by Tamil lovers with a lot of enthusiasm. Purananuru,
which mirrored the lives of Tamils during the Sangam period, prompted scholarly
research on the subject. In a span of about five decades, Swaminatha Iyer
published about 100 books, including minor poems, lyrics, puranas and bhakti
(devotional) works.
Swaminatha Iyer retired from active teaching in 1919. His research work
increased several times after retirement. He travelled from place to place in
search of palm leaf manuscripts so as to edit and publish them. From 1924 to
1927, Iyer was the Principal of the Meenakshi Tamil College in Annamalai
University, Chidambaram. On health grounds, he resigned the post, came to
Madras and continued his research.
[edit] Contributions to Tamil music
Another significant contribution made by Swaminatha Iyer is in the realm of
Tamil music. Until Swaminatha Iyer published the Cilappatikaram, Pattupattu and
Ettuthokai, music was a grey area in Tamil research. During the previous four
centuries, Telugu and Sanskrit dominated the music scene in Tamil Nadu in the
absence of any valuable information on Tamil music. Swaminatha Iyer's
publications threw light on the glorious presence of Tamil music in the earlier
centuries and paved the way for serious research on the subject. As the son of
a famous musician of his time, Swaminatha Iyer learnt music from Gopalakrishna
Bharathi, an outstanding musical exponent and the author of Nandan Sarithiram.
[edit] His autobiography
Dr. Swaminatha Iyer published his autobiography, En Sarithiram, serialised in
the Tamil weekly Ananda Vikatan, from January 1940 to May 1942. It was later
published as a book in 1950.
[edit] Awards
Dr. Iyer was conferred the honorary doctoral degree (D.Litt.) by the University
of Madras in 1906. In recognition of his outstanding literary accomplishments
and contributions, he was also honoured with the title, Mahamahopathiyaya,
literally: "Greatest of great teachers". In the same year, when the Prince and
Princess of Wales visited Madras, a function was arranged where Swaminatha Iyer
was honoured.
Dr. Iyer was awarded the title of Dakshina Kalanidhi in 1925. In 1932, the
Madras University awarded an honorary PhD to him in recognition of his services
in the cause of Tamil. India Post (http://www.indiapost.gov.in) issued a
commemorative postage stamp on 18 February 2006.
[edit] Death and legacy
Dr. Iyer died on April 28, 1942. It was due to his efforts that the world came
to know the wonderful literary output of the ancient Tamils and their glorious
past. Tamil poet and nationalist Subramania Bharati, who inspired the freedom
movement with his powerful songs, was a distinguished contemporary of
Swaminatha Iyer. Paying glowing tributes to Swaminatha Iyer in one of his
poems, Bharati equated Iyer with Saint Agasthya when he called him "Kumbamuni"
(Saint Agasthiar- Who was among the first exponents of Tamil - was supposed to
have born in a "Kumbha" - a kind of vessel- hence the name Kumbamuni) and said:
"So long as Tamil lives, poets will venerate you and pay obeisance to you. You
will ever shine as an immortal."
Ur's
M.K.
"making impossible possible".
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