Periyar – History

• Born: September 17, 1879
• Parents: venkatappa nayakar And chinnathi
• Place: erode
• His mother tongue was Kannada but he was very fluent in Tamil Kannada and Telugu languages.
• He married Nagamani at his age of 19

Political life

•  He was elected the chairman in 1918 to erode municipality
• He joined in congress party in the year 1999 and participated in the non-cooperation movement during the year 1920
• In 1921 he conducted agitations against liquor shops in erode.
• He was elected as a president to the Madras state Congress committee in the year 1922-1923
• In 1924 he conducted a movement in vaikkom Kerala which enabled the backward class people to enter the Hindu temples.
• Hence, he was called Vaikkam Veerar. George Joseph took him To Vaikkom.
• George Joseph fondly called Rosappu Durai by the people of Madurai.
• During 1925 he opposed the and teachability system followed in that cheranmahadevi Ashram run by VVS Iyer.
• In 1925 he demanded communal representation in the Congress party during the state Congress meet Kanchipuram under the leadership of Thiru. Vi.Kalyanasundaranar.
• Since the party people opposed is demand he resigned from the Congress party.
• He started the self-respect movement in the year 1925.
• Its first state-level meet was conducted at Chengalpattu in the year 1929.
• He released a book named family planning in the year 1930.
• In 1938 he was awarded the title Periyar in the women’s Congress held at Chennai under the chairmanship of neelambigai, daughter of Maraimalai Adigal.
• The title was given by Dr. Dharmambal.
• He was sworn in as a leader of the justice party in the year 1938 and demanded a separate Dravidian country in the year 1939.
• In 1944 justice party renamed gravida as proposed by Annadurai.
• He married Maniammai (28) at his age of 70.
• He died on December 24 1973 at his age of 94.
• In 1936 Periyar got Dr. BR Ambedkar’s Annihilation of cast translated into Tamil immediately after it was written.
• The Anti-Hindi agitation (1937-39) had a big impact on Tamil Nadu politics.
• Priya was imprisoned for his role at the moment.
• Periyar work on women empowerment
• Priya was critical of patriarchy.
• He Condemned child marriage and the devadasi system.
• Periyar had been emphasizing women’s right to divorce and property.
• he rejected two terms like giving in marriage instead of using that he used life partner taken from Thirukural.
• Areas most important pieces of work on this subject is “why the woman is enslaved?”
• He will come to equal rights for males and females in property guardianship and adoption.
• He was a strong champion of birth control and contraception and said that motherhood was a burden to women.
• The Hindu succession Tamil Nadu amendment Act of 1989, which ensure equal rights to the ancestral property for women.

 View on religion:

• Priya wanted religion to be replaced by Rationalism.
• Religion means you accept superstitious belief -he said
• Periyar spends his entire life champion against superstition through thinkers or rationalist forums.
• Periyar objected to the hereditary priesthood in temples.
• He encouraged the people to boycott the Brahmin priest and their Vedic rituals.
• He advocated inter-caste and self-respect marriages devoid of any such rituals.
• Periyar argued that whoever had the right religious knowledge, even if they are common people can become Priest.

Journals:

•  Kudiyarasu (1925) – the magazine becomes the mouthpiece of the moment.
• Revolt (1929) – English journal
• Revolution (1933)
• Pagutharivu (1934) – with this newspaper he brings Tamil language reforms, he used to the roman number system.
• Viduthalai (1935)
• Dravidian – he used to write a character with the surname “Sithiraputhiran” in justice party journal.
• Unmai (truth) -1970

Special names:

• Sirai paravai
• Vaikom hero
• Pagutharivu pagalavan
• Rousseau of Tamil Nadu

Special names honored by UNESCO:

• Puthlagu Tholainokkalar
• South Indian Socrates