Mahakavi Bharathi 1882-1921

Subramanya Bharathi (December 11, 1882 - September 11, 1921) better known as Mahakavi Bharathiar (Maha Kavi meaning Great Poet) in Tamil, is deemed one of the greatest poets of twentieth-century India. A prolific writer, philosopher and a great visionary of immense genius and perspicacity, Bharathiar was also one of the most prominent leaders of the Indian independence movement in South India. Mahakavi Bharathi This image is in the public domain in the United States and possibly other jurisdictions. ... Mahakavi Bharathi This image is in the public domain in the United States and possibly other jurisdictions. ... Jump to: navigation, search December 11 is the 345th day (346th in leap years) of the year in the Gregorian calendar. ... 1882 was a common year starting on Sunday (see link for calendar). ... September 11 is the 254th day of the year in the Gregorian calendar (255th in leap years). ... Jump to: navigation, search 1921 was a common year starting on Saturday (see link for calendar). ... Tamil is a classical language and one of the major languages belonging to the Dravidian language family. ... (19th century - 20th century - 21st century - more centuries) Decades: 1900s 1910s 1920s 1930s 1940s 1950s 1960s 1970s 1980s 1990s The 20th century lasted from 1901 to 2000 in the Gregorian calendar (often from (1900 to 1999 in common usage). ... Jump to: navigation, search The Indian Independence Movement was a series of revolutions empowered by the people of India put forth to battle the British Empire for complete political independence, beginning with the Rebellion of 1857, reaching its climax with Mahatma Gandhis Quit India Movement (1942-1945), and Subhas... A map of South India, its rivers, regions and water bodies. ...

The house in Ettayapuram where he was born

Born on December 11, 1882 in the Tamil village of Ettayapuram, Bharathi was educated at a local high school where his talents as a poet were recognized even at the age of 11. After an early marriage, Bharathy, curious to see the outside world, left for Kashi in 1898. The next four years of his life, served as a passage of discovery, where Bharathy discovered a country in tumult, outside his small hamlet. Download high resolution version (996x663, 1246 KB)The house in Ettayapuram where Bharathiyar was born File links The following pages link to this file: Subramanya Bharathy Ettayapuram Categories: GFDL images ... Download high resolution version (996x663, 1246 KB)The house in Ettayapuram where Bharathiyar was born File links The following pages link to this file: Subramanya Bharathy Ettayapuram Categories: GFDL images ... The house in Ettayapuram where Bharathiar was born Ettayapuram (எட்டையாபுரம் in Tamil) is a village in Thoothukudi (a. ... Jump to: navigation, search December 11 is the 345th day (346th in leap years) of the year in the Gregorian calendar. ... 1882 was a common year starting on Sunday (see link for calendar). ... Tamil Nadu (தமிழ் நாடு, Land of the Tamils) is a state at the southern tip of India. ... The house in Ettayapuram where Bharathiar was born Ettayapuram (எட்டையாபுரம் in Tamil) is a village in Thoothukudi (a. ... Benares (also known as Banaras, Kashi, Kasi and Varanasi (वाराणसी)) is a Hindu holy city on the banks of the river Ganga or Ganges in the modern north Indian state of Uttar Pradesh. ... 1898 was a common year starting on Saturday (see link for calendar). ...

He had an exceptional love and devotion towards his mother tongue Tamil language, which he considered as the sweetest of all the languages known to him. He was fluent in many languages including Bengali, Hindi, Sanskrit, Kuuch, French and English and frequently translated works from other languages into Tamil. He had a voracious apetite for learning ancient and contemporary Tamil literature and had a gifted intellect to derive astonishing truths from ancient poems. First language (native language, mother tongue, or vernacular) is the language a person learns first. ... Tamil is a classical language and one of the major languages belonging to the Dravidian language family. ... This is a disambiguation page — a navigational aid which lists other pages that might otherwise share the same title. ... Hindi (हिन्दी) is a language spoken mainly in North and Central India. ... The Sanskrit language ( संस्कृता वाक्) is one of the earliest attested members of the Indo-European language family and is not only a classical language, but also an official language of India. ... The English language is a West Germanic language that originates in England. ... Tamil is a classical language and one of the major languages belonging to the Dravidian language family. ...

Immersing himself in Hindu spirituality and nationalism, Bharathy returned to his Southern home, an iconoclast who shattered without hesitation, every meaningless social taboo and rule that held sway amidst the orthodox South Indians. By the early 1900s Bharathy had become completely involved in the nationalist movement and took active part in the Congress meets through out the country. Jump to: navigation, search Hinduism (सनातन धर्म; also known as Sanātana Dharma, and Vaidika-Dharma) is a worldwide religious tradition that is based on the revealed knowledge of the Veda scriptures and the direct descendent of the Vedic Indo-Aryan religion. ... Jump to: navigation, search // Nationalism is an ideology which holds that the nation, ethnicity or national identity is a fundamental unit of human social life, and makes certain political claims based on that belief, above all the claim that the nation is the only legitimate basis for the state and... An iconoclast originally referred to a person who destroyed icons, that is, sacred paintings or sculpture. ... 1900 is a common year starting on Monday. ... Indian National Congress (also known as the Congress Party, abbreviated INC) is a major political party in India. ...

During this period, Bharathy understood the need to be well-informed of the world outside and took avid interest in the world of journalism and the print media of the West. Bharathy joined as Assistant Editor of the Swadeshamitran, a Tamil daily in 1904. By April 1907, he had started and become the editor of the Tamil weekly India. and the English newspaper Bala Bharatham. Journalism is a discipline of collecting, verifying, analyzing and presenting information gathered regarding current events, including trends, issues and people. ... 1907 was a common year starting on Tuesday (see link for calendar). ...

These papers not only served the purpose of enlightening the masses on the affairs of the nation and the world outside, but also as a means of expressing Bharathy's stupendous creativity, which began to peak at this time. Bharathy started to publish his poems regularly in these editions. From complex religious hymns to rousing nationalist anthems, from contemplations on the relationship between God and Man to Songs on the Russian and French revolutions, Bharathy's subjects were truly diverse. A hymn is a song specifically written as a song of praise, adoration or prayer, typically addressed to a god. ... An anthem is a choral composition to an English religious text sung in church services. ...

This period produced such masterpieces as Kannan Paattu (The Song of Krishna), where Bharathy sought to portray The Divine as the source of all of humanity's passions in the most accessible of forms including in the roles of a love-lorn lover, of a mischievous child, of an innocent child, and of a wise teacher.

The poetry and imagination of Bharathy, of this era, has rarely been surpassed in any literature that followed. Bharathy also published two of his most widely read epics during this period Panchali Sapatham (Draupadi's Vow) a poetic semi-political reflection on greed, pride and righteousness derived from the Indian epic Mahabharata and Kuyil Paatu (Song of The Cuckoo) an ode and a tribute to the poet's favorite Shelley. The Mahabharata (Devanagari: महाभारत, phonetically Mahabharata - see note), sometimes just called Bharata, is one of the two major ancient Sanskrit epics of India, the other being the Ramayana. ... Shelley may mean: Shelley, Essex Shelley, Suffolk Shelley, West Yorkshire Shelley, Western Australia a suburb of Perth The Rule in Shelleys Case, a principle of the common law relating to property Percy Bysshe Shelley, English poet and husband of Mary Shelley Mary Wollstonecraft Shelley, English novelist and wife of...

As a journalist, Bharathy was the first in India to introduce caricatures and political cartoons to his newspapers; they were satirical and angry hand drawn illustrations of the poet that improvised heavily on the works of his inspiration Thomas Nast. Caricature of Alan Greenspan by Jan Op De Beeck. ... Thomas Nast (September 27, 1840–December 7, 1902) was a famous caricaturist and editorial cartoonist in the 19th century and is considered to be the father of American political cartooning. ...

By 1912 Bharathy was already a legend in South India and his political meetings in Pondicherry, where he lived since 1908, were attracting multitudes of young patriots, ready to join the non-violent constitutional agitation against the British rule. This article needs to be cleaned up to conform to a higher standard of quality. ... Jump to: navigation, search The British Raj is an informal term for the British colonial administration of most of the Indian subcontinent, or present-day India, Pakistan and Bangladesh, also included from 1886 was Burma. ...

This led to a systematic British suppression of what was dubbed as the "militancy". Several arrests and bans on his newspapers followed. The poet's health was badly affected by the imprisonments and by 1920, when a General Amnesty Order finally removed restrictions on his movement, Bharathy was struggling in penury and failing health resulting in his tragic premature death.

Bharathy died as a result of trampling by an elephant at Parthasarathy temple, Thiruvallikeni on September 11, 1921, not yet forty years of age. The legacy of the poet however endures. September 11 is the 254th day of the year in the Gregorian calendar (255th in leap years). ... Jump to: navigation, search 1921 was a common year starting on Saturday (see link for calendar). ...

Works

• Desiya Geethangal (Songs of the Nation)
• Desiya Iyakka Paadal (Anthems for the Indian Congress)
• Kaaviyangal (Epics)
  • Kuyil Paattu (Song of the Cuckoo)
  • Kannan Paattu (The Song of Krishna)
  • Paanjaali Sabatham (Draupadi's Vow)
• Stothirangal (Hymns)

Casteism

Bharathi fought against the caste system which was widely in vogue during his times. He also gave up his own casteistic identity. He was with an in-depth knowledge of the vedas and the Bhagavad Gita. He considered all living beings as equal and performed upanayanam to a harijan boy and made him an Iyer. He also scorned the divisive tendencies being imparted into the younger generations by their elderly tutors during his time. He openly criticized the preachers for mixing their individual thoughts while teaching the vedas and the Gita. He has written a preface to the Bhagavad Gita in Tamil. The word Caste is derived from the Portuguese word casta, meaning lineage, breed or race. ... This article is about the Hindu Shruti. ... Bhagavad Gīta भगवद्गीता, composed ca the fifth - second centuries BC, is part of the epic poem Mahabharata, located in the Bhisma-Parva chapters 23–40. ... In South Asias caste system, an untouchable, dalit, or achuta is a person outside of the four castes, and considered below them. ... Iyer is the name given to a community of Brahmins (members of the priestly class / caste) of India whose members profess the advaita philosophy propounded by sri Shankaracharya and whose ancestors have had strong ties with the Tamil region,for many centuries. ... This article is about the Hindu Shruti. ... Bhagavad Gīta भगवद्गीता, composed ca the fifth - second centuries BC, is part of the epic poem Mahabharata, located in the Bhisma-Parva chapters 23–40. ... Bhagavad Gīta भगवद्गीता, composed ca the fifth - second centuries BC, is part of the epic poem Mahabharata, located in the Bhisma-Parva chapters 23–40. ...

Characterization

Bharathi's life as a tragic poet is often stereotyped in biographical sketches and literature. The following are the recurring images of Barathi - as often portrayed in dramatic depictions of his life.

• A passionate poet, who often displayed his anger at the social system and his arrogance rising out of conviction in the ideas he believed in.
• An honest poet who often faced starvation.
• Highly principled and conscientious.
• A poet who was forgotten by the world. His funeral was attended by only 7 people.

See also

Wikiquote has a collection of quotations related to:

Subramanya Bharathy

Image File history File links i would like to see some quotations by or about goebbels. ... Wikiquote logo Wikiquote is a sister project of Wikipedia, using the same MediaWiki software. ...

External links

• Bharathiar - Life & Works
• Bharathy - Timeline
• Bharathi Songs
• Mahakavi Bharathiar