Chunnakam Kumaraswamy Pulavar () was a well-known

Sri Lankan Tamil Sri Lankan Tamils ( or ), also known as Ceylon Tamils or Eelam Tamils, are Tamils native to the South Asian island state of Sri Lanka. Today, they constitute a majority in the Northern Province, form the plurality in the Eastern Province a ...

scholar and

poet A poet is a person who studies and creates poetry. Poets may describe themselves as such or be described as such by others. A poet may simply be the creator (thought, thinker, songwriter, writer, or author) who creates (composes) poems (oral t ...

from Maylani village in

Chunnakam Chunnakam (; ) is a town, located north of Jaffna. It is one of the important commercial centres in Jaffna. The original name of the town was Mayilani. In northern Sri Lanka, Chunnakam is only second to Jaffna in terms of population density and ...

township in

Jaffna peninsula The Jaffna Peninsula (, or ) is a region in the Northern Province of Sri Lanka. It is home to the capital city of the province, Jaffna, and comprises much of the former land mass of the medieval Jaffna Kingdom. The peninsula was historically ...

in the

British British may refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * British people, nationals or natives of the United Kingdom, British Overseas Territories and Crown Dependencies. * British national identity, the characteristics of British people and culture ...

-held

Ceylon Sri Lanka, officially the Democratic Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka, also known historically as Ceylon, is an island country in South Asia. It lies in the Indian Ocean, southwest of the Bay of Bengal, separated from the Indian subcontinent, ...

now known as

Sri Lanka Sri Lanka, officially the Democratic Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka, also known historically as Ceylon, is an island country in South Asia. It lies in the Indian Ocean, southwest of the Bay of Bengal, separated from the Indian subcontinent, ...

. He lived from 1854 to 1922. He along with other activists were instrumental in the revival of native traditions in Sri Lanka that had been long dormant during the previous 400 years of colonial rule by various

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an powers.Muttukumaraswamipillai, E: "Kumaraswamy pulavar varalaru", page 3. pulavaragam Press Chunnakam, 1970

Early life

Chunnakam Kumaraswamy Pulavar was born to Ampalavanar and Chithamparammai on January 18, 1854 as only son, among two daughters. When the Pulavar was 5, he started studying

Tamil Tamil may refer to: People, culture and language * Tamils, an ethno-linguistic group native to India, Sri Lanka, and some other parts of Asia **Sri Lankan Tamils, Tamil people native to Sri Lanka ** Myanmar or Burmese Tamils, Tamil people of Ind ...

under Namasivaya Desikar and also started studying at Mallakam English School. At the age of 8 he started learning

Tamil literature Tamil literature includes a collection of literary works that have come from a tradition spanning more than two thousand years. The oldest extant works show signs of maturity indicating an even longer period of evolution. Contributors to the T ...

from Murukasu Panditar. Encouraged by Arumuga Navalar, a friend of his great uncle Muttukumara Kavirajar, Pulavar started learning

Sanskrit literature Sanskrit literature is a broad term for all literature composed in Sanskrit. This includes texts composed in the earliest attested descendant of the Proto-Indo-Aryan language known as Vedic Sanskrit, texts in Classical Sanskrit as well as some ...

from a close relative, Naganatha Panditar from the age of 9. In 1878 Rao Bhahadur C. W. Thamotharampillai asked the Pulavar to teach at his Saivapracasa Tamil School at Elalai, and two years later Pulavar was promoted to be the principal of the school.John H. Martyn, E: "Notes on Jaffna, Chronological, Historical, Biographical ", page 341. American Ceylon Press Tellippalai Ceylon, 1923 He was there for 22 years and earned high recognition for his hard work. During this time Pulavar wrote a number of research papers on ancient Tamil literature. He also wrote and published several articles on greatness of the

Hindu Hindus (; ; also known as Sanātanīs) are people who religiously adhere to Hinduism, also known by its endonym Sanātana Dharma. Jeffery D. Long (2007), A Vision for Hinduism, IB Tauris, , pp. 35–37 Historically, the term has also be ...

Saiva ''Saiva'' is a genus of Asian planthoppers, family Fulgoridae. They are colourful insects, marked boldly in red, blue, white and black, with a prominent slender stalk like structure arising on the head that points upwards or forward. The know ...

religion to counter the insulting articles published by

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clergy Clergy are formal leaders within established religions. Their roles and functions vary in different religious traditions, but usually involve presiding over specific rituals and teaching their religion's doctrines and practices. Some of the ter ...

at that time in

Jaffna Jaffna (, ; , ) is the capital city of the Northern Province, Sri Lanka, Northern Province of Sri Lanka. It is the administrative headquarters of the Jaffna District located on a Jaffna Peninsula, peninsula of the same name. With a population o ...

and

Tamil Nadu Tamil Nadu (; , TN) is the southernmost States and union territories of India, state of India. The List of states and union territories of India by area, tenth largest Indian state by area and the List of states and union territories of Indi ...

. In 1892 he married Chinnachiammai, daughter of Mylvahanam of Kantharodai /

Uduvil Uduvil () is an agricultural village of about 32.7 square kilometers situated along the KKS Road at about five miles to the North of Jaffna city, Sri Lanka. It is surrounded by the villages Chunnakam, Chunnākam, Kandarodai, Kandarōdai, Sanguvē ...

Contributions

When in 1896 Pulavar became a member of a committee, which was formed to oversee the reconstruction of the

Naguleswaram temple Keerimalai Naguleswaram temple (), historically known also as the Thirutambaleswaram Kovil of Keerimalai, is a famous Hindu temple in Keerimalai, located north of Jaffna, Northern Province, Sri Lanka in the suburb of Kankesanthurai. One of the ...

in Kīrimalai which was destroyed by the Portuguese colonials in 1621, he also composed the Oonjel songs on

Lord Shiva Shiva (; , ), also known as Mahadeva (; , , ɐɦaːd̪eːʋɐh and Hara, is one of the principal deities of Hinduism. He is the Supreme Being in Shaivism, one of the major traditions within Hinduism. Shiva is known as ''The Destroyer' ...

of Naguleswaram temple. In 1900 Jaffna Tamil Sangam was established by Kailasa Pillai, with the Pulavar as the chief examiner and member of the scholarly panel. In 1902 Pulavar was appointed as the head master of Arumuga Navalar’s Saivapirahasa Tamil School in Vannarpannai. Eventually he gained much recognition for his eminence. In 1902 Madurai Tamil Sangam was established in Tamil Nadu by Zemeendar Panditurai Devar and

Ramanathapuram Ramanathapuram (), also known as Ramnad, is a city Municipal Corporation in Ramanathapuram district in the Indian state of Tamil Nadu. It is the administrative headquarters of Ramanathapuram district and the second largest town (by population) ...

King Rajarajeswara Sethupathi. Pulavar was one of the first Tamil scholars invited to be examiner of the panel of Tamil scholars, a position he held for the next 20 years.S Arumugam, E: "Dictionary of Biography of the Tamils of Ceylon ", page 88. London UK, Jan 1997 ;Scholarly contributions Pulavar contributed research articles regularly to journals and composed many poetic compositions and works in prose among which some are ''Tamil Pulavar Charithram'' (History of Tamil poets), ''Ilakkiya Sol Aharathy'' (Dictionary of classical terms), ''Neethi Neri Vilakkam'' (An explanation of the judicial process), ''Megathootha Karikai'' and ''Raguvamsa Charitha Amirtham'' (Both religious works). Besides the above, he also published some of the Tamil classics, with his explanatory notes and comments. He was also a Sanskrit scholar. Pulavar died due to illness on March 9, 1922. He had two sons Ambalavanapillai & Muttukumaraswamipillai, who were also able scholars, and a daughter Visalachiyammai. Kumaraswamy pulavar is well respected by people of Jaffna and

Tamils The Tamils ( ), also known by their endonym Tamilar, are a Dravidian peoples, Dravidian ethnic group who natively speak the Tamil language and trace their ancestry mainly to the southern part of the Indian subcontinent. The Tamil language is o ...

all over for his scholarly attributes.

References

External links

Hundred Tamils
{{DEFAULTSORT:Pulavar, Kumaraswamy 1854 births Sri Lankan Tamil revivalists Sri Lankan Tamil people Hindu poets Sri Lankan Hindus Sri Lankan Hindu revivalists 1922 deaths

Early life

Contributions

See also

References

External links