Salem Pagadala Narasimhalu Naidu (or Pagadala Narasimhalu Nayadu) (12 April 1854 – 22 January 1922) was an Indian politician, social worker, and publisher. He became the Secretary of the Coimbatore unit of the Indian National Congress (INC) when it was formed in 1885. He was the first person to have written travelogues in

Tamil Tamil may refer to: * Tamils, an ethnic group native to India and some other parts of Asia ** Sri Lankan Tamils, Tamil people native to Sri Lanka also called ilankai tamils **Tamil Malaysians, Tamil people native to Malaysia * Tamil language, nati ...

. He gave

Coimbatore Coimbatore, also spelt as Koyamputhur (), sometimes shortened as Kovai (), is one of the major metropolitan cities in the Indian state of Tamil Nadu. It is located on the banks of the Noyyal River and surrounded by the Western Ghats. Coimbato ...

some of its earliest industries and was instrumental in establishing public institutions.The Hindu : Metro Plus Coimbatore / Heritage : A man who made this city his own
/ref>A Catalogue of the Tamil Books in the Library of the British Museum, by Lionel David Barnett, George Uglow Pope, British Museum Department, Oriental Printed Books and Manuscripts, p. 208.

Brief history

Narasimhalu Naidu was born into a

Telugu Telugu may refer to: * Telugu language, a major Dravidian language of India *Telugu people, an ethno-linguistic group of India * Telugu script, used to write the Telugu language ** Telugu (Unicode block), a block of Telugu characters in Unicode S ...

-speaking Balija Naidu family to Rangaswami Naidu and Lakshmi Ammal in Erode on 12 April 1854. He was named Balakrishna at birth and was later renamed as Narasimhalu after his grandfather. He was married to Ethiraj Ammal of

Salem Salem may refer to: Places Canada Ontario * Bruce County ** Salem, Arran–Elderslie, Ontario, in the municipality of Arran–Elderslie ** Salem, South Bruce, Ontario, in the municipality of South Bruce * Salem, Dufferin County, Ontario, part ...

in 1868, who later died of tuberculosis after the death of their two sons. Subsequently, Narasimhalu Naidu married Meenakshi Ammal from Palakkad in 1899. He wrote his first travelogue ''Arya Divya Desa Yatari Sarithiram'' in 1889 describing his experiences beyond the Vindhyas. He began publishing the ''Salem Patriot'' in 1877 to write on social issues. After the ''Salem Patriot'' closed down, he began publishing the ''Coimbatore Abamaani'' and then ''Coimbatore Patrika'' in 1879. In 1881, he established another publication, ''Coimbatore Crescent''. The Kalanidhi Press was also established by him. Narasimhalu Naidu established Coimbatore city's first textile mill, CS&W Mills. He also established a

sugar mill A sugar cane mill is a factory that processes sugar cane to produce raw or white sugar. The term is also used to refer to the equipment that crushes the sticks of sugar cane to extract the juice. Processing There are a number of steps in pro ...

in Podhanur. He was involved in the establishment of the Victoria Municipal Hall (now the Town Hall), Coimbatore Cosmopolitan Club, Coimbatore College Committee and Coimbatore Co-operative store. The

Siruvani The Siruvani River is a river near Coimbatore, India. It is tributary of Bhavani river, which in turn is a tributary of Kaveri. Part of the Siruvani River is near Mannarkkad in the Indian District of Palakkad, Kerala. The river leads into two ...

water supply system in Coimbatore is the outcome of his study and efforts.The Hindu : Tamil Nadu / Coimbatore News : A reformer journalist
/ref> He was a visionary and helped awaken social and literary consciousness. He established bodies to spread the teachings of the Brahmo Samaj in Salem and Coimbatore. He wrote more than a hundred books and booklets on religion, history, music, agriculture, law and medicine. Narasimhalu Naidu traced his past to the Vijayanagara kings and is the author of ''Balijavaru Puranam'' (or ''Balija Vamsa Purana'') published in 1896. Narasimhalu Naidu was the Secretary of the Coimbatore unit of the Chennai Mahajana Sabha, a social

reform movement A reform movement or reformism is a type of social movement that aims to bring a social or also a political system closer to the community's ideal. A reform movement is distinguished from more radical social movements such as revolutionary mo ...

. He became the Secretary of the Coimbatore unit of the Indian National Congress (INC) when it was formed in 1885. He was one among the 21 representatives from Tamil Nadu who attended the first conclave of the INC in Bombay in 1885. He attended its next convention in Calcutta in 1886 and the third in Chennai in 1887.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Naidu, Salem Pagadala Narasimhalu People from the Madras Presidency 1854 births 1922 deaths People from Coimbatore People from British India