Vidhva Shiromani Brahma

Sri Shri (; , ) is a Sanskrit term denoting resplendence, wealth and prosperity, primarily used as an honorific. The word is widely used in South and Southeast Asian languages such as Marathi, Malay (including Indonesian and Malaysian), Javanes ...

C. Ganesha Iyer (1 April 1878 – 8 November 1958) was a Ceylonese Tamil philologist from

Jaffna Jaffna (, ) is the capital city of the Northern Province of Sri Lanka. It is the administrative headquarters of the Jaffna District located on a peninsula of the same name. With a population of 88,138 in 2012, Jaffna is Sri Lanka's 12th mo ...

Early years

Iyer was the fifth son of Chinnaiyar and Chinnammal, born in the agricultural village of Punnalaikkadduvan, 12 kilometers north of

city. His family consisted of learned and teachers. Iyer had his primary education (up to 8th standard) in a

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 known ...

school started by Kathirgama iyer in the courtyard of Siththi Vinayagar Temple and was a Teacher at the same school later on. This school was taken over by the Govt. and is in the opposite side of Aayakkadavai Sithivinayagar Temple. He ranked first in Tamil grammar, literature, history, religion and mathematics. The private tuition he received at home from his uncle, Kathirgama Iyer, enabled him to achieve the first rank in school. After the death of Ponnambala Pillai, Ganesha Iyer was a student under

Chunnakam Chunnakam ( ta, சுன்னாகம், translit=Cuṉṉākam; si, චුන්නාකම්, translit=Chunnakam) is a town, located north of Jaffna. It is one of the important commercial centres in Jaffna. The original name of the tow ...

Kumaraswamy Pulavar Chunnakam Kumaraswamy Pulavar ( ta, சுன்னாகம் குமாரசாமிப்புலவர்) was a well-known Sri Lankan Tamil scholar and poet from Maylani village in Chunnakam township in Jaffna peninsula in the British ...

for some time. He learned Tamil Grammar and

Sanskrit Sanskrit (; attributively , ; nominally , , ) is a classical language belonging to the Indo-Aryan branch of the Indo-European languages. It arose in South Asia after its predecessor languages had diffused there from the northwest in the late ...

from the Pulavar. Ganesha Iyer grew up a scholar by referring his doubts to Kumarasamy Pulavar and getting clarifications from him.

Family life

Iyer married Annalakshmi – the only daughter of his maternal uncle. Annalakshmi had good knowledge in Sanskrit and Tamil. The couple did not have any children. After the death of his wife, Ganesha Iyer bought a land and dug a

well A well is an excavation or structure created in the ground by digging, driving, or drilling to access liquid resources, usually water. The oldest and most common kind of well is a water well, to access groundwater in underground aquifers. The ...

in memoriam to his wife, which he named "Annalakshmi Koopam" and donated it to the ''Maruthady Vinayagar'' temple at Varuthalaivilan.

Grammatical and literary activities

Iyer had a matured proficiency in grammar. He wrote explanatory notes to the ancient Tamil literature called

Tolkāppiyam ''Tolkāppiyam'', also romanised as ''Tholkaappiyam'' ( ta, தொல்காப்பியம், ''lit.'' "ancient poem"), is the most ancient extant Tamil grammar text and the oldest extant long work of Tamil literature. The surviving manus ...

that is considered as the maxim for Tamil grammar. This work took him to the crest of popularity. For several years he went in search of the

palm-leaf manuscript Palm-leaf manuscripts are manuscripts made out of dried palm leaves. Palm leaves were used as writing materials in the Indian subcontinent and in Southeast Asia reportedly dating back to the 5th century BCE. Their use began in South Asia and ...

s of Tholkapiyam, collected them and took notes from them. Whenever he found any error, he corrected them, published the corrections in newspapers and got the approval of other scholars. After finalising everything he published a book, edited and published by Eezhakesari Naa of Ponniah. The following books were published ''Ezhuththathikaram'' (1937), ''Sollathikaram'' (1938), ''Porulathikaram'', 1st and 2nd parts (1943/1948).

Teacher

He served as a teacher in several schools in Jaffna. He was a certified teacher to teach in government schools. He was the Principal of Praseena Paatasala at Chunnakam established by Muhandiram T. Sathasiva Iyer from the year 1921 till 1932. During this period he created a lineage of eminent Pandithars in Eelam. After leaving this school, he held private classes in Varuthalaivilan. He taught grammar to teachers and others who came from various parts of the Jaffna Peninsula. Every evening he conducted a class under the

banyan A banyan, also spelled "banian", is a fig that develops accessory trunks from adventitious prop roots, allowing the tree to spread outwards indefinitely. This distinguishes banyans from other trees with a strangler habit that begin life as a ...

tree in the vicinity of Maruthady Vinayagar temple at Varuthalaivilan.

Final years

Iyer spent the last ten years of his life at Varuthalaivilan. He died on 3 November 1958.

References

External links

Biography of Viththuvan Kanesaiyar
by S. Sivalingarajah

Jaffna University The University of Jaffna ( ta, யாழ்ப்பாணப் பல்கலைக்கழகம், translit=Yāḻppāṇap Palkalaikkaḻakam; si, යාපනය විශ්වවිද්‍යාලය, ''Yāpanaya Viśvavidyālaya''; ...

Publication
Some Landmarks in the History of Tamil Literature in Ceylon (S. Ambikaipakan)
{{DEFAULTSORT:Ganesha Iyer, C. 1878 births 1958 deaths Tamil-language writers Tamil scholars People from Northern Province, Sri Lanka Writers in British Ceylon