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Statue of Sri Muthuramalinga Thevar, Pasumpon, TN. facetagr.com
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| India Postage stamp India 1995 |
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| Thevarji, Netaji and others. twitter.com |
Thevar Jayanthi or
Sri Pasumpon Muthuramalingam Thevar Jayanthi is an important event in the state of Tamil Nadu, in particular, in the south Tamil Nadu. This memorable event has its origin in the 20th centaury to honor a great human being, patriot, freedom fighter and a devout Hindu from Pasumpon in Ramanathapuram district;; apart, he was a close associate of
Nataji Subbash Chandra Bose, a reputed freedom fighter and founder of
Indian National Army or Azad Hind Fauj'. (INA) to fight against the oppressive British rule under the British Crown. His jayanthi is celebrated every year on the 30th of October in his naïve place on a grand scale. Though he is no more, he is still being remembered by the millions of patriots, Tamil people and other others as he lived like a
Karma Yogi till the last breath of his life.in Thirunagar, Madurai on October 30, 1963. Elected to Parliament three times, he served as the the national Deputy Chairman of All India Forward Bloc (AIFB) from 1952, his date of birth and date of death fall on the same day and many people interpret this rare event as an act of divinity. As he happened to be inclined toward Hinduism and spirituality, this event is often referred to as
Guru Pooja and the celebrations ( 113th Thevar Jayanthi and 58th Guru Pooja ) this year take place right before his Samadhi in his native village Pasumpon, a small village about 50 km from the Madurai city. This year's Thevar Jayanthi was celebrated in a simple way due to Covid-19 pandemic that is not yet fully eliminated across the globe.
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| Sri Thevar and Sri Netaji Bose twitter.com |
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| Netaji and Thevar ji at Madurai.twitter.com |
Above image: Thevarji with Netaji, when the latter visited Madurai @Chandrabosebjp @anujdhar; Azhani chandran@thevar_yei Mar 14, 2018...
....................................The Ramanathapuram district, way past, produced many inspiring patriots and freedom fighters like Kumaraswamy Raja, Kamaraj, et al and among them Thevar's contribution toward the elevation of the Criminal Tribes Act (CTA) of 1871 introduced by the British in the aftermath of elimination of frightening notorious bands of thuggee by 1870, operating in the northern states (William Bentinick was the then Gov. General of India) was a major achievement in his life. The repulsion of this act saved million of people from facing humiliation. He fought single handedly for the official removal of this act by the Madras Government. Often referred to as the Tilak of South India, no doubt, he was imbibed with valor, wisdom and dedication inherited from his community - Kondayankottai Maravar community, He also fought for the welfare of the factory workers of south Tamil Nadu who worked without any personal safety against certain dangerous machinery, etc.
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| Location map. Pasumpon, Ramanathapuram, TN frontline.thehindu.com |
Sri Thevar was stood the ground with grit when facing failures and pit falls in his endeavor. He left the Congress Party long ago for two good reasons 01. Forceful resignation of Subbash Chandra Bose from the presidency of Congress in the 52 annual session of Indian National Congress held in March, 1939. It happened despite support from Sri Thevar and other national leaders. leaders. Being a disciple of Bose, Thevar was quite furious. When Bose started the Forward Block Part in June, 1939, Sri Thevar joined the party and held a key position. 02. Sri Thevar was quite resentful as the Justice Party (in power) and later the Congress Party had not taken any step to remove the Criminal Tribes Act (ACT) under which many law-abiding communities in Tamil Nadu were clubbed together and faced scrutiny and legal action. Besides, with this act in force, these communities were at a disadvantage to integrate with other communities and were subject frequent police enquiry.
Old times like me would like to recall Thevar's contribution toward the temple entry of the Dalits at the Meenakshi Amman, temple, Madurai for the first time in Tamil Nadu. When the team led by well-known lawyer and social reformer Madurai advocate and friend of Thevar Sri Vaidyanatha Iyer and Sri L.N.Gopalasamy, president and secretary of Tamil Nadu Harijan Sevak Sangh, respectively, a batch of Dalits and others like Sri P. Kakkan (who later became Home Minister in the Kamaraj Ministry), in the morning of July, 8, 1939,, Sri Thevar gave the patriots and social reformers his full moral support and his response to the first temple entry by the Dalits in Madurai was instantaneous; the successful temple entry won the appreciation of countless national leaders across the country. Being a well-recognized national leader, he stood above castes and creeds and was dead against the anti-god sentiments and disgusting atheist elements operating in some pockets of Tamil Nadu. His ''Iasta' Deva'' is Murugan and he had an abiding faith in dharma and Hinduism. Though his formal education came to end suddenly, he was fluent in English and had an in-depth knowledge of spirituality. He had keen interest in the woks of Sri Ramalinga Adigal, Sri Rama Krishna Paramahamsa, his disciple Sri Swami Vivekananda, Vedas and faiths like Buddhism. I have heard people often say that Bhakti and devotion to God and duty are his eyes. His soul was filled with patriotic zeal and his foresight was well-focused toward nationalism, national unity, welfare of Indian people and the growth of India as the British left India high and dry after having looted for more than 200 years.
The young generation should take inspiration from the political life of Sri Thevar and his lofty political ideology. He was steadfast in his pursuit of goals in his eventful life and never had he failed to take the path of dharma.
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