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External affairs minister meets renowned Tamil poet’s family in Kashi
External affairs minister S Jaishankar later tweeted that he was Privileged to visit the family of Mahakavi Subramaniya Bharathi in Kashi on his birth anniversary ton Sunday.
VARANASI: On the second and last day of his visit to Kashi, external affairs minister S Jaishankar paid a visit to the family of Mahakavi Subramaniya Bharathi on his birth anniversary on Sunday and met his grandnephew KV Krishnan.
To note, C. Subramaniya Bharathiyar was a poet, freedom fighter and social reformer from Tamil Nadu, who was known as Mahakavi Bharathiyar and the laudatory epithet Mahakavi.
“Privileged to visit the family of Mahakavi Subramaniya Bharathi in Kashi on his birth anniversary today. Humbled to receive blessings and encouragement from his grandnephew Thiru K V Krishnan ji,” Jaishankar tweeted.
A city-based historian said Subramaniya Bharathiyar, considered among India’s greatest poets, was born on December 11, 1882, in a village called Ettayapuram in Tirunelveli District in Tamil Nadu and his childhood name was Subbiah. His father was Chinnaswamy Iyer and his mother was Lakshmi Ammal. “Significantly, a new age in Tamil literature began with Subramaniya Bharathi. Most of his compositions are classifiable as short lyrical outpourings on patriotic, devotional and mystic themes. Bharathi was essentially a lyrical poet. “Kannan Pattu” “Nilavum Vanminum Katrum” “Panchali Sabatam” “Kuyil Pattu” are examples of Bharathi’s great poetic output. His songs on nationalism and freedom of India helped to rally the masses to support the Indian Independence Movement in Tamil Nadu,” the historian said.
He said Bharathi was considered a national poet due to the number of his patriotic poems, through which he exhorted the people to join the independence struggle and work vigorously for the liberation of the country.
Bharathi was a social reformer who stood against the caste system and died on September 11, 1921. As a poet, journalist, freedom fighter and social reformer Bharathi had made a great impact not only on Tamil society but also on the entire human society, he said.
On the first day of his visit, the external affairs minister had offered Ganga Arti at Dashashwamedh Ghat and taken part in the ongoing Kashi Tamil Sangamam in Varanasi, where he also inaugurated the women’s basketball tournament that was a part of the Sangamam.
