Mahakavi Subramania Bharati

• 13 Sep 2021

Why in News

Recently, the Vice-President paid tributes to Mahakavi Subramania Bharati on his 100^th death centenary.

Key Points

• Birth: 11^th December 1882, in Ettayapuram, Madras Presidency.
• Brief Profile: Indian writer of the nationalist period (1885-1920) who is regarded as the father of the modern Tamil style.
  
  • Also known as ‘Mahakavi Bharathiyar’.
  • His strong sense of social justice drove him to fight for self-determination.
• Involvement during Nationalist Period:
  
  • After 1904, he joined the Tamil daily newspaper Swadesamitran.
    
    • This exposure to political affairs led to his involvement in the extremist wing of the Indian National Congress (INC) party.
  • In order to proclaim its revolutionary ardour, Bharathi had the weekly newspaper named ‘India’ printed in red paper.
    
    • It was the first paper in Tamil Nadu to publish political cartoons.
    • He also published and edited a few other journals like “Vijaya”.
  • Attended the annual sessions of INC and discussed national issues with extremist leaders like Bipin Chandra Pal, B.G. Tilak and V.V.S. Iyer.
    
    • His participation and activities in Benaras Session (1905) and Surat Session (1907) of the INC impressed many national leaders for his patriotic fervour.
  • Published the sensational “Sudesa Geethangal” in 1908.
  • Bharati’s reaction to the Russian Revolutions of 1917, in a poem entitled “Pudiya Russia” (“The New Russia”), offers a fascinating example of the poet’s political philosophy.
  • He was forced to flee to Pondicherry (now Puducherry), a French colony, where he lived in exile from 1910 to 1919.
  • During this time, Bharati’s nationalistic poems and essays were popular successes.
• Important Works: Kaṇṇan pāṭṭu (1917; Songs to Krishna), Panchali sapatham (1912; Panchali’s Vow), Kuyil pāṭṭu (1912; Kuyil’s Song), Pudiya Russia and Gnanaratham (Chariot of Wisdom).
  
  • Many of his English works were collected in Agni and Other Poems and Translations and Essays and Other Prose Fragments (1937).
• Death: 11^th September 1921.
• International Bharati Festival:
  
  • The International Bharati Festival 2020 was organised by the Vanavil Cultural Centre (Tamil Nadu) which marked his 138^th birth anniversary.
  • Scholar Shri Seeni Viswanathan received the Bharathi Award for the year 2020.

Source: TH