By V.R.Devika
So Long as Tamils live
Poets will venerate you and
Pay obeisance to you
You will ever shine as an immortal.
28th April happens to be the death anniversary of U.Ve.Swaminatha Iyer. Do Adyartites know that a library of the collections of this great man is in our midst? When you enter the Besant Theosophical School gate on Arundale Beach Road in Thiruvanmiyur, you head straight. On the right ahead is a treasure trove of U.Ve.Swaminatha Iyer.
Known as Tamil Thatha, he had a fulfilling life of 93 years. This long life was dedicated to unearthing old manuscripts and retrieving Tamil classics. That today Tamil has the status of a classical language, is mainly due to his efforts. His immense contribution in the field of literary scholarship and textual editing of Tamil classics has given gems from ancient Tamil to the modern world.
U.Ve.Sa was born on 19 February 1855 in Suryamulai. He grew up in Uthamadnapuram. His father was a storyteller in the Kalakshepam style and also had some land holdings. His autobiography ‘En saritiram’ gives a wonderful picture of the society of his time – of his childhood, the education system etc. He became a student of Thyagraja Chettiar who was teaching Tamil at Government Arts College in Kumbakonam. Here he met his beloved teacher Meenakshi Sundaram Pillai. He became a Tamil scholar in Thiruvaduthurai Adheenam (Sengol fame). It was Salem Ramaswami Mudaliar who brought his attention to ancient texts. Mudaliar gave him a copy of Seevaka Chintamani. He met with many Jains to understand the text and find missing parts in it. Thus began his lifelong occupation to find classic Tamil texts and publish them for which Tamils thank him even today.
He went from village to village, using his own resources to find manuscripts. He had to persuade people to give him the manuscripts. Many were throwing them away or burning them in the Bhogi fire. He edited them and found sponsors to publish them as books.
He moved to Chennai following his teacher and got an appointment as a Tamil teacher at Presidency College in 1903. After the demise of Dr. U.Ve. Swaminatha Iyer, his son Kalyana Sundara Iyer approached Rukmini Devi Arundale and donated all the 1832 books, the 939 palm leaves manuscripts and all printed works to her for safe keeping. Rukmini Devi Arundale founded the Mahamahobadhyaya Dr.U.Ve. Swaminatha Iyer Library on 05.07.1943, within the premises of Kalakshetra.
2170 Palm leaf manuscripts consisting Pathu-pattu, Ettu-thogai, Pathinenkeezh Kanakku, Agapporul Vilakkam, Agaradhi Nigandu, Harichandra Puranam, Saminatham, Sekhizhar Puranam, Thonnool, small literatures, leaves on medicine, Kamba Ramayanam, many temple sthala puranas, Veerachoziyam, Tholkappiyam explanatory notes, Perunkadhai, Ramayanam, Mahabharatham, Bhagavat Gita, Periya Puranam, Ilakkana Kothu are available in the library. The manuscripts are regularly cleaned and aired and preserved.
The 3000-plus letters written by many Tamil Scholars to U.Ve.Sa, like Julien Vinsone, G.U.Pope, Nellaiappa Kavirayar, Ira.Pi. Sethupillai, Manonmaneeyam Sundaram Pillai, Si.Vai. Damodharam Pillai and Vaiyapuri Pillai are all maintained in this library. The diaries of Dr U.Ve. Saminatha Iyer dating from 1893 to 1939 is preserved here.
Some gifts given to U.Ve.Sa, copper plates and other things used by him are all preserved here. Many researchers, students and scholars take notes and data from this library. It is worth a visit if you’re interested in Tamil Literature.
V.R.Devika is a resident of Sastri Nagar and can be contacted at [email protected].
