TN CM inaugurates memorial for social reformer Ayothidasa Pandithar

Tamil Nadu Chief Minister M K Stalin inaugurated a memorial built to honour social reformer Ayothidasa Pandithar here on Friday. Paying rich tributes to the writer and opponent of the caste system, the chief minister said the memorial -- which has a life-size statue of the scholar -- honours Ayothidasa for his rich body of work.

Tamil Nadu Chief Minister M K Stalin inaugurated a memorial built to honour social reformer Ayothidasa Pandithar here on Friday. Paying rich tributes to the writer and opponent of the caste system, the chief minister said the memorial -- which has a life-size statue of the scholar -- honours Ayothidasa for his rich body of work. This leading luminary etched an identity for 'Tamil' and 'Dravidian' in the political domain, Stalin said. Ayothidasa Pandithar's original name was Kathavarayan. In 1907, he started a Tamil weekly, 'Oru Paisa Tamilan', and later simplified it to 'Tamilan'. The chief minister recalled that he had announced on September 3, 2021 in the state assembly that Ayothidasa would be honoured with a memorial and statue. Accordingly, the memorial was inaugurated today on the premises of Gandhi Mandapam, Guindy. The memorial has been erected to commemorate the 175th birth anniversary of Ayothidasa who lived from 1845 to 1914.

Speaking of his government's schemes for Adi Dravidar welfare, the chief minister said, ''Our Dravidian model of governance will implement the Ayothidasa Pandithar Housing Development Scheme in the next five years for Rs 1,000 crore, to renovate houses of Adi Dravidars.''

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