Samuel Vedanayagam Pillai

Not to be confused with Vedanayagam Sastriar.

Vedanayagam Pillai
Born	Samuel Vedanayagam Pillai 11 October 1826 Inam Kulathur, Trichinopoly District, Madras Presidency, British India (now Tiruchirappalli District, Tamil Nadu, India)
Died	21 July 1889(1889-07-21) (aged 62)
Pen name	S.V.P.
Occupation	Tamil scholar, poet, writer, civil servant
Relatives	P.J.X. Vedanayagam (ex-public prosecutor, great-grandson) Vijay Antony (great-grandson)

Samuel Vedanayagam Pillai (1826–1889), also known as Mayavaram Vedanayagam Pillai was an Indian civil servant, Tamil poet, novelist and social worker who is remembered for the authorship of Prathapa Mudaliar Charithram (1879), recognized as the "first modern Tamil novel". Vedanayagam's ideals of women's liberation and education are reflected in the novel. He has a well-known great-grandson, Vijay Antony, who is an actor in the Tamil film industry.

Early life

Vedanayagam Pillai was born on 11 October 1826 in Inam Kulathur, a village in present-day Tiruchirappalli district to Arockia Mariammal and Savarimuthu Pillai, both of whom were Catholics. His father was his first tutor and later he learned Tamil and English under a tutor named Thayagaraja Pillai. On completing his education, Vedanayagam joined the judicial court of Trichinopoly as record keeper and soon was elevated as a translator. He learnt Sanskrit, French and Latin during his tenure and then cleared his law exams.

Literary works

He became the District Munsiff of Mayuram (now Mayiladuthurai) and served there for 13 years. Vedanayagam showed a passion for writing from early age. He translated law books to Tamil and his ethical book called Neethi Nool was well accepted. In total he wrote 16 books of which Prathapa Mudaliar Charithram (1879) is regarded as the first Tamil Novel. The novel reflects Vedanaygam's ideals of women's liberation and education.

Carnatic music

Vedanayagam's contribution to Carnatic music is immense. His songs are still a popular choice among singers in concerts. One can find a profusion of Sanskrit words in his Tamil compositions. On the lines of Tyagaraja's "Nidhichala Sukhama" he wrote "Manam Peridha, Varumanam Peridha?" Some of the popular songs of Pillai are ``Naale Nalla Nall," ``Nee Malaikkade Nenje," ``Tharunam, tharunam... People like Manonmaniam Sundaram Pillai and Ramalinga Swamigal were admirers of his works.

One of his compositions Nayagar Pakshamadi, (a Ragamaliga - Saama / Shanmugapriya / Kedara Gowla) was included for a dance scene in the Tamil film Doctor Savithri (1955).

See also

• Tamil literature
• U. V. Swaminatha Iyer
• Ramalinga Swamigal
• Subramania Bharati
• Meenakshi Sundaram Pillai

References

• Zvelebil, Kamil (1973). The Smile of Murugan on Tamil Literature of South India. BRILL. p. 279. ISBN 90-04-03591-5.
• S. Muthiah (18 December 2017). "The confusing Vedanayagams". The Hindu. Chennai. Retrieved 13 January 2019.

External links

• Nayagar Pakshamadi