Bhaskara Sethupathy ( Muthuvijaya Raghunatha Bhaskara; 3 November 1868 – 27 December 1903) was a Zamindar of

Ramnad Ramanathapuram (), also known as Ramnad, is a town and a municipality in Ramanathapuram district in the Indian state of Tamil Nadu. It is the administrative headquarters of Ramanathapuram district and the second largest town (by population) in ...

. He became the recognised proprietor of the

Ramnad estate The Kingdom of Ramnad or Ramnad estate was a permanently settled kingdom and later ''zamindari'' estate that existed in the Ramnad subdivision of the Madurai district and later Ramnad district of the erstwhile Madras Presidency in British Indi ...

after his father's death in 1873 until 1895. From 1895, he assumed Managership of

Rameswaram Rameswaram (; also transliterated as Ramesvaram, Rameshwaram) is a municipality in the Ramanathapuram district of the Indian state of Tamil Nadu. It is on Pamban Island separated from mainland India by the Pamban channel and is about 40 kil ...

until 1901. He was regarded as a pious, brilliant and generous ruler by his supporters. His supporters believed that he would regain control of Ramnad estate some day. He died suddenly at the age of 35 in 1903.

Sponsorship of Swami Vivekananda for Parliament of the World's Religions

In 1892, Swami Vivekananda stayed with Bhaskara when he visited

Madurai Madurai ( , also , ) is a major city in the Indian state of Tamil Nadu. It is the cultural capital of Tamil Nadu and the administrative headquarters of Madurai District. As of the 2011 census, it was the third largest Urban agglomeration in ...

and he sponsored Vivekananda's visit to

Parliament of the World's Religions There have been several meetings referred to as a Parliament of the World's Religions, the first being the World's Parliament of Religions of 1893, which was an attempt to create a global dialogue of faiths. The event was celebrated by another c ...

held in Chicago. During his stay, Swami Vivekananda had extensive discussions on Hindu philosophy with eminent scholars like Mahavidwan R. Raghava Iyengar.

Kamudi temple case against Nadars

Being the hereditary of Minakshi Sundareswara Temple in

Kamuthi Kamuthi also spelled Kamudi actually stands for Kavinmigu Mullai Thirunagar. Kamuthi is a Panchayat town in Ramanathapuram district in the Indian state of Tamil Nadu. Kamuthi is known for being the home of the Kamuthi Solar Power Project, a la ...

, he filed a lawsuit against fifteen Nadars on 14 May 1897 who had entered forcefully into the temple despite traditional customs which discouraged them. He sought compensation for the purification of the temple and establish that Nadars never have the right to enter temple. However, the Nadars were eventually allowed to enter temples built by higher communities due to new legislations and movements.

In popular culture

* Bhaskara Sethupathy was portrayed by

Malayalam Malayalam (; , ) is a Dravidian languages, Dravidian language spoken in the Indian state of Kerala and the union territories of Lakshadweep and Puducherry (union territory), Puducherry (Mahé district) by the Malayali people. It is one of 2 ...

actor Mammootty in the 1998 film '' Swami Vivekananda''.

References

1868 births 1905 deaths {{India-royal-stub