Jagavira Pandiyanar (10 March 1886–17 June 1967), commonly known as Kaviraja Pandithar (
Tamil
Tamil may refer to:
* Tamils, an ethnic group native to India and some other parts of Asia
** Sri Lankan Tamils, Tamil people native to Sri Lanka also called ilankai tamils
**Tamil Malaysians, Tamil people native to Malaysia
* Tamil language, nati ...
: கவிராச பண்டிதர் செகவீர பாண்டியனார்), was a 20th-century Indian scholar of the
Tamil language
Tamil (; ' , ) is a Dravidian language natively spoken by the Tamil people of South Asia. Tamil is an official language of the Indian state of Tamil Nadu, the sovereign nations of Sri Lanka and Singapore, and the Indian territory of Pudu ...
, who is known for his commentary on the
Tirukkural
The ''Tirukkuṟaḷ'' ( ta, திருக்குறள், lit=sacred verses), or shortly the ''Kural'' ( ta, குறள்), is a classic Tamil language text consisting of 1,330 short couplets, or Kural (poetic form), kurals, of seven ...
.
Early life
Kaviraja Pandithar was born on 10 March 1886 in the small town of Ottanattham in the present-day
Thoothukudi district
Thoothukudi District is one of the 38 districts of Tamil Nadu state in southern India. The district was formed by bifurcation of Tirunelveli district on 20 October 1986. Thoothukudi is the district headquarters and largest city of the distric ...
of the state of
Tamil Nadu
Tamil Nadu (; , TN) is a States and union territories of India, state in southern India. It is the List of states and union territories of India by area, tenth largest Indian state by area and the List of states and union territories of India ...
. He was a descendant of the Indian freedom fighter
Veerapandiya Kattabomman
Veerapandiya Kattabomman was an 18th-century Tamil Palayakarrar and king of Panchalankurichi in Tamil Nadu, India. He refused to accept the sovereignty of the British East India Company and waged a war against them. He was captured by the Briti ...
. He studied Tamil under Muthukavirayar. He was well known for his discourses of the
Purana
Purana (; sa, , '; literally meaning "ancient, old"Merriam-Webster's Encyclopedia of Literature (1995 Edition), Article on Puranas, , page 915) is a vast genre of Indian literature about a wide range of topics, particularly about legends an ...
s. His works ranged from poetry to prose and translations.
[Dinamani Semmolikkovai (தினமணி செம்மொழிக்கோவை): International Tamil Semmoli Conference 2010 Special edition, p. 285] He lived in Melamasi Street of
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 ...
.
Kaviraja Pandithar's commentary on the Kural text is considered a classic by modern scholars, besides that of
U. V. Swaminatha Iyer
Uttamadhanapuram Venkatasubbaiyer Swaminatha Iyer (19 February 1855 – 28 April 1942) was a Tamil scholar and researcher who was instrumental in bringing many long-forgotten works of classical Tamil literature to light. His singular efforts ...
.
Works
Kaviraja Pandithar's works were nationalized in 2010–2011 by the
Tamil Nadu government
Government of Tamil Nadu is the subnational government for the Indian state of Tamil Nadu. It is seated at Fort St George, Chennai. The legislature of Tamil Nadu was bicameral until 1986, when it was replaced by a unicameral legislature, like ...
and offered an amount of 600,000.
The works of Kaviraja Pandithar include the following:
See also
*
Commentaries in Tamil literary tradition
Commentaries to literary works remain one of the most important and telling aspects of the Tamil literary tradition. Commentaries to ancient Tamil works have been written since the medieval period and continue to be written in the modern era. Many ...
Citations
References
*
{{DEFAULTSORT:Kaviraja Pandithar
1886 births
1967 deaths
Scholars from Tamil Nadu
Indian Tamil people
Tamil scholars
Tirukkural commentators