Maha Vidhwan Rao Sahib Mu Raghava Iyengar (Tamil: மு ராகவ ஐயங்கார்) (1878–1960) was a well known Tamil scholar and researcher of

Tamil literature Tamil literature has a rich and long literary tradition spanning more than two thousand years. The oldest extant works show signs of maturity indicating an even longer period of evolution. Contributors to the Tamil literature are mainly from T ...

Life

Maha Vidhwan Mu Raghava Iyengar (known as M. Raghava Iyengar) was from

Manamadurai Manamadurai is a Municipality Town in Sivaganga district in the Indian state of Tamil Nadu. Manamadurai falls under Manamadurai Legislative assembly. Upgradation of Manamadurai to Municipality Municipal Administration Minister KN Nehru made ...

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 ...

and lived in the

Ramanathapuram 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 ...

area. He was born on 26 July 1878. He was a Tamil scholar and he conducted research on Tamil History and Literature. Notably, he worked on establishing the time periods of the old Tamil Poets. His research was also centered around the

Alwar Alwar (Pronunciation: Help:IPA/Hindi and Urdu, �lʋəɾ is a city located in India's National Capital Region (India), National Capital Region and the administrative headquarters of Alwar district, Alwar District in the state of Rajasthan. ...

s. His father was Sadavadhaanam Muthuswamy Iyengar, a Tamil Poet in the court of Ponnuchami Thevar, the brother of the king 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 ...

, Muthuramalinga Sethupathi II. His father wrote a 100-verse Tamil poem "Manavala Mamuni Nootranthathi" on the Vaishnava Saint

Manavala Mamuni Alagiya Manavalan, best known by his epithet Manavala Mamunigal (1370–1450), was a Hindu Hindus (; ) are people who religiously adhere to Hinduism.Jeffery D. Long (2007), A Vision for Hinduism, IB Tauris, , pages 35–37 Histori ...

. He also wrote Nootrettu Thiruppathi Agaval which lists out all the 108 Sri Vaishnava Divya Desams along with Purana Sthalams.

Pandithurai Thevar Vallal Pon Pandithurai Thevar (21 March 1867 – 2 December 1911), born Ukkira Pandian, also known as Pandi Durai Thevar, was the Zamindar of Palavanatham, Tamil Nadu, India. A scholar and poet belonging to the royal house of the Sethupathis o ...

, who was a nobleman from the Royal family of Ramnad, studied Tamil under his father. When he was young, Mu Raghava Iyengar studied Tamil from

. His cousin

R. Raghava Iyengar The Bhasha Kavisekhara Mahavidwan R. Raghava Iyengar (1870–1946) was known for critical scholarship and creative interpretation of literature. Life Mahavidwan R. Raghava Iyengar was born on 20 September 1870 in the village called Thennavar ...

was a Poet Laureate of the Sethu Samasthanam. His grand father, Sri Krishna Iyengar was the deputy chief minister under Sri Muthuramalinga Sethupathi II or Sri

Bhaskara Sethupathi Bhaskara Sethupathy ( Muthuvijaya Raghunatha Bhaskara; 3 November 1868 – 27 December 1903) was a Zamindar of Ramnad. He became the recognised proprietor of the Ramnad estate after his father's death in 1873 until 1895. From 1895, he assumed Man ...

, Raja of Ramnad. Sri Krishna Iyengar was also known as Chinna Prathani Sri Krishna Iyengar, while, his colleague, Sri Muthirulappa Pilla was the Periya Prathani (Chief of Ministers).

Work

Iyengar worked as the head of the Tamil Research department in Thiruvangoor University between 1944 and 1951. He also worked as a lecturer in the

Loyola College, Chennai Loyola College is a private Catholic higher education institution run by the Society of Jesus in Chennai, Tamil Nadu, India. It was founded in 1925 by the French Jesuit priest, Francis Bertram, along with other European Jesuits. It is an auto ...

. He collaborated with

in promoting the Tamil Language. Mu Raghava Iyengar was a leading member of Madurai Tamil Sangam and helped edit the magazine Senthamizh (செந்தமிழ்) between 1905 and 1910. Mu Raghava Iyengar was appointed to the committee that worked on the Tamil-English lexicon/dictionary. This project started with Rev. J. S. Chandler as the Chief Editor and Mu Raghava Iyengar as the Chief Pundit around 1913. The project eventually finished in 1936 under Prof

S. Vaiyapuri Pillai Rao Sahib Saravanapperumal Vaiyapuri Pillai (12 October 1891 – 17 February 1956) was a renowned lawyer and Tamil language, Tamil scholar. An advocate by profession, he edited and published several Tamil classics from original manuscripts. He is ...

(1891–1956). In 1936, he compiled and published the anthological work of ancient and medieval stand-alone poems under the title ''

Perunthogai Perunthogai ( ta, பெருந்தொகை, literally "great anthology") is an anthology containing 2,214 ancient and medieval Tamil stand-alone poems. It was compiled in 1936 by M. Raghava Iyengar. History The Sangam Literature contains ...

''. For his scholarly contributions, Mu Raghava Iyengar was granted the title of "Rao Sahib" in 1936 by the government. Iyengar had deep interest in the history of Tamil and

. Working with the archeologist T.N. Gopinatha Rao, he researched the stone writings in the temples of Tamil Nadu. Iyengar contributed scholarly treatises to magazines like செந்தமிழ் (Senthamil), கலைமகள் (Kalaimagal), தமிழர் நேசன் (Thamizhar Nesan), ஸ்ரீவாணி விலாசினி (Srivani Vilasini), கலைக்கதிர் (Kalaikathir), அமுதசுரபி (Amuthasurabhi).

Published books

Iyengar wrote ''Tolkaapia Poruladikaara Araichi'' (தொல்காப்பியப் பொருளதிகார ஆராய்ச்சி), a study of ancient Tamil grammar, ''Tolkappiyam''. Other books by Iyengar include: * Alvargal Kaala Nilai (ஆழ்வார்கள் கால நிலை) (work on the historical dating of Alwars) * Alvargal Varalaru (historical sketches on alwars). * Velir Varalaru (வேளிர் வரலாறு) * Nari Virutham - நரி விருத்தம் (அரும்பதவுரையுடன்) * Thiru kalambagam - திருக்கலம்பகம் * Vikrama Cholan Ula விக்கிரம சோழனுலா * Kesava Perumal Erattai Mani Malai - கேசவப் பெருமாள் இரட்டைமணிமாலை * Nikandaraadhi - நிகண்டகராதி In total, Iyengar published over 20 books in Tamil. Iyengar's books were nationalized by the Government of Tamil Nadu on 10 July 2009.

Criticisms

Iyengar was criticised by some people for his description of morality of ancient Tamils in his work: Toklaapia Poruladikaara Araichi.

References

External links

* http://www.tamilmozhi.com/dataware/data/litreturelist4.html * http://www.indiadivine.org/audarya/sri-vaishnava/440777-manavala-mamuni-nootranthathi.html *