Kamban Adippodi Saw Ganesan (6 June 1908 – 28 July 1982) was an Indian politician and Tamil activist, writer, historian, and epigraphist. He was known for popularising the Tamil epic ''
Ramavataram'' (also known as ''Kamba Ramayanam'') through his
Kamban Kazhagam organization, and for initiating construction of a temple to the
Tamil language in
Karaikudi.
Early life and politics
Saw Ganesan was born on 6 June 1908 in Karaikudi,
Chettinad to Swaminathan and Nachiyammai, a Tamil merchant family.
His family ran a business in
Burma. In 1927, he headed a volunteer group during the visit of
Mahatma Gandhi to Karaikudi, and the same year he joined the
Indian National Congress to participate in the
Indian independence movement.
In 1941, as part of his
individual Satyagraha, he went on a
padayatra to
New Delhi, but he was arrested by the British government for his participation in the Satyagraha.
In 1942, the
British Raj issued a "shoot on sight" order against him for his involvement in the
Quit India Movement
The Quit India Movement, also known as the August Kranti Movement, was a movement launched at the Bombay session of the All India Congress Committee by Mahatma Gandhi on 8th August 1942, during World War II, demanding an end to British rule in ...
. He surrendered in
Chennai after the instruction from
C. Rajagopalachari (Rajaji).
Political career
Ganesan contested the presidential election for the
Tamil Nadu Congress Committee
Tamil Nadu Congress Committee (TNCC) is the wing of Indian National Congress serving in Tamil Nadu. The current president is K.S. Alagari.
Social policy of the TNCC is officially based upon the Gandhian principle of Sarvodaya (upliftment of all ...
in 1946 but lost to
K. Kamaraj
Kumaraswami Kamaraj (15 July 1903 – 2 October 1975, hinduonnet.com. 15–28 September 2001), popularly known as Kamarajar was an Indian independence activist and politician who served as the Chief Minister of Madras State (Tamil Nadu) ...
.
Following a disagreement with
Jawaharlal Nehru socialist policies, Rajaji formed the liberal
Swatantra Party in 1959. Ganesan became the one of the founding members of this party. He later he held the post of Madras state president of the party. He won the
1962 Madras State legislative assembly election
The third legislative assembly election to the Madras state (presently Tamil Nadu) was held on 21 February 1962. The Indian National Congress party, led by K. Kamaraj, won the election. Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam made significant in-roads in the ...
from the
Karaikudi constituency.
He was elected to the
Tamil Nadu Legislative Council in 1968.
Contributions to the Tamil language
Ganesan was a great admirer of the
Tamil language. He took as his mission the popularisation of Kamba Ramayanam, the Tamil version of
Ramayana written by Tamil poet
Kambar. Ganesan founded the
Kamban Kazhagam academy in 1939.
In 1940, Ganesan decided to construct a temple to the Tamil language with
Tamil Thai
Tamil Thai () refers to the allegorical and sometimes anthropomorphic personification of the Tamil language as a mother. This allegory of the Tamil language in the persona of a mother was established during the Tamil renaissance movement of the ...
(Tamil mother) as the main deity. He commissioned sculptor
Vaidyanatha Stapathi to design Tamil Thai as an idol of the goddess and to construct the temple in Karaikudi.
Due to financial issues, construction did not begin for several years. The project proceeded with financial support from the
Government of Tamil Nadu, and then-
Chief Minister of Tamil Nadu M. Karunanidhi
Muthuvel Karunanidhi (3 June 1924 – 7 August 2018) was an Indian writer and politician who served as Chief Minister of Tamil Nadu for almost two decades over five terms between 1969 and 2011. He was popularly referred to as Kalaignar (Art ...
laid the foundation stone for the temple in 1975.
After the deaths of Ganesan and the sculptor Vaidyanatha, Vaidyanatha's son
V. Ganapati Sthapati
Vaidyanatha Ganapati Sthapati (1927 – 5 September 2011) was a '' Sthapati'' (temple architect and builder) and head of the College of Architecture and Sculpture in the Vastu Shastra tradition ascribed to the sage Mamuni Mayan.
Biography ...
shouldered the responsibility of completing the temple. The Tamil Thai temple was opened by M. Karunanidhi in 1993.
Ganesan delivered a speech on the history of the Tamil language in the second
World Tamil Conference in Chennai. Furthermore, he submitted several research papers on
Tamil-Brahmi inscriptions. He authored many books, including ''Pillaiyarpatti Thala Varalaru'', a historical book about the
Karpaka Vinayakar Temple.
In 1980, Justice S. Maharajan honoured Ganesan with the title ''Kamban Adippodi'', which means a devotee of Kamban.
Ganesan died on 28 July 1982.
References
{{DEFAULTSORT:Ganesan, Saw
1908 births
1982 deaths
Tamil Nadu politicians
Swatantra Party politicians
20th-century Indian politicians