Controversies and eventful episodes after the death of the greatest modern Tamil poet

Subramania Bharati (1882-1921), whose birth anniversary was celebrated on December 11, belongs to the category of literary figures who achieved greater fame posthumously. Though he died quite young, Bharati had, by then, spent over 15 highly creative years. This coincided with a crucial phase in the history of the nationalist movement – from the period of appealing, through petitions, to the British rulers’ sense of justice, to that of the freedom struggle beginning to blossom into a mass movement under the helm of Mahatma Gandhi.

Bharati’s body of work covered every genre in prose and verse, mostly in Tamil. In the field of prose poetry, he drew inspiration from Rabindranath Tagore (1861-1941). Like the great figure from Bengal, Bharati was a versatile personality – a poet, a writer, a journalist, a distinguished musicologist, a polyglot, a strong advocate of women’s rights, and a patriot. Having joined the freedom struggle during the pre-Gandhi era, Bharati regarded Bal Gangadhar Tilak (1856-1920) as his political mentor. He continues to be remembered for his contribution to the renaissance of Tamil literature.

Seizure of books

Seven years after his demise, his works came in for adverse attention from the authorities. The seizure of books of his songs Swadesa Geethangal (National Songs), published by Harihara Sharma in Chennai in 1922, came to the fore when The Hindu, in its editorial published on September 25,1928, mentioned that the move had caused “widespread surprise and dissatisfaction.” The seizure was a sequel to the order issued by the Madras government on September 11, 1928 [coincidentally, the death anniversary of the songs’ author]. Noting that “the action was taken solely at the initiative of the Burma Government [a part of the British empire then] and that the Government of Madras had no responsibility in the matter,” the newspaper stated that “it is anomalous that while the Government of Madras, in whose jurisdiction the books have been in circulation for a long time and in great demand because of the patriotic fervour characterising the poems, did not think it necessary to scent sedition in them, they should nevertheless have had to assist in the seizure” ordered by another government.

What made matters worse for the local government was the announcement made by Education Minister S. Muthiah Mudaliyar, at a school function in Tirunelveli district earlier, that he would have Bharati’s songs included in the school curriculum, according to Mr. President, Sir, a collection of parliamentary speeches of Congress leader S. Satyamurti, which was curated by veteran Marxist P. Ramamurti and published in 1988. In fact, prominent Congress leader C. Rajagopalachari (C.R. or Rajaji), in a response published on October 1, 1928, to the editorial, stated that “if the Education Minister made up his mind that Bharati’s songs are good poetry, and that it would be absurd to treat them as seditious literature, he could tell his Government that no magisterial or police assistance should be given in Madras to effectuate the Burma Government’s stupid declaration.”

A week later, Satyamurti moved an adjournment motion in the Legislative Council against the seizure. A representative of the government, M. Krishnan Nair, who dealt with the subject of law, wondered whether the motion could be taken up for discussion as the Madras High Court had to consider whether “these songs are seditious or not.” Yet, the Council’s president, C.V.S. Narasimha Raju, allowed the discussion, a perusal of the proceedings of the House for the day reveals [as available on the digital repository of the Tamil Nadu Assembly https://tnlasdigital.tn.gov.in]. During the debate, members of the Council sang portions of the proscribed songs in the course of their speeches; Nair told the House that his government did not know the reason behind the action of Myanmar, this newspaper reported on October 11, 1928. 

When Satyamurti wanted to know about an order of the Government of India, which directed the Madras government to resort to the seizure, Nair refused to divulge details, as the order was “confidential.” However, the Council was apparently not satisfied with the government’s position, which was reflected in its decision: the motion was adopted as 76 members voted in favour and 18 against. The Hindu stated that “the result was received with loud cries of ‘Vande Mataram.’” In January 1929, both governments of Burma and Madras took back their orders.

The ‘Mahakavi’ controversy

About six years later, another controversy surrounding Bharati arose when leading Tamil journalist-writer “Kalki” R. Krishnamurthi and founder-editor of Manikodi, Tamil’s avant garde journal of the 1930s, V. Ramaswamy, known as “Va. Ra.,” were involved in an intense debate whether Bharati could be called a “Mahakavi” or not. What should not be glossed over is that “Kalki” was a known associate of C.R., who came in for criticism in February 1919 that he did not properly introduce Bharati to Mahatma Gandhi during their meeting in Chennai. Prominent Tamil writer-critic, Ashokamitran, in his essay on “Kalki,” writes that in the outlook of Rajaji, artists like Bharati were neither essential nor required preservation.

In 1934-35, “Kalki” questioned Va. Ra.’s assessment of Bharati as Mahakavi. Amshan Kumar, who did a documentary on many Tamil literary greats, including Bharati, points out that “Va. Ra launched a diatribe on Kalki, which was published in Swadesamitran in November 1935. Kalki’s rebuttal to Va. Ra, reiterating his stand on Bharati, was published in Swadesamitran on December 7, 1935.” Thiruppur Krishnan, writer and editor of the Tamil periodical Amudhasurabhi, says that other writers of the Manikodi era such as “Chitti” P.G. Sundararajan and Ku.Pa.Ra (K.P. Rajagopalan) joined Va. Ra. in defence of Bharati. Eventually, “Kalki” changed his stand, recounts veteran Tamil littérateur Indira Parthasarathy.

Construction of memorial

With the change of heart towards Bharati, “Kalki,” in no time, began a campaign for the construction of a memorial in Ettayapuram, now in Thoothukudi district. A news item published by this newspaper on May 17, 1945 states: “Over Rs. 42,000 was collected in less than three months and the money is deposited in the Indo-Commercial Bank. Ltd. Out of this, Rs. 10,000 has been set apart and placed in fixed deposit account and arrangements have been made with the management of the Indo-Commercial Bank for the interest accruing from this Rs. 10,000 to be paid every quarter as life pension to Chellammal Bharathi, wife of the late poet.” The report adds that “the Raja of Ettaiyapuram has generously given a plot of land on which the memorial will be constructed.” Talking of the receipt of donations from the public, Mr. Krishnan recalls that “Kalki” had, at one stage, issued a statement that no more money was required as adequate funds had been received.

On June 3, 1945, C.R. laid the foundation stone “amidst shouts of “Mahatma Gandhiji ki Jai” and “Rajaji ki Jai,” reported The Hindu next day. In stark contrast to the poor attendance at Bharati’s funeral, “thousands of people” from various parts of the State witnessed the ceremony, the paper stated, adding that “Gandhi sent a message in his own handwriting in Tamil wishing the function all success.” The function began with the singing of Bharati songs by his family members and Carnatic musician D.K. Pattammal.

In about two-and-a-half years, the memorial was ready and the inauguration drew a larger crowd than what the foundation stone-laying event did. In the words of this newspaper, “the Bharathi Festival here commenced this evening [of October 12, 1947], literally, with a burst of song. From three this afternoon, it was almost non-stop music, closing with the climax of Srimathi M.S. Subbulakshmi’s melodious singing [which went on till 8 p.m.].” The music concerts did not end with M.S. but went on till late in the night. Dandapani Desikar was another leading musician who participated in the festival. “A vast pandal specially put up to seat 30,000 was packed to capacity, while nearly double that number stood outside listening,” wrote The Hindu on October 13, 1947. Among those present were the then Chief Minister Omandur P. Ramaswami Reddiar, Tamil Nadu Congress Committee (TNCC) chief K. Kamaraj, industrialist M.A. Muthiah Chettiar, and connoisseur of the arts T.K. Chidambaranatha Mudaliar.

On the second day (October 13), Rajaji, who was the then Governor of West Bengal, declared open the memorial, built at a cost of ₹50,000. Ramaswami Reddiar unveiled Bharati’s bust. Lavishing praise on the literary figure, C.R. said: “...he was the common and cherished possession of all Tamilians and not the exclusive possession of any one of them,” this paper reported on October 15, 1947. According to one school of scholars of the contemporary history of Tamil Nadu, Communist leader P. Jivanandam had, on the occasion, mooted the idea of the government purchasing the copyrights of Bharati’s works and making the works available in public domain. However, what The Hindu stated in its report was that “like Gandhi’s literature, Bharathi literature too should be [regarded as] a national possession and not [that of] any individuals.”

Nevertheless, the demand grew louder subsequently and on March 12 1949, the then Education Minister T.S. Avinashilingam Chettiar informed the Assembly about the government having secured all the rights for reproduction of Bharathi’s works, apart from the government obtaining the manuscripts of the poet to be preserved in “a befitting manner” at the Government Museum. A day earlier, Ramaswami Reddiar announced after talks with A.V. Meyappa Chettiar, one of the pioneers of Tamil cinema, that the latter had agreed to transfer to the government the rights vested in him of reproducing Bharati’s songs, poems, other compositions and works, in Tamil and English, by sound reproducing or broadcasting devices. The government provided ₹15,000 to the poet’s brother C. Viswanatha Aiyar for having agreed to give away the rights in regard to printing and publication. In April 1955 came the announcement of the government for having released the copyright to the public. Two years later, the then Chief Minister Kamaraj launched an edition of Bharati’s works, running into 600 pages, at a price of ₹1.5 per copy. Vai Govindan, the publisher (“Sakthi Karyalayam”), informed the gathering on the occasion that “out of 15,000 copies printed, advance orders had already been received for 10,000,” this newspaper reported on April 15, 1957.

Puducherry and Chennai saw the establishment of memorials in the 1970s and 1990s for Bharati at the sites where he resided for a considerable period. As observed by C.R., in 1945 when he laid the foundation stone for the Ettayapuram memorial, Bharati had “a wide vision and generous outlook of things,” qualities of which every individual should attempt to possess.