Maraimalai Adigal

Name: Maraimalai Adigal
Born : Vedhachalam, July 15, 1876,Nagapattinam, Madras Presidency, British India
Died : September 15, 1950 (aged 74), Madras, Madras State, India

Maraimalai Adigal (15 July 1876 – 15 September 1950) was an eminent Tamil orator and writer. He was a devout Hindu as a staunch follower of Saivism. He has authored more than 100 books, including works on original poems and dramas, but most famous are his books on his research into Tamil literature. Most of his literary works were on Saivism.

He founded a Saivite institution called Podhunilaik Kazhagam. He was an exponent of the Pure Tamil movement and hence considered to be the father of Tamil puritanism. He advocated the use of Tamil devoid of Sanskrit words and hence changed his birth name Vedhachalam to Maraimalai.

Politically he was inclined towards non-Brahminism and hence he and his followers considered that the Self-respect movement was born out of his efforts. Nevertheless, the atheist ideologies of Periyar E. V. Ramasamy were shunned by Maraimalai Adigal and caused years of differences between the two.

Maraimalai Adigal spent most of his income on buying his books and after his death his collection were made into a library according to his will.