PM Modi announces setting up of Subramania Bharati Chair of Tamil Studies at BHU

On the occasion of nationalist Tamil poet and freedom fighter Subramania Bharati’s death anniversary, Prime Minister Narendra Modi announced the establishment of Subramania Bharati Chair of Tamil Studies at the Banaras Hindu University.

“Friends.. At this occasion, I would like to make an important announcement. It has been decided to establish a Chair under the name of Subramaniam Bharati ji in Banaras Hindu University. Tamil studies.. Tamil language is a rich language. It is the world’s oldest surviving language. It is a matter of pride for us all Indians. There will be a Chair under Subramaniam Bharati ji’s name in the Faculty of Arts in Banaras Hindu University”, PM Modi announced while speaking at the programme to mark the Lokarpan of Sardardham Bhavan.

Subramania Bharati fondly known as Bharathiyaar is an Indian freedom fighter from Tamil Nadu. He is known for his soul-stirring poetry that roused the feeling of nationalism during the freedom struggle.

He was a poet at the court of the Raja of Ettayapuram before moving to Madras to become a journalist at Swadesamitran. He participated in the historic 1907 Surat session of the Congress, which saw the party divided into moderate and extremist factions. Bharathi, along with VO Chidambaram, supported Bal Gangadhar Tilak who called for armed resistance against British rule. He was forced to flee to Pondicherry, then a French colony, where he met Aurobindo and Lala Lajpat Rai during his exile.

He died at a very young age following the incident where a temple elephant named Lavanya in Triplicane Parthasarathy Temple struck him.

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