41 Facts About Periyar

Erode Venkatappa Ramasamy, revered as Periyar or Thanthai Periyar, was an Indian social activist and politician who started the Self-Respect Movement and Dravidar Kazhagam.

Periyar is known as the 'Father of the Dravidian movement'.

Periyar rebelled against Brahminical dominance and gender and caste inequality in Tamil Nadu.

Periyar questioned the subjugation of non-Brahmin Dravidians as Brahmins enjoyed gifts and donations from non-Brahmins but opposed and discriminated against non-Brahmins in cultural and religious matters.

Periyar opposed the exploitation and marginalisation of the non-Brahmin Dravidian people of South India and the imposition of what he considered Indo-Aryan India.

Periyar had one elder brother named Krishnaswamy and two sisters named Kannamma and Ponnuthoy.

Periyar later came to be known as "Periyar" meaning 'respected one' or 'elder' in the Tamil.

Periyar used to listen to Tamil Vaishnavite gurus who gave discourses in his house enjoying his father's hospitality.

Periyar's frustrations extended to functional Hinduism in general when he experienced what he called Brahmanic exploitation.

Periyar held the chairmanship of Erode Municipality and wholeheartedly undertook constructive programs spreading the use of Khadi, picketing toddy shops, boycotting shops selling foreign cloth, and eradicating untouchability.

Periyar was again arrested during the Non-Cooperation movement and the Temperance movement.

Periyar's attempts were defeated in the Congress party due to discrimination and indifference, which led to his leaving the party in 1925.

Periyar received the title Vaikom Veeran, given by his followers who participated in the Satyagraha.

Periyar visited Egypt, Greece, Turkey, the Soviet Union, Germany, England, Spain, France and Portugal, staying in Russia for three months.

Periyar claimed that the introduction of Hindi was a dangerous mechanism used by the Aryans to infiltrate Dravidian culture.

Periyar reasoned that the adoption of Hindi would make Tamils subordinate to the Hindi-speaking North Indians.

Periyar thought that an insignificant minority in society was exploiting the majority and trying to keep it in a subordinate position forever.

Periyar wanted the exploited to sit up and think about their position, and use their reason to realise that they were being exploited by a handful of people.

Periyar stated that there is no use of simply acquiring titles or amassing wealth if one has no self-respect or scientific knowledge.

Periyar added that "any opposition not based on rationalism, science, or experience will one day or another, reveal the fraud, selfishness, lies and conspiracies".

Periyar's philosophy preaches that human actions should be based on rational thinking.

Periyar preached that the Brahmins had monopolised and cheated other communities for decades and deprived them of self-respect.

Periyar stated that most Brahmins claimed to belong to a "superior" community with the reserved privilege of being in charge of temples and performing archanas.

Periyar felt that they were trying to reassert their control over religion by using their superior caste status to claim the exclusive privilege to touch idols or enter the sanctum sanctorum.

Periyar thought age and social customs was not a bar in marrying women.

Periyar was keen that women should realise their rights and be worthy citizens of their country.

Periyar criticised the hypocrisy of chastity for women and argued that it should either apply to men, or not at all for both genders.

Periyar wanted the government, the political parties and social workers to identify the evils in society and boldly adopt measures to remove them.

Periyar argued that the government was not for the people, but, in a "topsy-turvy" manner, the people were for the government.

Periyar attributed this situation to the state of the social system contrived for the advantage of a small group of people.

Periyar further advocated for the modernisation of villages by providing public facilities such as schools, libraries, radio stations, roads, bus transport, and police stations.

Periyar explained that the Tamil language is called by four different names since it is spoken in four different Dravidian states.

Periyar further explained that the older and more divine a language and its letters were said to be, the more they needed reform.

Periyar suggested that one who reads the Thirukkural will become a Self-respecter, absorbing knowledge in politics, society, and economics.

Periyar wanted to secure the fruits of labour of the Dravidians to the Dravidians, and lamented that fields such as political, economic, industrial, social, art, and spiritual were dominated by the north for the benefit of the North Indians.

Periyar wrote an editorial on 'Tamil Nadu for Tamilians' in which he stated, that by nationalism only Brahmins had prospered and nationalism had been developed to abolish the rights of Tamils.

Periyar advocated that there was need to establish a Tamil Nadu Freedom Organization and that it was necessary to work towards it.

Periyar explained that the Christian faith says that there can be only one God which has no name or shape.

Periyar found in Buddism a basis for his philosophy though he did not accept that religion as self-respect movement.

Periyar stated that what he was propagating could be found in the teachings of Buddha given 2000 years ago and wanted to revive them as an independent movement.

Sathyaraj and Khushboo Sundar starred in a government-sponsored film Periyar released in 2007.