C. W. Thamotharampillai

C. W. Thamotharampillai
Born	(1832-09-12)12 September 1832 Siruppiddy, Jaffna District, British Ceylon
Died	1 January 1901(1901-01-01) (aged 68) Purasawalkam, Madras Presidency, British India
Education	BA (University of Madras, 1857)[1] BL (Law)
Occupation	Advocate, high court judge
Title	Rao Bahadur
Children	Francis Kingsbury

Cirupitty Wyravanathar Thamotharampillai (Pillai) (Tamil: சி. வை. தாமோதரம்பிள்ளை; 12 September 1832 – 1 January 1901)), sometimes referred to by the initials as C. Y., devoted his energies to the work of editing and publishing some of the oldest works of classical Tamil poetry and grammar.^[2] He recovered, preserved, compared, tested and printed the ancient Tamil texts through his rare quests. He wants Tamil texts to remain available to the Tamil people. He volunteered with the rare intention of making Tamil people realize the greatness and beauty of Tamil. He was a Pioneer of the Tamil publishing industry.

Early Life[]

Damodaranar was born to the couple Vairavanathapillai - Perundevi couple. He chose to learn Tamil grammar and English at an early age. He studied science at the renowned Vaddukottai Seminary in Jaffna at the age of twelve. After that, In 1852 he worked sometime as a teacher in a School at Kopay, Ayalur. His son Alakasundaram is also a Tamil scholar.^[3]

Graduation[]

After finishing his college education in 1852 at Batticotta Seminary,^[4] Thamotharampillai taught for some years under  the  mission  and  then  proceeded  to  Madras  to  head  a  mission-run  daily. There he converted to Saivism^[4], and wishing to keep his initials C. W., took on the name Cirupitty Wyravanathar Thamotharampillai. In 1858 he became the first student in the state to appear for the first Bachelor of Arts (B.A.) degree examination conducted by the University of Chennai. He later became the headmaster of Tamil Nadu Kallikottai Government College. He then became an auditor on the Government Accounts Department and later as the attorney. ^[5]

Editor[]

In 1853, he came to Chennai to become editor of the Tamil Nadu Daily Gazette run by Rev. Peter Percival, owner of the Wesleyan English School in Jaffna. He also worked as a Tamil Pandit in the Rajasthani College.

Pioneer in Publishing[]

In 1853 he published an ethical tamil book entitled 'Needhi Neri Vilakkam', which not only sparked his interest in the field of book publishing, but also earned him the title of 'Pioneer of Tamil Publishing'.

Publishing Tholkappiam Poruladhikaaram[]

As it was not captured by the Pandya king, which was considered lost was discovered, tested, and printed in Tholkappiam Poruladhikaaram with dedication and hard work.

Manuscript Recovery[]

Jaffna born Pillai was the earliest scholar to systematically hunt for long-lost manuscripts and publish them using modern tools of textual criticism.^[6] These included:

• Viracoliyam (1881)
• Iraiyanar Akapporul (1883)
• Tolkappiyam-Porulatikaram (1885)
• Kalittokai (1887) - the first of the Eight Anthologies (Eṭṭuttokai).

Pillai, along with his contemporaries such as U. V. Swaminatha Iyer, was responsible for collecting and cataloguing numerous old Sangam manuscripts and preparing them into compilations and modern form.

Both Iyer and Pillai printed and published Tholkappiyam, Nachinarkiniyar urai (1895), Tholkappiyam Senavariyar urai, (1868), Manimekalai (1898), Cilappatikaram (1889), Pattupattu (1889), and Purananuru (1894), all with scholarly commentaries. Between them, they published more 100 works in all, including minor poems.

Rao Bahadur Award[]

He continued to study law, and in 1871 received the 'B.L.'. After passing the examination, he worked as a lawyer in Kumbakonam and in 1884 he was appointed as a Judge of the Pudukottai High Court. In 1895, after his retirement of about six years, the government conferred the title of 'Rao Bahadur' on Damodaram Pillai.

Death[]

At the age of sixty-nine, Damodaram Pillai died on January 1, 1901 (March 18, 1901) in the Purasaiwakkam of Chennai

Memorials[]

Statue of Thamotharampillai established at the Kopay Christian College where he studied

Bibliography[]

List of books published and written by C. W. Thamotharampillai

Published texts[]

C. W. Thamotharampillai published a number of ancient literature. Some of them are:

1) Neethi Neri Vilakkam

2) cēṉāvaraiyar solladhikaaraththirku seaavaraiyar urai (1868)

3) Veerasoozhiyam (1881)

4) Irayanar Agaporul

5) Kalitogai

6) Tolkaappiya Poruladhikaarathirkaana nachinaarkiniyarurai

7) Thirutanigai Puranam

8) Ilakkana Vilakkam

9) Soolamani

10) Tolkaappiya ezhuthadhikaarathirkaana nachchinaarkkiniyanurai

Composed texts[]

  1) Kattalai Kalithurai

  2) Saiva magathuvam

  3) Vacaṉa cūḷāmaṇi

  4) Natchathira Maalai

  5) Aaraam vaasaga puththagam

  6) Ezhaam vaasaga puththagam

  7) Aadhiyaagama keerththanam

  8) Viviliya virodham

  9) Gaandhamalar alladhu karpin maatchi (novel)

Books about him[]

Damodaram Pillai's History, D.A. Rajaratnam Pillai, Published by: n. Munisami Mudaliar, 'Ananda Bodhini', Madras, 1934

References[]