The author of first Tamil novel and advocate of women’s education

The author of first Tamil novel and advocate of women’s education

It was All Souls’ Day on November 2. People made a beeline for the cemetery at Mayiladuthurai (once Mayuram) with candles, garlands, and flowers to pay homage to their loved ones resting in peace. Standing at the entrance of the cemetery is the statue of Mayuram Samuel Vedanayagam Pillai, the former district munsif, who was the first Tamil novelist, a composer of many ‘keerthanas’ set to Carnatic ragas, and a prose writer. Behind the statue lies his memorial, beside that of his mother Arokya Mariammal.

Vedanayagam Pillai (1826-1889) was a contemporary and friend of Tamil scholar U.V. Swaminatha Iyer. His ancestors had converted to Christianity. He was well-versed in Tamil literature. He also made remarkable achievements as a munsif through his knowledge of English. Like Swaminatha Iyer, he was a student of legendary Tamil scholar Thirisirapuram Meenakshisundaram Pillai.

In his memoir, En Charithiram (My History), Swaminatha Iyer recalls Vedanayagam Pillai’s visit to the Thiruvavaduthurai Mutt with poems composed in praise of Subramania Desikar, its head. “I used to read them in public. They would be so simple in style that everyone would understand them at once and appreciate them. Wasn’t it a rare thing for a Christian gentleman to sing the praises of the head of the Saiva monastery? And people were amazed all the more since the author of the panegyrics was a person who was by nature not a flatterer, and who occupied a post of high rank in government,” writes Swaminatha Iyer.

Swaminatha Iyer’s observation is confirmed by an obituary reference in The Hindu in 1889. It says that as a district munsif, Pillai was very popular and discharged his duties with great credit and ability at a time when munsifs of the present type were rare.

Vedanayagam Pillai was also a great connoisseur of Carnatic music and used to meet Gopalakrishna Bharathiyar, the author of Nandan Charithiram. His collection of songs, Sarva Samaya Samarasa Keerthanigal, are simple and drenched in devotion similar to the songs penned by the Hindu composers.

“Although Vedanayagam Pillai claimed that his songs would appeal to all faiths, a closer look at their style and contents reveals a clear Hindu and Christian bias, for he refers to the feet of the God and addresses Him in masculine term,” says Sascha Ebeling, Associate Professor at the University of Chicago, in his afterword to the Vedanayagam Pillai’s novel, Prathapa Mudaliar Charithram, which was translated into English by Meenakshi Tyagarajan.

In the song, Chittam Eppadiyo in raga Nadanamakriya, he wonders whether Karthar (Jesus) would uplift him or give up on him, while Oho Kaalame in Sahana extols the greatness of time and was popularised by M.M. Dhandapani Desikar.