Kannadasan

Religious Views

Muthiah was a staunch atheist and a follower of the Dravidian atheistic movement. He had a great love for the Tamil language and culture, and excelled in Tamil literature, both prose and poetry. He read the Thiruppavai of Andal, and was amazed at its mystic poetry, which was to have a deep and lasting impact on him. After a lot of introspection, he decided to convert back to Sanatana Dharma. He renamed himself as Kannadasan, meaning the servant of Lord Sri Krishna (In Tamil Kannan means Krishna and in Sanskrit, Dasa means servant), as he had become a Vaishnava Hindu. There is another train of thought that the kanna in his adopted name doesn't refer to the Hindu God, but to Jalagandapuram Kannan, his mentor. He dug deep into understanding Sanatana Dharma, and wrote his series of books on Sanatana Dharma titled Arthamulla Indhu Matham. He was born in the village of Sirukoodalpatti, which is near Karaikudi, belonging to a merchant community known as Nattukottai Nagarathar Vaishya.

Songwriting

Kannadasan's greatest contribution to Tamil culture is his songwriting. Lyrics with simple words but a profound philosophical message were his trademark style. Before Kannadasan, many lyricsists like Papanasam Sivan, Kambadasan, Vindhan, A. Maruthakasi, and Ku. Ma. Balasubramaniam were sought after in the Tamil music industry, but after the advent of Kannadasan, the scene changed. He quickly became the most sought after lyricist in the industry and remained so until his death. Kannadasan was so popular that though there were many excellent poets like Vaali, Pulamaipithan, Alangudi Somu, Avinasimani, Panchu Arunachalam and Jayakanthan during that period, their hits are wrongly considered by many Kannadasan fans as songs written by him. Though, after his death, film lyrics have come a long way from Vairamuthu to Tamarai, many people still consider Kannadasan to be the best songwriter. He is considered to be the greatest modern Tamil poet after Subramanya Bharathi.

He was the producer of the historic Tamil film Sivagangai Seemai portraying the pioneers of the Indian freedom struggle "Marudhu Pandaiars". The song "Santhupottu" from that film remains popular.

Notable novels

Autobiographies

Lyrics

1. Singari (1951)
2. Aayirathil oruvan
3. Mannadhi Mannan
4. Thaai Sollai Thattadhe
5. Thaayai Kaatha Thanayan
6. Paasam
7. Karuppu Panam
8. Panathottam
9. Periya Idathu Penn
10. Dharmam Thalaikakkum
11. Ananda Jothi
12. Neethikkupin passam
13. Kudumbathalaivan
14. Kaanchi Thalaivan
15. Parisu
16. Vettaikaran
17. Panakkara Kudumbam
18. Thiruvilayadal
19. Saraswathi Sabatham
20. Pattikada Pattanama
21. Urimaikural
22. En Kadamai
23. Nadodi
24. Thanga Pathakkam
25. Moondram Pirai
26. Iruvar Ullam
27. Dheerga Sumangali
28. Aalayam
29. Annai
30. Naanum Oru Penn
31. Pazhani
32. Varumayin Niram Sivappu
33. Billa (1980)
34. Thee

Scriptwriter

Onscreen appearances

Poet laureate

Kannadasan was the poet Laureate of the Tamil Nadu Government at the time of his death. He wrote two notable autobiographies, titled Vanavasam, a book about his past life whilst he was atheist, with the DMK and a sequel, titled Manavasam a book about his life after he had left DMK

His contribution to Tamil literature

Kannadasan was a prolific writer and his writing covered a variety of forms- poems, novels, lyrics for Tamil films and books on spirituality. His series titled Arthamulla Indu Matham (Meaningful Hindu Religion) is known for its simplicity in explaining the principles of Hinduism. He wrote a number of spiritual works in the later part of his life including Yesu Kaviyam the story of Jesus told in the poetic form. Many of Kannadasan’s poems have been translated into French.

He wrote and published several volumes of poetry. He was an admirer of Kambar and wrote a number of poems praising Kambar's artistry,contrary to the satire ("Kambarasam") on the same by C.N.Annadurai. He also spoke at several of the Kambar festivals. He sang the beauty of Seethai's gait and the shoulders of Rama; he spoke of beauty intoxicating and dropped me in a vessel of amrut(liquour)" This is one of Kannadasan's tribute to the poet Kambar.

He was a great person, he has no religious boundaries, He wrote a book about the life of Jesus Christ "Yesu Kaaviyam" rendered in a pristine poetical Tamil. It was published at Trichirapalli in the year 1981. The function was presided over by the then chief minister of Taminadu Mr. M.G. Ramachandran. Yesu Kaaviyam was the last literary work of Kannadasan.

Death

Kannadasan died on 17 October 1981 in Chicago, United States, where he had gone from India to attend a Tamil conference organised by the Tamil Association of Chicago. He was aged just 54 at the time of his death. A house in Sirukoodalpatti is now a memorial for the Tamil film music's evergreen favourites. The Kannadasan memorial museum was inaugurated on 21 October 1992. The evergreen song 'Kanne Kalaimane' from the film 'Moondram Pirai', released a few months later, was his last song.

Legacy

The Government of Tamil Nadu erected a memorial hall as "Kaviarasar Kannadasan Manimandapam" at Karaikudi. The road adjoining Natesan Park in T.Nagar, Chennai is named "Kannadasan Road" in his honour.