Religion Hinduism Name Kovai Subri | Died 1993 | |
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Occupation Revolutionary leader, freedom fighter, political activist Movement Indian Independence Movement | ||
Kovai Subri was a Tamil revolutionary and freedom fighter during the Indian Independence Movement.
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Early life
Kovai Subri was born in Coimbatore in 1898. He was the fifth child of Parvathi and V.R. Krishna Iyer, an advocate in Coimbatore and was named Subramaniam, after the deity at Chennimalai. During his early years, Subri was drawn by the ideals of Gandhiji and decided to quit college to join the Indian Independence Movement.
Freedom Struggle
At the age of 23, Subri joined the Town Congress Committee in Coimbatore as the secretary in 1921. Shortly afterwards, he was imprisoned for a year for his participation in the Flag Satyagraha civil disobedience movement in Nagpur. He was later imprisoned on five more occasions and spent a total of 5 years of his life in prison. He would later go on to start a Khadi centre at Padiyur village in Uthukuli.
Gandhiji praised Subri for his stellar role in the freedom struggle in his publication Young India. He affectionately referred to Subri as 'The loudspeaker' for his commanding voice as his translator during his tour of the Coimbatore and Nilgiris Districts.
Muruga Ganam
During his years in prison, Subri composed a collection of 426 devotional songs named Muruga Ganam in praise of Lord Muruga. Muruga Ganam was first published in 1980, and a CD was later released by Bharatiya Vidya Bhavan in 2011.
Political career
Kovai Subri served as the Municipal Chairman of Coimbatore Municipality from 1938 to 1942. During his tenure, he was instrumental in creating the Gandhi Park in the RS Puram area of the city. He was later elected as the MLA of the Coimbatore City Constituency from 1947 to 1952.
Personal life
In 1926, at the age of 28, Subri married Kamala, the daughter of A. Natesa Iyer an advocate-cum teacher from Pollachi. Kamala joined Subri in his acts of civil disobedience and was arrested in 1930 along with their six-month-old daughter. Subri and Kamla died in 1993 exactly a week from each other.