How Bharathidasan Parambarai boxed social evil with verses and created an enduring legacy of tamil poetic heirs

Subramania Bharati inspired millions, but not many of his disciples can claim to have spawned a family of poets who reinforced his literary legacy with such verve. Born in Puducherry on April 29, 1891, Kanaga Subburathinam was a Tamil teacher who, until the age of 30, wrote only devotional poetry. It was his association with popular poet and social reformer C Subramania Bharati that made him move from praising gods to championing the cause of people.
Bharathidasan first met poet Bharati, the firebrand nationalist bard, at 17, during a gathering at his physical education teacher Venu Naicker's home in Puducherry. Upon Venu's request, Subburathinam sang a few songs, unaware they were Bharati's compositions. After that interaction, Subburathinam renamed himself Bharathidasan — meaning ‘disciple of Bharati', out of reverence for the Mahakavi.
"After my meeting with Subramania Bharati, I found a new voice in my language," Bharathidasan later wrote in one of his songs. From that point on, he chose to write poems about social issues instead of religious idols. Over time, he went beyond Bharati in his verses on Tamil identity, society, and culture, which later earned him the title ‘Paavendhar' or the king of poetry.
At Bharati's request, Bharathidasan wrote ‘Engengu kaaninum sakthiyadaa' (Wherever I look, there is power). Bharati not only endorsed it but also sent it to Swadesamitran, where he once worked as an assistant editor. Bharati, while recommending the poem for publication, wrote: "The poem was written by Kanaga Subburathinam of Sri Subramania Bharati Kavitha Mandalam (Sri Subramania Bharati's poetry circle)." That was how Bharati came to see Bharathidasan as his literary heir. In turn, Bharathidasan tried to carry the legacy forward, launching a monthly magazine ‘Sri Subramania Bharati Kavitha Mandalam' in 1935 to discover and nurture Bharati's next heirs. But the magazine, published from Puducherry, folded after just six issues.
While Bharati found only one true successor in Bharathidasan, the latter had 48 literary heirs. How those heirs were identified is a story, says Mu Elangovan, associate professor of Tamil at Kanchi Mamunivar Government Institute for PG Studies and Research in Puducherry. "Bharathidasan was invited to speak at Athangudi in Sivaganga district, a village dominated by the devout Chettiar community," says Elangovan. "He was asked to speak on rationalism and atheism. As the topics didn't sit well with the people of the region, not a single villager showed up."
But ten others did. Six were members of the Dravidar Kazhagam (founded by rationalist Periyar) and four were students from Konapattu (now part of Pudukottai district). "Among them was Murugu Subramaniam, a student who went on to launch the magazine ‘Ponni' in 1947." Moved by Bharathidasan's speech, Subramaniam was determined to contribute to the development of Tamil. At the time, Bharathidasan was only popular in Dravidar Kazhagam circles. "Ponni was started with the sole aim to popularise Bharathidasan's works," says Elangovan.
The magazine ran from 1947 to 1954. Between 1947 and 1949, it started to publish poems of budding poets who followed the style, structure, and content of Bharathidasan. The series was titled ‘Bharathidasan Parambarai'. One of the poetic heirs, Suradha, short for Subburathina Dasan, compiled these 48 poems into a book with the same name. By then, Murugu Subramaniam moved to Malaysia, where he was the editor of ‘Tamil Nesan', a now-defunct Tamil daily.
Elangovan, whose doctoral thesis was on ‘Bharathidasan Parambarai', says this literary lineage wasn't confined to those introduced by Ponni. "I found two more categories of descendancy — poets who were introduced by Bharathidasan in his magazine ‘Kuyil' and those inspired by the poet's works," he says. The first wave of Bharathidasan Parambarai included prominent personalities such as V C Kulandaisamy, the second Vice-Chancellor of Anna University; politician Nanjil K Manoharan, who served in DMK and AIADMK regimes; and Subbu Arumugam, the villupattu exponent. All 48 poets in this group wrote ‘marabu kavithai', a traditional format with a defined set of rules.
"Bharathidasan wrote about rationalism, Tamil pride, and communist thought. He also penned lyrics for films," says Senthalai Na Gowthaman, Sulur Paavendar Peravai, a group that popularises the works of Bharathidasan in Coimbatore district. "The literary heirs chose to focus on different themes Bharathidasan touched. For example, poets Mudiyarasan and Perunchithiranar focused on Tamil pride, Tamil Oli wrote about communism, and in films, Kannadasan and Pattukottai Kalyanasundaram reflected Bharathidasan's style."
Gowthaman says the lineage didn't end with the 48 poets. "It continues, especially through Tamil cinema." When ‘Puthukavithai' (free verse) became popular in the Tamil literary world by breaking the rules and grammar of poetry, ‘marabu kavithai' started to lose its sheen. "It was then that some poets in Coimbatore founded ‘Vaanampaadi', a poetry circle which brought together new verse and old traditional poetry formats in line with Bharati and Bharathidasan," says Gowthaman.
Some of the well-known poets of the ‘Vaanampaadi' style include Abdul Rahman, Sirpi, Puviyarasu, Erode Tamilanban, Inquilab, and Kovai Gnani. "Writer Sujatha, through his columns, introduced various grammar and rules of Tamil poetry. He also identified some of the new poets such as Na Muthukumar, who later went on to become a popular lyricist in the Tamil film industry. Today, lyricists such as Arivumathi, Palani Bharathi, and Yuga Bharathi retain Bharathidasan's style, structure, sentiments, and content," says Gowthaman.
The Tamil diaspora, says Gowthaman, has been urging the state govt to announce a ‘Tamil language day'. "Now, chief minister M K Stalin has announced ‘Tamil Week' (between April 29 and May 5) after Bharathidasan's birth anniversary instead of ‘Tamil day', which is a good sign for our literary heritage."
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