A. K. Paranthamanar

A. K. Paranthamanar

இந்தப் பக்கத்தை தமிழில் வாசிக்க: அ.கி. பரந்தாமனார்

A. K. Paranthamanar (July 15, 1905 - 1986) was a Tamil professor, Writer, Poet, Historian and Lecturer. His full name is Allikuzhi Krishnasamy Paranthamanar.

Birth, Education

A. K. Paranthamanar was born on July 15, 1905 in Chennai, the fourth son of Krishnasamy Mudaliar and Sivanathi Ammal.

He completed his schooling at St. Paul's High School in Chennai Vepery. Upon completion of his graduation from Pachaiyappa's College, Chennai he worked as a clerk in the Carnatic Cotton Mill in Chennai for a year. He studied Politics and History at Pachaiyappa's College, Chennai as a special subject and obtained his Bachelor's degree and his Master's degree in 1949.

Personal Life

After completing his postgraduate studies, A. K. Paranthamanar worked as a Tamil teacher for about 24 years at St. Paul's High School in Vepery, Chennai.

When Madurai Thiagarajar College was started in January 1950, he joined as a Tamil lecturer. He worked there for 17 years and retired in 1967. He participated as an expert in Tamil Nadu Textbook Institute, Tamil Nadu Puluvar Group etc. Somasundaram son of A. K. Paranthamanar works in the field of education.

Contribution

Historian

A.K. Paranthamanar's primary contribution was the collection of information on Tamil history from research papers and English texts and writing comprehensive books. His historical thread 'Madurai Nayakkar Varalaru' contains brief but detailed account of Nayak's dynasty and their fall, this book is based on Professor R. Sathyanatha Ayyar's 1917 - 1921 english book 'Madurai Nayakkar Varalaru', K. A. Neelakanda Shastriyar's 'Thenindiya Varalaru' and Dr. A. Krishnasamypillai's 'Tamil Country under Vijayanagara'. He continued to write historical research articles in the 'Tamil Nadu' daily for about 13 years. He also wrote books named Thirumalai Nayakkar Varalaru & Thalaisirantha Pandiya Manargal.

Simple Grammer

A.K. Paranthamanar was involved in separate Tamil development activities and in compiling texts for it. He wrote weekly articles in the 'Tamil Nadu' daily run by Madurai Karumuthu Thiyagarasar, that taught about writing Tamil without grammatical errors. These articles were later compiled and published under the title 'Nallathamil Ezhuthavanduma?'. It is considered as an important guide book that introduces grammar close to contemporary Tamil prose. He founded the South Indian Tamil Educational Institute in Chennai in 1925 and conducted Tamil classes.

Awards

• "Peindhamil Pavalar" - Madurai Ezhuthalar Mandram, Madurai Thiruvalluvar Kazhagam, presented on the occasion of A. K. Paranthamanar Manivizha.
• "Thiru. Vi. Ka. Virudhu" - Tamil Nadu Government, presented at the Tamil University Opening Ceremony in 1981, Thanjavur

Memories

• His son A.P. Somasundaran has established A.K. Paranthamanar foundation at Madurai Kamaraj University.
• Palthurai Vithagar A.K. Paranthamanar, A.P. Somasundaran, 2009, Alli Nilayam (A collection of research seminars on A.K. Paranthamanar)

Literary Space

A.K. Paranthamanar always gets quoted in the literary world for his books Madurai Nayakkar Varalaru & Nallathamil Ezhuthavanduma?. In the middle of the twentieth century, when Tamil nationalist ideas were prevalent in Tamil Nadu, there was a widespread reluctance in writing about Nayakkar period's history. A. K. Paranthamanar's books were widely considered as important contributions about historical writings, as it raised in defiance on Tamil Nationalist Movement.

When traditional scholar's were writing based on vocabularies, by combining words and using traditional Tamil words which made it hard to read, on the contrary, a trend was being followed by writing based on day to day speech and by mixing languages with grammatical mistakes. Thought his book, A.K. Paranthamanar has taught the art of writing simple pros in pure Tamil Language without violating the Tamil Grammatical Legacy. Two of the books that paved the way to write general pros are A.K. Paranthamanar's 'Nallathamil Ezhuthavanduma?' and C.P. Adithyanar's 'Nalthal Ezhuthazhar Kaiyedu'. Adithyanar's thread created the simplest Tamil style circulating in the dailies. Though there was intermingling languages and grammatical mistakes, the aim was to make Tamil Pros easily readable even to the illiterates. A.K. Paranthamanar's grammer is intended to create a general prose without compromising the norms of literatrary legacy.

A.K. Paranthamanar is primarily considered as a best teacher. The list of college students Abdul Rahman, Meera, N. Kamarasan, Mu. Metha, Inkulab and Abhi who studied under him, portraits his abilities as a teacher.

Demise

A.K. Paranthamanar died on 1986 in Chennai.

Creations

• Kathalnilai Kavithaigal (1954)
• Engal Thottam (1964) - Siruvar Padal
• Pranthamanar Kavithaigal
• Kavignaraga
• Nallathamil Ezhuthavanduma?
• Tamil Ilakkiyam Karka
• Thirukuralum Pudumai Karuthukalum (1963)
• Panmuga Parvaiyalan Bharati
• Pechalaraga
• Madurai Nayakkar Varalaru
• Thirumalai Nayakkar Varalaru
• Thalaisirantha Pandiya Mannargal
• Varalatru Katturaigalum Piravum
• Vazhkaikalai
• Gomas

References

• Palthurai Vithagar A. K. Paranthamanar, A. P. Somasundaram, 2009, Alli Nilayam (A collection of research seminars on A.K. Paranthamanar)
• Madurai Nayakkar Varalaru (A. K. Paranthamanar M.A.), jeyamohan.in
• Perasiriyar A. K. Paranthamanar, N. Deiva Sundaram Pathivu
• A. K. Paranthamanar |Munnorgal| Krishnamoorthy
• https://telibrary.com A. K. Paranthamanar
• Nallathamil Ezhuthavanduma? Inaiya Noolagam
• Pechalaraga - Inaiya Noolagam
• Innattu Mummanigal - Professor A. K. Paranthamanar