A. Madhaviah

இந்தப் பக்கத்தை தமிழில் வாசிக்க: அ. மாதவையா ‎

A. Madhaviah [A. Madhavaiyar] (born 16-Aug-1872, died 22-Oct-1925), was one of the earliest pioneering Tamil novelists. One of his earliest novels to be published in Tamil was 'Padmavati Charithram'. A. Madhaviah was a social reformer who advocated for female education and women's remarriage. He also wrote novels in English, including Clarinda.

A. Madhaviah

Birth & Youth

A. Madhaviah was also referred by few as A. Madhavaiyar. He was mostly referred as A. Madhaviah in books published during his time.

A. Madhaviah was born on 16-8-1872 in the village of Perunkulam near Tirunelveli. His father was Anantharamaiyar and Mother Meenakshi Ammal. He is the descendant of Anantha Avadhani, a scholar from Perunkulam. According to the genealogy written by A. Madhaviah's son Ma. Krishnan, the clan line from Anantha Avadhani can be traced down as follows: Anantha Avadhani, Mahadeva Pattar, Ananthavan Adigal, Yagnanarayanan, Ananthanarayanayar or Appavaiyar, A. Madhaviah. Analyst Kala Subramaniam mentions that he was born in a Telugu Brahmin clan and belonged to the Vadamar class who later settled in Tamil Nadu. [Novel Muthumeenakshi, Prologue for Tamizhini Publications]

He completed his schooling in 1887 in Tirunelveli district. He learned Tamil traditionally from Lakshmana Bodhi who lived in Nellai. He continued his undergraduate studies at the Christian College in Chennai. Here he graduated in Tamil and English. He was fascinated by the ideas of his college principal, William Miller. He completed his bachelor's degree (B.A) in 1892. He was first in his class.

After graduation, he worked as a teacher at the Chennai Christian College. In 1893, while studying for his MA, he secured first in the examination conducted by the Salt and Abkari department and became the Salt Inspector in the Kancham district of Andhra Pradesh.

He retired from government service in 1917 and came to Chennai. He took part in many academic works. He was elected to the Senate of the University of Madras.

Literary life

A. Madhaviah

During his college days, Madhaviah wrote stories and articles in English for the Madras Christian College magazine published by Tambaram Christian College, Chennai. He aimed to continue writing in English. He used the nickname Pamba (as an acronym for Perunkulam Appavaiyar Madhaviyar, B.A.) in English [Kala Subramaniam]. He started writing a series called 'Savitriyin Kathaigal' (Savitri's Stories) in a magazine started in 1892 by his friend C. V Swaminathayar named Viveka Chintamani. In 1892, the series was stopped by its editor due to severe criticism. Only six chapters were published once in two months.

A. Madhaviah then wrote the novel Padmavathi Charithram in 1898. Encouraged by the response to the novel, he completed and published Savitri's story under the title 'Muthumeenakshi'. The novel, published in 1903, met with severe criticism. A. Krishnan, son of A. Madhaviah, mentions that there were strong condemnations then in The Hindu newspaper. A. Madhaviah did not write in Tamil for the next six years. He wrote only poems in English for Madras Christian College magazine during the time.

The first volume of the novel 'Padmavathi Charithram' was published in 1898. In a foreword written in English, Madhaviah says that he thought the book may not be well received by the readers and therefore did not continue to write it. But to the contrary the novel was welcomed by all. Analysts note that there were two reviews in English and in Tamil. VC Sooriyanarayana Shastri, a Tamil scholar known as 'Parithimarkalaignar', praised the novel and wrote that there was no need for any hesitation in regard of the novel. Inspired by this, Madhaviah wrote the second part in 1899. In 1899 the two volumes were published together as a single book. He started writing a sequel to it in 1923 in Panchamirtham magazine. He died before it was completed.

In 1910, A. Madhaviah wrote short stories under the pseudonym Kusikar in The Hindu English daily. A total of 27 short stories were written by him. Madhaviah belonged to the Kaushika clan, so he chose the name Kusikar. Although these stories were critical of prevailing social practices, they were full of wit and humour. Moreover they formally resembled the Paramartha Guru tales that were very popular in Tamil. These stories became popular among the readers. They were published as a book by the Hindu under the title Kusikar's short stories. Later Madhaviah translated 22 of these short stories into Tamil and published them under the name 'Kusikarin Kutti Kathaigal'. In his literary journal Panchamirtham, A. Madhaviah wrote four short stories, including 'Kannan Perunduthu'. He had earlier written a short story in Tamilnesan magazine.

In 1914, Madhaviah won the first prize in a poetry competition called Indhiya Kummi. Subramania Bharathi also took part in this competition; information about this can be found in some books about his life. A. Madhaviah was not directly involved in the national independence struggle, but he wrote poems in support of the national movement.

A. Madhaviah adapted Shakespeare's Othello and wrote the play Udayalan in Tamil. He also wrote short operas.

A. Madhaviah's first English novel Thillai Govindan is one of the earliest Indian novels published in London. A collection of his English poems, Cox vs Dox, is no longer available. A. Madhaviah wrote the legends of Markandeyan, Nandanar and Manimegalai for children in English. A. Madhaviah wrote lyrics for selected songs in Silappathikaram, Kambaramayanam and Manimegalai. They are compiled under the title of 'Ilakkiya Selvam' (Literary Wealth).

Folklore

A. Madhaviah wrote a treatise about the Telugu folk deity Mathangi, called "Mathangi : A Curious Religious Institution". In it he describes how the worship of Mathangi continued in the Telugu clans that migrated to Tamil Nadu, according to Tamil customs. It is considered one of the pioneering studies in Tamil folklore.

Journalism

Panchamirtham Magazine Page

When A. Madhaviah came to Chennai in 1917, he started an organization called the Tamil Education Society with the aim of spreading education. As part of this organization he started a magazine called Tamilnesan. After a few issues came out, he left it in charge of his son-in-law P N Appusamy.

During 1924 he launched the monthly magazine Panchamirtham in the month of Chittirai (April). This magazine was solely for literature. He began writing the third volume of 'Padmavathi Charithram' in this journal and died shortly afterwards. In 1925, with his death, Panchamirtham magazine ceased to exist. A total of 25 issues were published.

Death

Madhaviah was elected a member of the Senate of the University of Madras on October 22, 1925. He died mid-way through a lecture to the Senate, in which he was advocating that Tamil should be included in the syllabus (B.A) as a compulsory subject.

Family

A. Madhaviah married at the age of fifteen (1887). His wife's name was Meenakshi. He had eight children, five daughters and three sons, including Ma. Anantha Narayanan, Meenakshi Thiagarajan, Ma. Krishnan, Muthulakshumi alias Mukta Venkatesh, Visalakshi and Dr. Saraswathi

Viswanathan Visalakshi Ammal, the daughter of Madhaviah, wrote stories and articles under the name of Kasini. Her short story 'Moondril Ethu' (Which of the Three) was published in Panchamirtham magazine. The stories written by Madhaviah's family together were compiled by the Dinamani press under the name 'Munnila'. The collection was edited by P. Shri.

Ma. Krishnan, son of A. Madhaviah, is a renowned author who has written ecological essays in English.

Literary Contribution

A. Madhaviah is considered to be one of the pioneer novelists of Tamil. In 1892 he began writing the novel 'Savithriyin Kathai' (The Story of Savitri) or 'Savitiri Charithiram' (History of Savitri). 'Savitriyin Kathai' was the second novel published in Tamil novel after 'Pratapa Mudaliar Charithram' (1879) written by Mayuram Vedanayagam Pillai. But it was censored four times, and only in 1903, was published under the name 'Muthu Meenakshi'. Prior to that, that B. R. Rajam Iyar published the novel 'Kamalambal Charithram' which came out in 1896. A. Madhaviah's Padmavathi Charithram was published in 1898.

A. Madhaviah wrote his novels with an understanding of the art form of novel writing. He begins his foreword to Padmavati Charithram thus, "The English word novel and the Sanskrit term naveena, meaning new or modern, stem from the same root and mean the same thing." Long stories with fantastic, unusual events go by the name romance in the West, but a novel is different from a romance, he says.

A. Madhaviah, who defines the novel "like all other treaties (granthas), that have as their primary goal the act of 'captivating the minds of the readers and enlightening them'". He notes that he did not consider the novels written in Tamil until then as novels. The form of ‘novel’ is novel [new] to Tamil, he says.

He also states in the preface that the novel is different from the old texts that educated people read, whose interpretation was often orally transmitted. A novel is a text written in such a way that anyone familiar with the language can read it, without the need for a teacher or guide to interpret it. This shows that he had an understanding of the novel as an art form which was formed as a result of the 'people-centric' concept about reading. Madhaviah states that stories should be written in plain simple language and with no commentaries. He also notes that it is customary in this form to write in the same way that uncultured characters speak. It shows his understanding of the realist aesthetics of the novel form.

In his novel, 'Muthumeenakshi' he strongly condemns the oppression of women in the Brahmin caste. His novels published in Tamil contain direct descriptions and comments written for the Tamil environment. 'Clarinda', his novel in English, is considered by critics to be his best literary work. 'Clarinda' has been translated into Tamil by Sarojini Bakkiamuthu. It is a novel based on the true story of a prostitute woman in Nellai who converted to Christianity and dug a well for the well-being of the people of the city. A. Madhaviah's English novel 'Thillai Govindan' was translated into Tamil by his grandson, V. Narayanan.

A. Madhaviah was influenced by all the common literary trends of his time. Matthew Arnold's 'Light of Asia' was one of the most influential books of his period, through which the Buddha was rediscovered like a wave all over India. Due to its impact, A. Madhaviah wrote the life of the Buddha under the name Siddhartha.

During his time there was a literary tradition of adapting Shakespeare's plays and many wrote prose plays in Shakespearean style. An adaptation of Shakespeare's Othello, 'Udayalan' was written by Madhaviah. Many such books were continuously written by many authors in Tamil during his time. It was a time when ancient literary texts of Tamil started coming into print. A new tradition of writing began as to make the literary style of the texts understandable to the general reader. Madhaviah's 'Ilakkiya Selvam' (literary wealth) is a pioneering book in that category.

Social Reform

A. Madhaviah was actively involved in women's education, child marriage and women's remarriage. Both the novels 'Padmavathi Charithram' and 'Muthumeenakshi' are based on the theme of women's education.

When A. Madhaviah's daughter became a widow at a young age, he arranged for her further education and remarriage. It created a great opposition in the society during those days. It is said that he even considered converting to Christianity.

Unlike B R Rajam Iyer, an early Tamil novelist comparable to A. Madhaviah, A. Madhaviah remained critical of the Hindu religion. He criticized and parodied Hindu traditions in stories such as 'Sasthapreethi' and 'Kannan Perunduthu'. In his novels 'Satyanandan' and 'Clarinda', he portrayed Christianity as a way to liberate oneself from social oppression. But in later novels he denounced the proselytizing techniques of Protestant Christianity. He often spoke about the need for Indians to liberate themselves from in influence of European thought. Researcher Kristen Bergman considers that Madhaviah was ambivalent about Christianity. According to Manaseegan, A. Madhaviah had a secular, atheistic outlook.

Biographies, Studies

His son Ma. Krishnan wrote a detailed biography about A. Madhaviah. It was released after the demise of Ma. Krishna

• Madhaviah: A Biography and a Novel by Sita A. Raman
• Waha, Kristen Bergman (2018-03-26). "Synthesizing Hindu and Christian Ethics in A. Madhaviah's Indian English * Novelclarinda (1915)". Victorian Literature and Culture
• Parameswaran, Uma (1986-03-01). "3. A. Madhaviah 1872 -1925: An Assessment". The Journal of Commonwealth Literature.
• Raj Gautaman wrote ‘A. Madhavaiya (1872-1925): Life and Creation'. Raj Gautaman's doctoral dissertation, this work presents a comprehensive study of A. Madhavaiya's life and works.

Works

Novel

• Padmavathi Charithiram (1898)
• Muthumeenakshi (1903)
• Vijayamarthandam (1903)
• History of Padmavathi Part III (1928, unfinished)
• Thillai Govindan [Translated by V. Narayanan]
• Clarinda [Translated. Sarojini Bakkiamuthu]
• Satyanandan [Translated by Joseph Kumar]

Short story

• Kusikar Short Stories (Translated from English by A. Madhaviah) (1924)

Drama

• Udayalan, a Korkkai Sinhala (Tamil version of Shakespeare's play 'Venetian Morian in Othello') (1903)
• Thirumalai Sethupathi (1910)
• Manimegalai Thuravu (1918)
• Rajamarthandam (1919)
• Barrister Panchanadam (1924)

Poetry

• Poems (20 poems) (1903)
• Podhu Dharma Satkeeta Manjari (Part Two, 1914)
• The ballad of the penniless bride (1915)
• Pudhu Madiri Kalyana Pattu (New Model Wedding Song) (1923)
• Indiya Desiya Geethangal (Indian National Anthems) (1925)
• Indiya Kummi (Indian Kummi) (1914)

Article

• Achara Seerthirutham (Ethical Reform) (1916)
• Siddharthan (1918)
• Bala Vinodha Kadaigal (Bizarre Stories for the young) (1923)
• Bala Ramayana (1924)
• Kural nanooru (Kural Four Hundred) (1924)
• Thalavai Mudaliar Kudumba Varalaru (Family History of Talwai Mudaliar) (1924)
• Dakshina Charithira Veerar (1925)

English texts

• Dox vs Dox poems (1903)
• Thillai Govindan. Novel (1903)
• Satyananda .Novel (1909)
• The story of Ramanyana .Childrens Literature (1914)
• Clarinda .Novel (1915)
• Lt. Panju .Novel (1915)
• Markandeya Childrens Literature (1922)
• Nanda Childrens Literature (1923)
• Thillai Govindan's Miscellany. Articles (1907)
• Manimekalai. Childrens Literature (1923)
• Kusika's short stories - 1916, 1923
• Dalavai Mudaliar .Research (1924)
• Mathangi: A Curious Religious Institution.Research (1924)

Apart from these, few articles, comments, etc. in Tamil were published in the magazine Panchamirtham from 1924 to 1925. Similarly, from 1892 to 1910, sixteen essays and poems written by Madhaviah were published in English in the College Magazine of the Chennai Christian College.

references

• A. Madhaviah (1872-1925): Life and Creation. Raj Gautaman. Kavya Publishing in Tamil
• A. Madhaviah Website http://www.madhaviah.org/MadhaviahWelcomeV11.htm
• Savitri Charithram - creation of the story of Muthumeenaksi. kala.Subramanian
• A. Madhaviah: The first voice of modernity. Manaseegan. Tamilini Internet Magazine
• Madhaviah: A Biography and a Novella - Sita Anantha Raman and Vasantha Surya, Oxford University Press
• Waha, Kristen Bergman (2018-03-26). "Synthesizing Hindu and Christian Ethics in A. Madhaviah's Indian English Novelclarinda (1915)". Victorian Literature and Culture. 46: 237–255. doi: 10.1017 / S1060150317000419. S2CID 165304670. Retrieved 2021-05-23.
• Parameswaran, Uma (1986-03-01). "3. A. Madhaviah 1872 -1925: An Assessment". The Journal of Commonwealth Literature. 21 (1): 222–239. doi: 10.1177 / 002198948602100124. ISSN 0021-9894. S2CID 161124736.

---

🖒 First review completed

Please do not write any content below this line. This section is only for editing templates & categories.