A. K. Chettiyar
இந்தப் பக்கத்தை தமிழில் வாசிக்க: ஏ. கே. செட்டியார்
A. K. Chettiyar (Annamalai Karuppan Chettiyar; November 3, 1911- September 10, 1983) was a pioneer of travelogue writing and documentarty film making in Tamil. He was noted for his documentary on Gandhi. In Tamil, he was known as the ‘Ulagam Sutriya Tamilan’. (A Globe Trotting Tamil). He founded and ran the Kumari Malar, a magazine to spread Gandhian principles.
Birth, Education
A. K. Chettiyar (Annamalai Karuppan Chettiyar) was born to A. Rama Annamalai Chettiyar on November 3, 1911 at Kottaiyur near Karaikudi. Having completed his schooling in Tiruvannamalai, he spent his youth in Chettinadu and Tiruvannamalai .
Starting from the school days he was interested in Gandhi and had gone to prison for getting involved in freedom struggle during that time.
Personal Life
After completing his education A. K. Chettiyar went to Burma to oversee his family business. There he worked as editor for a magazine called Dhanavanigan run by the Nagarathar community. In 1935 he went to Japan to learn photography at Imperial College of Technology, Tokyo. In 1937, he joined the New York Institute of Photography and completed a one-year diploma course in photography.
Literary Life
After returning to Tamil Nadu A. K. Chettiyar got involved in his family business. His first and only short story called "Sarathambal – Siru Thamaash" was published in the magazine Anandavikatan in 1928. Though he continued to write many articles in magazines like Sakthi, Anandavikatan, Hanuman, Jothi, Hindustan etc., he did not write any short stories thereafter. He got less inclined towards literature and did not publish any fictional work in Kumari Malar either.
Kumari Malar
A. K. Chettiyar was attracted towards popular magazines of Chettinadu of his time like Kumaran, Oozhiyan, Tamil Nadu, and Navasakthi. In April 1943 he started a monthly magazine called Kumari Malar with the aim of spreading Gandhian philosophy and general knowledge among people. This magazine came with same cover page layout for all volumes, but only background colors changed for each volume. Articles of noted personalities like Rajaji and Kalki were published in Kumari Malar among others. A. K. Chettiyar was the one who encouraged Bharathidasan to write "Azhagin Sirippu" and published it in Kumari Malar. He also published some rare works of Bharathi. (See Kumari Malar)
Travelogues
A. K. Chettiyar, who had travelled to many countries, published all his travel books through his Kumari Malar publication. He compiled travel articles of many writers written during the period of 1850-1925 and published them in six volumes under the title of Payana Katturaikal. Many social aspects such as travel, Kummi (a Tamil folk dance), Jatka ride, bus travel, advent of new travel modes like ship, train, and the advent of electrical equipment and their impact on society were documented in this collection. We can also find articles about diseases like cholera which was prevalent during that time.
Tamil Nattu Payana Katturaikal which came out in 1968 having around 300 pages was the most important compilation work of A. K. Chettiyar. His travel books were known for their simple and clear language.
A. K. Chettiyar wrote 17 books in total. His first book was Japan and Unavu was his last one. Japan was based on his experience during his two years in Japan studying photography. It was first published as a series in the magazine Thanavanigan and then compiled as a book.
Gandhi Documentary
A documentary on Gandhi was considered to be the most prominent achievement of A. K. Chettiyar.
See: A. K. Chettiyar’s Gandhi documentary
Death
A. K. Chettiyar died on September 10, 1983 at Chennai due to old age.
Documents
- Some volumes of A. K. Chettiyar’s Kumari Malar magazine were available in Tamil digital library.
- A. K. Chettiyar’s documentary on Gandhi was also preserved and available on youtube.
Literary An Historic place
A. K. Chettiyar made contributions as a writer, journalist, photographer, and documentary film maker. He was respected as one of the pioneers in publishing books in the domain of travel, general knowledge, and science in Tamil.
He was the pioneer and the first one to take a detailed documentary film in Tamil. His documentary was considered to be a primary one in Gandhian research.
Books
Compilation Books
- Punniyavan Gandhi
- Panbu
- Koitha malargal
- Unavu
Published books
- Japan katturaigal
- Ulagam sutrum tamizhan
- Prayaana ninaivugal
- Payana katturaigal
- Andai naadugal
- Maleya muthal canada varai
- Carebian kadalum Gayanavum
- Gayana muthal caspian kadal varai
- America naattile
- Europe vazhiyaga
- Kudagu
- Itta pani
- Thiraiyum vaazhvum
References
- Thendral magazine article
- A. K. Chettiyar: A note on his life
- A. K. Chettiyar: A forgetten achiever
- Ulagam sutrum tamizhan, Keetru article
- Kumari malar magazine: Tamil digital library
- A. K. Chettiyar's Kumari Malar articles-1
- A. K. Chettiyar's Kumari Malar articles-2
✅Finalised Page
