Back بيريار راماسامي Arabic पेरियार Bihari পেরিয়র ই. ভি. রামস্বামী Bengali/Bangla E. V. Ramasami German پریار Persian Periyar Ramasami Finnish Periyar E. V. Ramasamy French פרייאר HE पेरियार Hindi ಪೆರಿಯಾರ್ ರಾಮಸ್ವಾಮಿ Kannada

Periyar

For other uses, see Periyar (disambiguation).

Periyar
Portrait of Periyar on a postage stamp
President of Dravidar Kazhagam
In office
27 August 1944 – 24 December 1973
Preceded byPosition established
Succeeded byAnnai E. V. R. Maniammai
Head of the Justice Party
In office
1939 – 27 August 1944
Inaugural HolderC. Natesa Mudaliar
Preceded byRamakrishna Ranga Rao of Bobbili
Succeeded byP. T. Rajan
Personal details
Born(1879-09-17)17 September 1879
Erode, Coimbatore District, Madras Presidency, British India
Died24 December 1973(1973-12-24) (aged 94)
Vellore, Tamil Nadu, India
Resting placePeriyar Ninaividam
Political partyDravidar Kazhagam (from 1944)
Other political
affiliations
Spouses
  • ​
    ​
    (m. 1899; died 1933)​
  • ​
    ​
    (m. 1948)​
Occupation
  • Activist
  • politician
  • social reformer
Nicknames
  • E.V.R.
  • Vaikom Veerar
  • Venthaadi Venthan

Erode Venkatappa Ramasamy (17 September 1879 – 24 December 1973), revered by his followers as Periyar[a] or Thanthai[b] Periyar, was an Indian social activist and politician who started the Self-Respect Movement and Dravidar Kazhagam. He is known as the 'Father of the Dravidian movement'.[1] He rebelled against Brahmin dominance and gender and caste inequality in Tamil Nadu.[2][3][4] Since 2021, the Indian state of Tamil Nadu celebrates his birth anniversary as 'Social Justice Day'.[5]

Ramasamy joined the Indian National Congress in 1919. In 1924, Ramasamy participated in non-violent agitation (satyagraha) involving Mahatma Gandhi in Vaikom, Travancore.[6] He resigned from the Congress in 1925 when he felt that the party was only serving the interests of Brahmins. He questioned what he felt was the subjugation of non-Brahmin Dravidians as Brahmins enjoyed gifts and donations from non-Brahmins but opposed and discriminated against non-Brahmins in cultural and religious matters.[7] He declared his stance to be "no god, no religion, no Gandhi, no Congress, and no Brahmins".[8]

He founded Self-Respect Movement in 1926.[8] From 1929 to 1932 Ramasamy made a tour of British Malaya, Europe, and Soviet Union which influenced him.[9] In 1939, Ramasamy became the head of the Justice Party,[c] and in 1944, he changed its name to Dravidar Kazhagam. The party later split with one group led by C. N. Annadurai forming the Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (DMK) in 1949.[10] While continuing the Self-Respect Movement, he advocated for an independent Dravida Nadu (land of the Dravidians).[11]

Ramasamy promoted the principles of rationalism, self-respect, women's rights and eradication of caste. He opposed the exploitation and marginalisation of the non-Brahmin Dravidian people of South India and the imposition of what he considered Indo-Aryan India.


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  1. ^ "Statue wars: Who was Periyar and why does he trigger sentiment in Tamil Nadu?". The Economic Times. 7 March 2018. Archived from the original on 28 March 2019. Retrieved 28 March 2019.
  2. ^ Mehta, Vrajendra Raj; Thomas Pantham (2006). Political Ideas in Modern India: thematic explorations. Sage Publications: Thousand Oaks. p. 48. ISBN 978-0-7619-3420-2. Archived from the original on 18 September 2023. Retrieved 23 March 2016.
  3. ^ Arora, N.D.; S.S. Awasthy (2007). Political Theory and Political Thought. Har-Anand Publications: New Delhi. p. 425. ISBN 978-81-241-1164-2. Archived from the original on 18 September 2023. Retrieved 23 March 2016.
  4. ^ Thakurta, Paranjoy Guha; Shankar Raghuraman (2004). A Time of Coalitions: Divided We Stand. Sage Publications. New Delhi. p. 230. ISBN 0-7619-3237-2.
  5. ^ "TN govt will celebrate Periyar's birth anniversary as social justice day, says CM Stalin". The Indian Express. 6 September 2021. Archived from the original on 8 September 2021. Retrieved 8 September 2021.
  6. ^ Athiyaman, Pazha (24 December 2019). "Periyar, the hero of Vaikom". The Hindu. ISSN 0971-751X. Archived from the original on 9 August 2021. Retrieved 9 August 2021.
  7. ^ Kandasamy, W.B. Vansantha; Florentin Smarandache; K. Kandasamy (2005). Fuzzy and Neutrosophic Analysis of E.V. Ramasamy's Views on Untouchability. HEXIS: Phoenix. p. 106. ISBN 978-1-931233-00-2.
  8. ^ a b Deshpande, A. (2011). The Grammar of Caste: Economic Discrimination in Contemporary India. OUP India. p. 44. ISBN 978-0-19-908846-1. Archived from the original on 18 September 2023. Retrieved 27 July 2023.
  9. ^ "As Tamil Nadu celebrated Periyar's birthday on September 17, we recall the impact of his foreign trips". G Olivannan. The Times of India. 20 September 2016. Archived from the original on 29 October 2020. Retrieved 4 September 2020.
  10. ^ Pandian, J., (1987). Caste, Nationalism, and Ethnicity. Popular Prakashan Private Ltd.: Bombay. pp. 62, 64. ISBN 0861321367.
  11. ^ Chatterjee, Debi [1981] (2004) Up Against Caste: Comparative study of Ambedkar and Periyar. Rawat Publications: Chennai. pp. 40-42. ISBN 978-81-7033-860-4

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