Ayothi thas pandithar
04.12.2023
Ayothi thas pandithar , Daily Current Affair , RACE IAS : Best IAS Coaching in Lucknow
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For Prelims: About Ayothi Thas Pandithar, Important points, For mains paper:Major achievements of Ayothi Thas Pandithar, Major achievements of Ayothi Thas Pandithar |
Why in news:
Recently, the Tamil Nadu government unveiled the statue of Dalit rights and anti-caste activist Ayothi Thas Pandithar at the Gandhi Mandapam in Chennai.
Important points:
- Tamil Nadu Chief Minister MK Stalin on Friday unveiled the statue of anti-caste activist Iyothi Thas Pandithar at the Gandhi Mandapam in Chennai.
- The statue and a memorial were installed at a cost of Rs 2.49 crore.
- The announcement to build the memorial for Ayothi Thas was made by Stalin under Rule 110 in the state assembly on September 3, 2021.
- Former Chief Minister M Karunanidhi also honored Ayothi Thas by releasing a postage stamp for him in 2006
About Ayothi Thas Pandithar:
- He was born on 20 May 1845 in Madras Presidency.
- Ayothi Thas died in 1914 at the age of 69.
- He was a prominent anti-caste activist and practitioner of Siddha medicine.
- He had good knowledge of Tamil, English, Pali and Sanskrit languages.
- In the 1870s, Ayoththi Thas organized the Todas and other tribes of the Nilgiri Hills into a formidable force for the independence movement.
- Ayothi Thas Pandithar is also known as the 'Father of Social Reform in South India'.
- In 1881, when the British began conducting the first census, Iyothi Thas urged them to record the Pariahs as Adi Dravidian (native Tamil) and not as Hindu.
Major achievements of Ayothi Thas Pandithar:
- In 1876, Thas founded the Advaidananda Sabha and started a journal called Dravida Pandyan in collaboration with Rev. John Rathina.
- He founded the "Dravida Mahajana Sabha" in 1891 with Retamalai Srinivasan.
- He founded the Sakya Buddhist Society in Madras, which had branches throughout South India.
- The Sakya Buddhist Society, also known as the Indian Buddhist Association, was founded in 1898.
- To manage and coordinate the functioning of the society, he started a weekly magazine, Tamizan, in 1907.
Major achievements of Ayothi Thas Pandithar:
- He always emphasized on social change rather than political change.
- He dreamed of creating a casteless society.
- He was the first modern Dalit social revolutionary.
- He remained the first recognized anti-Brahmin leader of the Madras Presidency.
He called Dalits casteless Dravidians because they were outside the caste system.