Kamban Kazhagam, founded by freedom fighter and Tamil scholar ‘Kamban Adipodi’ Sa. Ganesan, has appealed to the State government to take over the samadhi-temple of Kamban, the medieval Tamil poet and author of the Kambaramayana, at Nattarasankottai and renovate it.
Kazhagam secretary Pala. Palaniappan, in letters sent to K. Pandiarajan, Minister for Tamil Official Language and Tamil Culture, and Collector G. Latha said as the samadhi-temple was located in a private garden, the government could take over that part alone and renovate it.
The samadhi-temple had a small tiled-roof structure. The family, which owned the land cooperated with the Kazhagam to celebrate ‘Panguni Hastham’ festival there every year in a grand manner, he said.
The government could build a ‘manimandapam’ for Kamban on the lines of memorials built for poets Subramania Bharathi and Umaru Pulavar at Ettaiyapuram, Ilango Adigal at Poompuhar and Kaniyan Pungunran at Mahipalanpatti in Sivaganga district, Mr. Palaniappan suggested.
The samadhi-temple could also be developed as a tourist destination with better road facility from Nattarasankottai main bazaar.
Sa. Ganesan launched the Kamban movement and started organising Kamban festival in 1940 to propagate the Kambaramayana all over the world. After his demise, he had been organising the festival for the past 34 years, Mr. Palaniappan said.
The festival was celebrated for four days. As Kamban’s date of birth could not be ascertained, Kamban Kazhagam, with the help of an old Tamil song and research studies, fixed the birth anniversary on Panguni Hastham (February 23) in 883 AD, he said.
The Tamil poet was worshipped as a ‘God of wisdom’ and the mud taken from where he was believed to have been buried was revered by a large number of people. The local people smeared the tongues of newborn babies with the mud mixed with milk, he said.
