Pioneer of self-respect marriage passes away

January 15, 2016 12:00 am | Updated September 23, 2016 12:41 am IST - TIRUCHI:

Ninety-four-year old Sampoornam whose self-respect wedding over 70 years ago set off a renaissance in the State, is no more.

After being confined to bed at her house at Tiruvanaikoil here from some time, the grand old woman died of old age on Thursday.

Ms. Sampoornam’s marriage with Rama. Chinnaiah was the talk of the town in the early 1940s when the Dravidian movement had made steady inroads in the State.

Hers was the first “ Seerthirutha Kalyanam ” (Self-respect marriage) in the State conducted in October 1941 by the late Dravidian leader C. Annadurai who later on founded the Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (DMK).

Although the wedding held in the Tamil month of ‘ Purattasi’ at Tiruchi was a simple event, it definitely set off a renaissance of sorts across the State in those times.

Sampoornam was 19 years old then, while her husband was 15 years elder to her.

Well-attended wedding

The marriage was attended by the late Tamil scholar and social activist K.A.P. Viswanatham, lawyer T.P. Vedachalam and language warrior Visalakshi Ramasubbu among others.

In an interview to The Hindu in February 2015 Ms. Sampoornam, who worked as a teacher, had recalled how orders were placed for just two rose garlands and 50 rose flowers for her self-respect marriage. Her elder brother Simon Ramasamy was instrumental in organising the self-respect marriage.

Born in a family of five, Ms. Sampoornam’s elder sister Porselvi Ilamurugu was closely involved with the family of DMK patriarch M. Karunanidhi. Ms. Sampoornam who was blessed with three sons and a daughter lost her husband in a road accident years ago.

Her elder son passed away some time ago, while her other sons stay in Tiruchi and Madurai.

0 / 0
Sign in to unlock member-only benefits!
  • Access 10 free stories every month
  • Save stories to read later
  • Access to comment on every story
  • Sign-up/manage your newsletter subscriptions with a single click
  • Get notified by email for early access to discounts & offers on our products
Sign in

Comments

Comments have to be in English, and in full sentences. They cannot be abusive or personal. Please abide by our community guidelines for posting your comments.

We have migrated to a new commenting platform. If you are already a registered user of The Hindu and logged in, you may continue to engage with our articles. If you do not have an account please register and login to post comments. Users can access their older comments by logging into their accounts on Vuukle.