More than five years have passed since the Mahakavi Bharatiyar Museum-cum-Research Centre was closed to the public for renovation.
Ever since the closure of the house, several admirers of the great poet and tourists, keen on visiting the historic site, have gone back with great disappointment.
N. Sengamala Thayar, research assistant and in-charge of the centre, said, “The memorial was closed in October 2009. Books and precious memorabilia housed there were shifted to another place. Since then, we have been operating from Makkal Thalaivar V.Subbiah Research Library.”
During his political asylum in Puducherry from 1908 to 1918, Bharati and his family were living in the house located on Eswaran Kovil Street. It was here that he conceived some of his masterpiece literary works.
Bharati was forced to live in exile in Puducherry after the British issued an arrest warrant against him for his involvement in the nationalist movement. Bharati scholars believed that the poet and his family resided at the house for about a decade.
It took a long while — in fact not until 1973 — for the Puducherry government to acquire the house and convert it into a memorial and research centre for posterity.
However, the building languished in neglect as the renovation got delayed. Eventually, the house reached a dilapidated state owing to poor maintenance. After repeated demands to the government and writing letters on leaks during the monsoon, the authorities decided to close the centre and renovate the building in 2009.
Many prominent admirers submitted memorandums to Chief Minister N. Rangasamy condemning the Public Works Department’s proposal to demolish the heritage building. They insisted that the building should be restored after annexing the adjacent north side building which had been acquired by then.
The then Chief Secretary also inspected the two buildings and decided that both structures be restored and not demolished.
A sum of Rs. 99 lakh was earmarked and entrusted with the Indian National Trust for Art and Cultural Heritage (INTACH). The renovation work began last March.
S.Hemachandran, scholar and vice-president of Bharathiyar Anbargal Arakatalai (Bharathiyar Admirers’ Trust), said, “If they are given required clearance and funds in time, they will complete the work at the earliest. If only the administration has an iota of respect for the ‘Mahakavi’ who lived here for a decade and was responsible for the arrival of Sri Aurobindo and who is responsible for a whole generation of radical poets from Bharatidasan to many others, the building would not be weeping silently in the company many other historic structures that remain unattended to.”
A spokesman from INTACH admitted that there was procedural delay. He said, “We have been pushing the project for more than five years but the memorial was closed in 2009. We were entrusted with the renovation work only last year. Of course, there is procedural delay in releasing money to execute the project. The PWD has rigorous procedures. We have to respect them. Anyhow, the work is in final stage and will be completed in two or three months.”
