Floral tributes were paid to freedom fighter and King ‘Rebel’ Muthuramalinga Sethupathy on his birth anniversary here on Wednesday.
Collector S. Natarajan garlanded a life-size bronze statue of the king, installed at the entrance of the Collectorate complex, and paid his tributes at a function organised by the Department of Information and Public Relations. Revenue Divisional Officer Rampradeepan, Public Relations Officer P. Gandhi, Tahsildar Mari and others paid tributes to the freedom fighter.
Born in 1760, Sethupathy was crowned the King of Ramnad when he was 72 days old and his mother became the regent. The Nawab of Arcot, joining hands with the British, attacked his kingdom in 1772 and captured him when he was just 12 with his mother and sisters. They were released 10 years later following revolts and upsurge.
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The British once again attacked his palace in 1795 and this time he was lodged in Fort St George in Chennai where he died in 1809. Patron of education, art and music, Sethupathy started Schwartz School in 1785, the first English medium school for the district.
The king earned fame after he built the third corridor of the famous Ramanathaswamy Temple in Rameswaram island and financed Swami Vivekananda’s visit to Chicago to address the conference of all religions.