Postage stamp to be released to honour freedom fighter Ondiveeran

It is likely to be released in August, say officials

The Ondiveeran statue at the Manimandapam at Palayamkottai. | Photo Credit: A. Shaikmohideen

The Government of India has recently approved a proposal to release a commemorative postage stamp to honour freedom fighter Ondiveeran, who had fought against the British rule.

Ondiveeran was a trusted lieutenant in the Pulithevan Army that had taken on the imperialist forces.

The stamp is likely to be released in August, officials said. Since August 20 is the death anniversary of the freedom fighter and this year marks his 250th death anniversary, it may be chosen for the release, they said.

Ondiveeran was a native of Nerkattum Seval near Sankarankoil in the erstwhile Tirunelveli district (since bifurcated and now in Tenkasi district).

In 2011, the DMK government, under Chief Minister M. Karunanidhi, laid the foundation for a memorial, named ‘Maveeran Ondiveeran Manimandapam’, in Palayamkottai. In 2016, the AIADMK government, under Jayalalithaa, inaugurated the Manimandapam with a statue of Ondiveeran.

Professor S. Seenivasan, of the Department of Tamil at a private college affiliated to Delhi University, said the ancestors of Ondiveeran were zamindars and palayakarars in the Sankarankoil area before conspiracies unseated them.

The author of Thamizhaga Arundhathiyar-Vaazhvum Varalarum has also requested the State government to name the Government Arts and Science College at Sankarankoil after Ondiveeran because Nerkattum Seval is closer to the town. He also pointed to the folklore lauding Ondiveeran for his valour in the fight against the British.