A.V. Devan Times

1. Biography Acting in a Shakespearean Play In 1906 when Swaminathan was in fourth form, the students were arranging to stage the Shakespearean play ‘King John’ for the annual day celebrations. They could not find a right person to play the lead role of Prince Arthur. The Principal remembered twelve year old Swaminathan. He called him and asked him to take up the role. Swaminathan was very happy that the principal asked him to play the role. Swaminathan conveyed the principal’s message to his parents and requested them to stitch the appropriate costume for the character. His conservative parents did not want their son to act in a play. However they did not have the heart to reject their favourite son’s aspirations. So, they gave their permission to Swaminathan’s acting in the play and also contributed towards his costumes. Swaminathan memorized all the dialogues of the play in just two days. Swaminathan performed exceptionally well and got the commendation of all. He got applause for

Hello readers Am glad to present the 5th article under the “Endaro Mahanubavulu” series. This article dwells about the 17th Century Tamil Poet “Kumaraguruparar”. I was surprised to find that a Tamil Saivite scholar hailing from the banks of Tampiraparani succeeded in opening a Mutt in North India. His achievement is a monumental example of religious and linguistic harmony inherent in the Indian culture. Pamban Swamigal who earned the title Kumaraguruparadasar for his laudable composition of intricate verses while staying in the Mutt established by Kumaguruparar in Kasi, was blessed with sacred cloths in a mysterious way by a devotee of Saint Kumaraguruparar. Mahatma Gandhi who began to learn Tamil when he was in South Africa seemed to have read Kumaraguruparar’s ‘Neethi Neri Vilakkam’. In the course of his visit to Tamilnadu when a young volunteer asked for an autograph he wrote from the very opening verse of ‘Neethi Neri Vilakkam’ that ‘Human body is similar to writing on the water’ (

Dear Readers I offer my sincere salutations and obeisance to crocodiles without them we wouldn’t have realized the Bhakti of Gajendra, or the Jnana of Adisankara nor the devotion of Sundaramurthy Nayanar. The crocodiles played an important role in bringing out the hidden secrets of these devotees through the divine grace. I pray my sincere obeisance to the crocodiles! Gajendra cried “Adimoolame” when it was caught by the crocodile and Lord Vishnu flew immediately leaving everything at standstill without even informing Mahalakshmi to save Gajendra. We wouldn’t have known the rescue speed of the Lord hence I offer my humble pranams to the crocodiles! The Alligator caught Adisankara who used the incident to get permission from her Mother to become a Sanyasi without which we wouldn’t have got the Jagadguru Sri AdiSankara. I offer my humble pranams to the crocodile which helped us to know the Advaita Philosophy. A boy who was killed by the crocodile was later on miraculously brought to life