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Moovalur Ramamirtham

Moovalur Ramamirtham
Born1883
Thiruvarur, Madras Presidency, British India
(now Tamil Nadu, India)
Died1962
OrganisationDMK
MovementDravidian movement, Tamil Nationalism

Moovalur Ramamirtham (1883–1962) was a Tamil social reformer, author, and political activist of the Dravidian Movement, who worked for the abolition of the Devadasi system in the Madras Presidency.

Early life

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Ramamirtham was born in 1883 in Thiruvarur, Madras Presidency, and was brought up at Moovalur, a village near Mayiladhuthurai.

Activism

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Originally a supporter of the Indian National Congress (INC), she became a member of 'Periyar' E. V. Ramasamy's Self-Respect Movement after the latter left the Congress in 1925.

In 1930, she supported Muthulakshmi Reddi's failed attempt to abolish the Devadasi system in the Presidency through legislation.[citation needed]

In 1936, she authored a novel Dasigalin Mosavalai alladhu madhi pettra minor (lit. The Dasis' Web of Deceit, or The Playboy Grown Wise) which exposed the plight of the Devadasis.[citation needed]

She took part in the Anti-Hindi agitations of 1937-40 and in November 1938, was jailed for six weeks for participating in the agitations.[citation needed]

In 1949, she parted ways with Periyar,[citation needed] and became a supporter of the Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (DMK) party started by Periyar's protégé C. N. Annadurai.[citation needed] She remained a DMK supporter till her death in 1962.

Legacy

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The public awareness created by her novel and her continuous campaign to abolish the Devadasi system, were instrumental in the passage of the Madras Devadasi (Prevention of Dedication) Act or the Devadasi Abolition Bill, which outlawed the practice in 1947.

In her memory, the Government of Tamil Nadu in 1989 instituted the "Moovalur Ramamirtham Ammal Ninaivu Marriage Assistance Scheme," a social welfare scheme to provide financial assistance to poor women.[1][2][3][4][5][6][7][8][9][10][11][12]

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Ramamirtham is portrayed by Vennira Aadai Nirmala in the biopic Periyar (2007).

References

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  1. ^ Ramaswamy, Sumathy (1997). Passions of the tongue: language devotion in Tamil India, 1891-1970. University of Chicago Press. pp. Chapter 5. ISBN 978-0-520-20805-6. OCLC 36084635.
  2. ^ Sarkar, Tanika (2008). Women and social reform in modern India: a reader. Indiana University Press. pp. 395–403. ISBN 978-0-253-22049-3.
  3. ^ Thorner, Alice; Krishna Raj, Maithreyi (2000). Ideals, images, and real lives: women in literature and history. Orient Blackswan. pp. 241–250. ISBN 978-81-250-0843-9.
  4. ^ Anandhi, S. (March 1991). "Representing Devadasis: 'Dasigal Mosavalai' as a Radical Text". Economic and Political Weekly. 26 (11/12): 739–746. JSTOR 4397430.
  5. ^ Desikan, Shubashree (19 December 2008). "Grace under fire". Business Line. Retrieved 19 January 2010.
  6. ^ "Moovalur Ramamirtham Ammayar ninaivu Marriage Assistance Scheme" (PDF). Government of Tamil Nadu. Retrieved 19 January 2010.
  7. ^ Menon, Parvati (4 August 2001). "Of studies on Women". Frontline. Retrieved 19 January 2010.
  8. ^ Viswanathan, S (4 May 2008). "The Pioneers: Dr. Muthulakshmi Reddy". Frontline. Retrieved 19 January 2010.
  9. ^ Sithannan, V. (2006). Immoral traffic: prostitution in India. JEYWIN Publications. p. 53. ISBN 978-81-905975-0-0.
  10. ^ PKR (10 November 2009). "Book Review". The Hindu. Retrieved 19 January 2010.
  11. ^ Chandhrika, G. (October 2009). "Of Men, Women and Morals: Gender, Politics and Social Reform in Colonial South India". Intersections: Gender and Sexuality in Asia and the Pacific (22). Retrieved 19 January 2010.
  12. ^ Ramamirthammal, Muvalar; Kalpana Kannabirān; Vasantha Kannabiran (2003). Muvalur Ramamirthammal's Web of deceit: Devadasi reform in colonial India. Zubaan. p. 53. ISBN 978-81-86706-63-3.