Rajah Sir Annamalai Chettiar award presented

Rajah Sir Annamalai Chettiar Birthday Commemoration award for this year was presented to renowned musician T.N. Seshagopalan at a function held to mark the 130 {+t} {+h} birth anniversary of Rajah Sir Annamalai Chettiar here on Thursday.

The award carried a citation, a memento and a cash purse of Rs 1 lakh, and is given to a person who has rendered yeoman service for the growth of Tamil music.

Speaking at the function, G.K. Vasan, Union Minister for Shipping, said the late Rajah Sir Annamalai Chettiar led his life with three principles – strive, save and serve. At a time when people hesitated to start schools or colleges, he founded the Annamalai University, which was a great achievement. His vision and love for spreading education among people led to the formation of the university, Mr Vasan said.

Annamalai University was the first university started to teach Tamil and Tamil music, said Aranga Ramalingam, Professor and Head of the Department of Tamil, Correspondence Course, Madras University. Annamalai University has the maximum number of students studying through distance education system next to the Indira Gandhi National Open University.

Tamil scholars such as Kavimani Desiya Vinayagam Pillai, K.A.P. Viswanathan and Bharatidasan praised Rajah Sir Annamalai Chettiar for his contribution in spreading Tamil language among commoners, he added.

T.N. Seshagopalan said music stalwarts such as Tiger Varadhachariar worked in Tamil Music Department of Annamalai University, which was started to popularise Tamil music among people. M.A.M. Ramaswamy, Pro-Chancellor, Annamalai University and Patron of the Rajah Sir Annamalai Chettiar Memorial Trust and M.A.M.R. Muthiah, president of the Trust were among those who spoke.