Suryanarayana Sastri was born at Vilacheri near Thirupparankundram in a Brahmin family.[4] He studied philosophy and after graduation was soon employed as a Professor of Tamil in the Madras Christian College. In 1895, Suryanarayana Sastri rose to become the Head of Department for Tamil at the Madras Christian College.[2]
Campaign for recognition of Tamil as classical language[edit]
Suryanarayana Sastri had immense love for Tamil and wrote plenty of books.[3] He even changed his Sanskrit name to its Tamil translation (although "Parithi" பரிதி and "Kalai" கலை are Dravidian loanwords from Sanskrit परिधि and कला, respectively).[5]
When the Madras University proposed to exclude Tamil from its syllabus, Parithimar Kalaignar vehemently protested against the proposal forcing the authorities to drop the move.[2] In 1902, he proposed that Tamil be designated as a "classical language" thereby becoming the first person to make such a petition.[3] Parithimar Kalignar is also known as Dravida Sastri.[6]
Parithimar Kalaignar was also the first to use the Tamil name Kumarinadu for the mythical lost-land of Lemuria.[7]
In 2006, the Government of Tamil Nadu declared Parithimar Kalaignar's house in his native village of Vilacheri as a memorial and sanctioned a sum of ₹1.5 million (equivalent to ₹4.8 million or US$58,000 in 2023) towards nationalizing his books.[3][8]
On 17 August 2007, postage stamps were issued in memory of Saint Vallalar, Parithimar Kalaignar and Maraimalai Adigal.[2][9]
On 13 December 2006, the Tamil Nadu Chief Minister, M. Karunanidhi extended an amount of ₹1.5 million (equivalent to ₹4.8 million or US$58,000 in 2023) to the Tamil scholar's descendants.[10]
