AAROHANAM OF A BHAVYA JEEVAN

"Aarohanam of a Bhavyajeevan" tells the story of Mahamahopadhyaya Dr U.V. Swaminatha lyer and his inestimable services to the cause of Tamil language and literature at enormous personal sacrifice. His search for ancient palm leaf manuscripts of great classics from bygone eras, deciphering, editing and publishing them, almost single-handedly is something awe-inspiring. He used his strong foundation in music in his teaching, and was given the title of Mahamahopadhyaya and Tamil Thaatha. The publication of Civaka Cintamani with his commentaries in 1887 was a milestone in the world of Tamil literature. His publications were the result of a combination of his great Tamil scholarship under a great guru, his inspirations from western and native traditions, and his genius in combining and innovating a research methodology. Because there was no precedence for such publications, especially of literature that was at least 1500 years earlier to his period, what U.V.S. accomplished was unparalleled. His story is also that of devotion to his teacher Meenakshisundaram Pillai, and to his parents. He focused relentlessly on finding resources wherever he could, to substantiate his commentaries on ancient Tamil literature. His work in making ancient Tamil literature easily available to the general public is one of the factors for Tamil to have been recognised as a classical language.

Winner of several awards, V.R. Devika is a well-known storyteller, educationist and actor. She has a PhD on M.K. Gandhi. She is the founder of The Aseema Trust for linking traditional performing arts and education and is the mentor of Rukmini Devi Natyakshetra. Her earlier monographs on Dr Muthulakshmi Reddy and Rukmini Devi Arundale have won the South Asia and National Laadli Media award for gender sensitivity in 2023 and 2025. The Rukmini Devi Arundale monograph also received the 2024 Bhavan's Zakia Shankar Patak Award. Her writings include freelance contributions on art related subjects to several publications, a biography of Gastroenterologist Dr Rangabashyam and co-authoring the "Weavers" English language textbook series.