Sathavathani Kathiravetpillai

‘Sathavathan’ Kathiravetpillai who was acclaimed as a person who could make one hundred observation at a time, hailed from Puloly West. In South India followed the footsteps of Sri- La- Sri Arumuga Navalar and authored many books. A Tamil savant and a scholarly personality.

In the field of lexicography too, Tamil scholars of Ceylon were the pioneers. The first Tamil dictionary compiled by Tamil scholars was published in Jaffna in 1842. Santhirasegara Pandithar and other scholars brought out this dictionary which contained about 58,500 words. In 1905, N. Kathiravelpillai of west Puloly published another dictionary and won the admiration of the scholars for his stupendous work.
K. Kathiravetpillai with the help of pundits prepared a dictionary containing not only words but notes on the origin of the words and literary contexts. The first portion of this dictionary containing words beginning with ‘A’ was published in 1910. The other parts of this dictionary were published by the Madurai Tamil Sangam with the name Sangath Tamil Agarathy. This dictionary contains 63,900 words. In 1914, Kumarasamy Pulavar published a dictionary called Illakkia Chol Agarathy (dictionary of Tamil literary words).

In the field of lexicography, Tamil scholars of Ceylon were the pioneers. The first Tamil dictionary compiled by Tamil scholars was published in Jaffna in 1842. Santhirasegara Pandithar and other scholars brought out this dictionary which contained about 58,500 words. In 1905, N. Kathiravelpillai of west Puloly published another dictionary and won the admiration of the scholars for his stupendous work.

K. Kathiravetpillai with the help of pundits prepared a dictionary containing not only words but notes on the origin of the words and literary contexts. The first portion of this dictionary containing words beginning with ‘A’ was published in 1910. The other parts of this dictionary were published by the Madurai Tamil Sangam with the name Sangath Tamil Agarathy. This dictionary contains 63,900 words. In 1914, Kumarasamy Pulavar published a dictionary called Illakkia Chol Agarathy (dictionary of Tamil literary words).

Of the first five International Tamil Conferences sponsored by the International Association of Tamil Research (IATR), three were held in January. The 2nd conference was held in Madras in 1968. The 4th conference was held in Jaffna in 1974. The 5th conference was held in Madurai in 1981. This was a grant event with the blessing of late Tamil Nadu Chief Minster MG Ramachandran (MGR). In this conference Sathavathani Kariravetpillai's Tamil dictionary was introduced to Tamil scholars.

Kathiravetpillai had two children, son Thirunavukarasu and daughter Sivagnanambikai. Sathavathani Kathiravetpillai passed away at 36 years age.

Two statues were erected in the memory of Sathavathani Kathiravetpillai in Point Pedro. One at Thambasiddy and other at Kiramakoddu Chanthi.

http://wikimapia.org/19562914/Sathavathani-Kathiravetpilli-s-Statue