K. M. Balasubramaniam

K. M. Balasubramaniam was a Tamil writer and supporter of the Dravidian Movement, and a translator of the Tirukkural into English. He came to be known as Thiruvachakamani for his translation of Manikkavacakar’s Thiruvasagam into English before translating the Kural text.

Balasubramaniam was an advocate and an ardent supporter and one of the prominent lieutenants of the Dravidar Kazhagam founder E. V. Ramasami Periyar and subsequently became a collaborator of the DMK founder C. N. Annadurai. He was arrested and was sent to prison for six months in 1938 for his involvement as one of the five-member executive committee formed to spearhead the anti-Hindi agitation. Later, along with former chief minister of Tamil Nadu C. N. Annadurai, he accompanied Periyar to Bombay to discuss the idea of ‘Dravida Nadu’ (Dravidian land) with Mohammed Ali Jinnah. Later, he became a spiritualist, delving deep into philosophy and Saivite literature. Balasubramaniam was proficient in both Tamil and English. According to V. S. Srinivas Shastri, Balasubramaniam was a master of idiomatic, humorous and highly cultivated expressions.

Dravidian historian K. Thirunavukarasu said that for an atheist, who moved the resolution in support of atheism at the self-respect conference in Tirunelveli, the transformation was something beyond comprehension. He has commented, “I have read that when a team of Dravidian leaders including Balasubramaniam went to meet Jinnah, they also took B. R. Ambedkar with them. Later I have listened to his Thiruvachagam lecture.”

Balasubramaniam translated Manikkavacakar’s Thiruvasagam into English and published it in 1958, which made him know widely as Thiruvachakamani. Of the 500 copies that he published, half were sold in South Africa. The preface to the book was writted by the then Home Minister Bhaktavatsalam.

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