Poet V.V. Murugesa Bhagavatar's Abstinence Anthem: A Sociological View

Abstract

Born in 1887, poet Murugesa Bhagavathar has been fascinated by his mother tongue Tamil since his earliest days and admired for his erudition. He is 14 years older than Bharatiyar. He is also a pioneer in the world of poetry. He is strong in writing conventional poetry. Even the illiterate laymen were accepted by his poetry. So he taught the old people of those days to write poetry when there was time left after family time. So countless people from areas including Willivakkam have come to him and learned poetry properly. Also, Murugesa Bhagavatar's poetry had a fan base in Dharavi, Mumbai. He was close to leaders like Gandhiji and Dr. Ambedkar. Realizing the poetry of Bhagavatar, Mr. V. Kalyana Sundaram and Scholars including C.N. Annadurai also went to Bhagavatar's residence and presented his books with greetings and praises. In poet Murugesa Bhagavatar's works the exaltation of the Tamil language and mother tongue can be widely seen. He has natural musical knowledge. So in his songs mostly rhythm and chantam are scattered in his poetry. Not only that, he saw the misery prevailing in the society at that time and against it caste liberation, women's liberation, social liberation, Indian liberation, nature, etc. are the subjects of his poetry. Similarly, in 1929, he campaigned against alcohol through his poetry at the request of the Congress party, Gandhiji. In that way, this article aims to reveal the history of alcohol prohibition through the poems he wrote.