International Bharati Festival 2020

• 12 Dec 2020

Why in News

Recently, the Prime Minister has addressed the International Bharati Festival 2020, virtually organised by the Vanavil Cultural Centre (Tamil Nadu).

• The event celebrates the 138^th birth anniversary (11^th December 2020) of Tamil poet and writer Mahakavi Subramanya Bharati.
• Scholar Shri Seeni Viswanathan received the Bharathi Award for this year.

Key Points

• Subramanya Bharati:
  
  • Birth: 11^th December 1882, in Ettayapuram, Madras Presidency.
  • Brief Profile: An outstanding Indian writer of the nationalist period (1885-1920) who is regarded as the father of the modern Tamil style.
    
    • He is also known as ‘Mahakavi Bharathiyar’.
    • His strong sense of social justice drove him to fight for self-determination.
  • Involvement during Nationalist Period:
    
    • After 1904, he joined the Tamil daily newspaper Swadesamitran.
      
      • This exposure to political affairs led to his involvement in the extremist wing of the Indian National Congress (INC) party.
    • In order to proclaim its revolutionary ardour, Bharathi had the weekly newspaper named ‘India’ printed in red paper.
      
      • It was the first paper in Tamil Nadu to publish political cartoons.
      • He also published and edited a few other journals like “Vijaya”.
    • He attended the annual sessions of INC and discussed national issues with extremist leaders like Bipin Chandra Pal, B.G. Tilak and V.V.S. Iyer.
      
      • His participation and activities in Benaras Session (1905) and Surat Session (1907) of the INC impressed many national leaders for his patriotic fervour.
    • He published the sensational “Sudesa Geethangal” in 1908.
    • Bharati’s reaction to the Russian Revolutions of 1917, in a poem entitled “Pudiya Russia” (“The New Russia”), offers a fascinating example of the poet’s political philosophy.
    • He was forced to flee to Pondicherry (now Puducherry), a French colony, where he lived in exile from 1910 to 1919.
    • During this time, Bharati’s nationalistic poems and essays were popular successes.
  • Important Works: Bharati’s best-known works include Kaṇṇan pāṭṭu (1917; Songs to Krishna), Panchali sapatham (1912; Panchali’s Vow), Kuyil pāṭṭu (1912; Kuyil’s Song), Pudiya Russia and Gnanaratham (Chariot of Wisdom).
    
    • Many of his English works were collected in Agni and Other Poems and Translations and Essays and Other Prose Fragments (1937).
  • Death: 11^th September 1921.
• Significance in Present Times:
  
  • The poet’s definition of progress had a central role for women. He wrote women should walk with their head held high, looking people in the eye.
    
    • The government is inspired by this vision and is working to ensure women-led empowerment.
  • He believed in a healthy mix between the ancient and the modern, indicating a need to develop a scientific temper, a spirit of inquiry and march towards progress.
• Bharathi Award:
  
  • The Bharati Award was instituted in 1994 by Vanavil Cultural Centre.
  • Every year, it is being conferred on eminent persons who have done laudable service in any field of social relevance and thus worked towards the fulfilment of Bharati’s dreams.

Source: PIB