Pa.Saravanan was born to Premavathy and Palaniswamy of Melmalayanoor in the year 1973. Goddess Angala Parameswari happens to be his Kula Deivam or family deity. He was born along with 3 elder and one younger sisters. Saravanan married Devi in the year 2005 and their son , the energetic Ravivarman is a school going kid.
Pa.Saravanan was born to Premavathy and Palaniswamy of Melmalayanoor in the year 1973. Goddess Angala Parameswari happens to be his Kula Deivam or family deity. He was born along with 3 elder and one younger sisters. Saravanan married Devi in the year 2005 and their son , the energetic Ravivarman is a school going kid.
" I scored just 660 on 1200 in my plus two but was the first in my school. Thereafter, I did my B.Litt from Annamalai University through correspondence and just scored 40 marks in folklore. I was upset with this for I hailed from rural Tamilnadu and decided to pursue my higher education directly. After moving to Chennai, I worked in a finance company but did not continue. This experience ensured that I do something and not return home. My brother in law Advocate Dhravyanathan was my guide and he advised me to go libraries. I did spoken English at Vivekananda Institute while reading a lot of books. Subsequently I did my MA from the Madras University as a day scholar.
Since I had just scored 52 % in my UG , recommendation was required. My father had been a Tamil teacher and it helped. In the University, I managed to get the King George V Memorial Prize ( I Rank ). I had come from being the last in the UG to first in the PG Course. A lot of part time work was done and this included being a part time announcer at Vividbharati while also writing for Sentamilselvi, Dinamani etc., I came first in my department while doing my B.ed at the Saidapet Teachers College. My M.Phil was from Madras University. The thesis was - The conflict of Religious Theology in Tamilnadu ( 19th Century ) with special reference to Vallalar & Arumuga Navalar. It came out as a book and I began to be recognized as a Tamil Scholar.
This was followed by the Tirupur Tamil Sangha Virudhu in 2001 and Meanwhile it was possible for me to secure a 4th rank in the Teachers Recruitment Board Exam by the year 2002. This helped me get appointed as a Post Graduate Tamil Teacher ( 2002 ) at the Chennai Corporation Higher Secondary School, Ayanavaram ( Chennai ), " smiled the friendly Tamil Scholar Pa. Saravanan.
Pa. Saravanan did an outstanding Ph.D on the subject ' Vallalar - A Social Reformer '. Documentation became his forte. He compiled the works of the 3 Avvaiyars under the head ' Avvai Maruvasippu '. The ' Vazhiya Ulaganala Narpani Mandram ' ( Palani ) honoured him with the ' Tamil Parithi Virudhu ' for services to the Tamil language in the year 2005. Neithal Amaippu of Nagerkoil presented Saravanan with the ' Sundara Ramaswamy Virudhu ' in 2013 and this was followed by the Tamil Nidhi Virudhu ' from the Chennai Kamban Kazhagam in the year 2014. The Chennai Kamban Kazhagam recognized him further by giving the ' Mahavidwan Meenakshisundaram Pillai Ninanivu Parisu ' during 2016. Coimbatore joined the fray with the 'Siruvani Vasagar Maiyam' conferring the ' Nanjil Nadan Virudhu ' in the January of 2019.
" Perumal Murugan was known to me and he had a liking towards U.Ve. Swaminatha Iyer. He had wished to collect all the ' forewords ' of Iyer and read them. However he did not find the opportunity to do so. He requested me to compile them and assumed that it would take 5 years but I was able to complete it in 1 year Similarly Dr.A.R.Venkatachalapathy wanted all the essays on Iyer as per subject in a chronological order and I was lucky to complete it in 2 years. Iyer had written 122 chapters under the head ' En Charithram ' between the years 1940 and 1942 with the help of Ki.Va.Jagannathan. Ananda Vikatan had published 68 photos and I managed to collect more than 100 during my course of travel.
One of the pictures was that of Pichu Iyer , the ' Silaiyaidaipuli ' ( one who speaks with a double connotation ). Ki.Va.Ja had completed the life history ' En Asiriya Piran ' ( My Teacher ) and I added a number of pictures to this work too. A list of books written by Iyer was published by me. This list contains the ones that were published during his times and later. It contains the list of books which have to be released. The ' Arutpa - Marutpa ' by Vallalar and Arumuga Navalar was documented and compiled sometime ago. ' Naveena Nokkil Vallalar ' , ' Vazhaiyadi Vazhaiena ' are some of my contributions, " added the Tamil scholar Pa.Saravanan.
Pa. Saravanan had written commentaries for Silappadikaram, Kalingathubharani, Tamilviduthoodhu and Vemana Needhi Venbha ( Vemana is a Telugu author ). He has done the marvelous ' Thiruvarutpa ' dictionary along with his teacher Pulavar Seeni. Sattaiappan. Pa.Saravanan has spoken at a number of institutions, conferences and events over the years.
" My maternal and paternal grandfathers were interesting people. My paternal grandfather Panchatcharam was a Post man and a Therukoothu expert. His play writing skills perhaps have descended on me . Asukavi Annamalaiswamy ( Circle Inspector ) was my maternal grandfather and he had been Pandit Nehru's security escort during his visit to Chennai. Nehru had known him and my grand father had won the Police uniform maintenance prize those days. His picture was popular in the Police Stations those days. This combo has perhaps helped me to do the right things. My friend D.Lakshmipathy has helped my research work by involving himself with the same at every instance .
The colleagues at the Ayanavaram School, particularly T.Kavitha have been of great help. ' Elakkiya Veedhi ' Iniyavan ( Secretary - Chennai Kamban Kazhagam ) was the first person to discover me and he honoured me by publishing my first book ' Arutpa - Marutpa '. He has been my Godfather till date The grace of God has been paramount, " stated the humble Dr.Pa. Saravanan.
The ' Siruvani Vasagar Maiyam ' has been at the forefront of promoting Tamil literature in Coimbatore. Good natured Subashini Thirumalai ( President ) , Prakash G.R ( Organiser ) , R.Raveendran, Va.Srinivasan, Nanjil Nadan ( famous writer ) have been responsible for conferring the ' Nanjil Nadan Virudhu ' on Dr. Pa. Saravanan. The conferment consisted of a citation and a cash prize of Rs.50000. Eminent scholar I.K.Subramaniam , K.Sivasubramaniam and K.Kandaswamy of ' Sekkilar Nilayam ' felicitated the scholar. They have been hosting Pa.Saravanan in Coimbatore and treat him like family. The ' Virudhu ' was handed over by D.Balasundaram, President of the Coimbatore Thiruppavai Committee.
The score card of Pa. Saravanan is quite impressive. He has thus far written 4 books and published 18 books. His 4 treatises are very famous. His research articles have been published by publications which include - Kalachuvadu, Kavya, Kanaiyazhi, Dinamani, Tamarai among others. Pa. Saravanan has presented papers in a number of seminars conducted by Universities and literary societies over the past several years. He has been a teacher for about 15 years but his work as a scholar has crossed 2 decades.
U.Ve. Swaminatha Iyer ( 1855 - 1942 ) was the sentinel who brought out all the great Tamil works in the interest of the society. His work on history and Tamil literature deserve deification. Pa.Saravanan has rendered great service to the literary world by bringing out the works of U.Ve Swaminatha Iyer in the twenty first century. His journey is sure to enrich the world of research and literature.