From the Desk of Karunananda Chetty

FROM THE DESK OF KARUNANANDA CHETTY ……

Born on the 15 October 1924, in Thillayadi (Tamil Nadu), this renowned Tamil scholar and Priest, has dedicated his life’s work to promotion and preservation of Tamil culture and tradition. He has played a significant role in the religious and cultural life of the community and in furthering the advancement of Tamil language. In his words “THE TAMIL LANGUAGE AND LITERATURE ARE THE PILLARS OF THE COMMUNITY”

Having matriculated in Tamil, Karthigasen continued to advance his studies under the guidance of his late Uncle and Guru, Thambiappa Chettiar, a well known Tamil scholar, philosopher and astrologist who visited South Africa and taught Gandhi the Tamil language. While still in India, the young Karthigasen had the privilege of meeting and receiving the blessings of the Mahatma.

This remarkable young man, at the age of 15 accompanied his mother, Mrs.Pooranam Ammal Chettiar, to South Africa in 1940, to join his father, who had come much earlier in the year 1896 to South Africa to ply his trade.

Upon his arrival in SA, Karthigasen became a member of several organizations, amongst them being the Tamil Ellenger Sungam, Youngmen’s Vedic Society and the Natal Tamil Vedic Society. He played a key role in the amalgamation of the Hindu Tamil institute and the Young men’s Vedic Society. He joined the Vaithiyanatha Esparar Temple in 1941 and served as a Secretary ( at the tender age of 17) and on the council for many years with prominent leaders such as R. B Chetty, T.M Naicker, T.S Pillay, K.R Pillay and C.G Chetty. Using this temple as a base, he spread spiritual knowledge by helping to establish movements like the Thingal Thirusabai and Thirukootam.The Thirukootam inspired young and old, alike, producing many talented singers and speakers including T. S Pillay, Runanayagi Pather, Muthoo Pillay, Gopal Nair, N Manikam Pillay, V.G Padayachee and Rookmani Naidoo.

In 1945, Karthigasen joined the Gandhi Sentamil School Board, to assist the Tamil stalwart, NC Naidoo in dramatic productions, writing plays and engaged in many fundraising efforts to pay the Tamil teachers. With the guidance of N. C Naidoo, Karthigasen produced recordings of Sambandar Swamigal.

Together with SS Pather, Karthigasen formed the Tamil Reform League to bring about reforms in the custom and understanding of religion. As a very young priest, he believed that people should understand the rites and rituals performed and weddings should be shorter, simpler and less expensive. In a dramatic move, Kartigasen reduced the wedding ceremony from two and a half hours to 1 hour and set aside time to explain the rites in English – as he firmly believed that rituals are meaningless without understanding. It was no surprise in 1949, that a 1 hour wedding performed at the HYMA Hall in Pietermaritzburg created a furore and the Mirror headlines (newspaper at that point in time) read “Shortest Tamil Wedding on record” You could say that Karthigasen revolutionized Tamil weddings where the ceremony was conducted purely in Tamil rather than Sanskrit, which was the norm. To date, Karthigasen Chetty has officiated over 15 000 weddings.

As the President of the South Indian Progithar’s Association, founded in 1963, Kartigasen began implementing the aims of the Tamil Reform League and trained several priests among them being Natrajan Naicker, Manikam Moodley, Somasundram Pillay and Muthoo Pillay.

Karthigasen was not only a Priest, but a singer and composer of poetry and dramatic productions. Karthigasen Chetty performed for the Ranjeni, New India, Indian National and City Youth Orchestra and his highlight was when his composition was performed before the King & Queen during their royal visit in 1947. He is credited to composing over 100 devotional songs, bhajans and mangalams.

Karthigasen made another breakthrough when he broke the social barriers at the Magazine Barracks, a commune of Indian municipal workers whom he said were labled as “outcasts” by the emerging Indian elite. Karthigasen broke the divide by arranging a Deepavali concert for the community, the chief performers being residents of Magazine Barracks. The crowd was simply blown away at the expertise, calibre and presentation of this magnanimous function.

Karthigasen Chetty is the recipient of the Natal Tamil Vedic Society and the World Peace and Safety Council awards and has many a testimonial that bears testimony to his outstanding work. Through his music, religious and cultural work, Rajagopal Karthigasen Chetty has kept his motto “if language is gone, the culture is gone. The life blood of any community is its language and culture” ---- and today we honour him for his work.

Karthigasen‘s wife, Moganna, who passed away on the 15 of September 1997 at the age of 63 years, would have been a proud woman today , confirming these prized moments of walking the path of religion and culture. Together, with all these accolades, Karthigasen is indeed proud to be a role model to his family of three daughters, I son, 10 grandchildren and 6 great grand children.

May we also take the time, at this point to thank Karthigasen Chetty most sincerely for being such a wonderful and understanding human being, a dear friend to many, who has stood by the community in times of thirst for our culture.

We salute a real son of this earth; we pay tribute today to a great man. We sincerely pray that God Almighty whom he so faithfully devote his life to will allow him to sail ahead with a gentle wind always at his back.

4 April 2011