People flock Sethupathi Hr Sec School in Madurai to pay homage

MADURAI: The 141st birth anniversary of Mahakavi Subramania Bharathi was celebrated across the southern districts on Sunday.

Several people and Tamil literary scholars garlanded the statue of Poet Bharathi at Sethupathi Boys Higher Secondary School, where the firebrand freedom fighter poet worked as a teacher in Madurai. They paid tributes as a mark of respect, sources said.

However, the anniversary assumes great significance at the Poet’s birthplace of Ettayapuram, in Thoothukudi district. Social Welfare Minister P Geetha Jeevan, Collector K Senthil Raj and other officials garlanded Mahakavi Bharathi’s statue in the house where he lived in Ettayapuram and subsequently paid tributes at Bharathiyar Manimandapam, sources said.

To mark the occasion, several students participated in a programme organised by the Rotary Club of Kovilpatti. The participants dressed as the great poet sported black jackets, white dhotis and white turbans. They also carried his portraits.

Some of the participants created a rangoli portrait of Bharathiyar. The programme was presided over by Ravi Manickam, president of the club. P Muthu Murugan, founder, Bharathiyar Memorial Trust, Kovilpatti, was among those present. Prizes were given to the participants in the rangoli contest, sources said.