R. Raghava Iyengar

The Bhasha Kavisekhara Mahavidwan R. Raghava Iyengar (born Sept. 20 1870) was known for critical scholarship and creative interpretation of literature.

<!-- Editing out unclear passage, please clarify In fact it was the first fruit of the labours of Dr. Swaminatha Iyer: the classics, edited by him were commented resulting in a general wave of enquiry and sustained research in Tamil Nadu. Raghava Iyengar's lectures have attracted large elite audiences.-->

Life

Mahavidwan R. Raghava Iyengar was born in the village called Thennavarayan, Pudukottai District, Tamil Nadu. He devoted his entire time to the mastery of Tamil literature but was also well versed in Sanskrit. He attracted the attention of Prof. R. Ranganadam and Dewan Venkata Ranga Iyer who introduced him to Raja Bhaskara Sethupathi of Ramnad. At the age of 21, he was appointed Poet Laureate of the Sethu Samasthanam, a post he held for 42 years.

Raghava Iyengar took up the charge of reviving the fourth Tamil Sangam, where he was the promoter of Tamil Research. He was the editor of Sen Tamil and along with his cousin edited this journal for 3 years. He was the first to set the right norms for Tamil research which had a scientific basis. He wrote articles on Kamban, Valluvar and the female bards of Sangam literature. He wrote the biography of these poets, identified the cities mentioned in the Sangam works and established the correct authorship of many works of the Sangam age. He translated Kalidasa's...
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