Varathalingam Rathnathurai (commonly known as Puthuvai Ratnathurai[1][2][3][4]) is a poet, songwriter and sculptor who served as the head of Arts and Culture Division of the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE), a separatist Tamil militant organisation in Sri Lanka.[5][6] He is a known personality among Eelam Tamils and has written many revolutionary songs and poetry for the LTTE. He disappeared after the end of the Sri Lankan Civil War in 2009.[7]
Puthuvai Ratnathurai | |
|---|---|
 Puthuvai Ratnathurai | |
| Native name | Varathalingam Ratnathurai |
| Born | December 3, 1948 Puttur, Jaffna district, Sri Lanka |
| Pen name | Vyasan and Malika |
| Occupation | Poet, Sculptor |
| Language | Tamil |
| Nationality | Sri Lankan |
| Genre | Tamil nationalism |
Ratnathurai headed the Tamil Eelam Arts and Cultural Guild during the LTTE's de facto administration of northern Sri Lanka. On May 21, 2016, the Tamil Guardian reported that he was last seen in the custody of the Sri Lankan military on May 18, 2009, in Mullivaikkal.[8][9] In 2012, Sinhala daily newspaper Divaina reported that he is in the custody of the Sri Lankan Army.[7]This has not been confirmed by the Sri Lankan Army.
Ratnathurai began writing Tamil poetry at the age of 14. He also wrote many poems under the pseudonyms Vyasan and Malika. He wrote, Inda Maan Mukum Naman Maan which is a sentimental song that has been well received by many people. He is a native of Puttur, Jaffna district.
In September 2014, the Sri Lanka Army banned Piddukku ma’n chumantha perumaanaar, a devotional song authored by Ratnathurai.[10]
Early life
editHailing from a Vishwakarma community in Puttur in Jaffna, Ratnathurai was the second child of Kandiah Varathalingam, a sculptor hailing from Thirunelveli in Jaffna, and his wife Pakkiyam.[11]
Books
edit- Vān̲am civakkir̲atu (in Tamil). Yāl̲ppāṇam Cutājin̲i Veḷiyīṭu. 1970.
- Poems By Puthuvai Ratnathurai. Nankkoorum. 2005.
- வானம் சிவக்கிறது (1970)
- இரத்த புஷ்பங்கள்(1980)
- ஒரு தோழனின் காதற் கடிதம்
- நினைவழியா நாட்கள்
- உலைக்களம்
- பூவரசம் வேலியும் புலுனிக் குஞ்சுகளும்
- Ulaikalam, 2009[12][13]
English Translations
editSome of his poems were translated into English by renowned Canadian Tamil academic Professor Chelva Kanaganayakam as part of a book titled "Wilting Laughter: Three Tamil Poets":[14]
- December, a Thing of Beauty
- Beauty Unseen
- Writing the Remnants of a Dream
- A Poet's Fearless Death
- An Elegy for a Teacher
- The Temple Across the Field
- Waiting
- Crescent Moon
- Those Days Were Beautiful
- Yearning
- The Frolicking Clouds
- Resurgent Dawn and a Restless Poet
- The Sculptor and the Statue
- Moving River
- Silenced, the Temple Bells
- The Poet, the Wind, and the Flowers
- On the Third Day After the Festival
- Fulfilment
- Grant Me a Wish
- Three Questions
- Relationship
- Beauty and the Sea
- Bright Even in the Night
- Our Folks Are Not Ungrateful
- Where Snow Falls
Further reading
edit- Wilting Laughter: 3 Tamil Poets: Three Tamil Poets. Mawenzi House Pub. 15 October 2009. ISBN 978-1894770590. OCLC 434559281.
References
edit- ^ "Sri Lanka: Observations of the UN Working Group on Enforced or Involuntary Disappearances • Sri Lanka Brief".
- ^ "Report of the Working Group on Enforced or Involuntary Disappearances" (PDF).
- ^ "ஆக்க பாடல்கள் - Thirupathirakaliamman".
- ^ "பூவரசம் வேலியும் புலுனிக் குஞ்சுகளும்" (PDF).
- ^ "காணாமல் போன புதுவை இரத்தினதுரை எங்கே?" (in Tamil). Thinakaran. December 13, 2015.
- ^ "LTTE to impose dress code for Jaffna women". The Sunday Times (Sri Lanka). 18 October 2005.
- ^ a b Mathi (December 25, 2012). "இலங்கையின் தடுப்புக் காவலில் புதுவை இரத்தினதுரை: சிங்கள ஏடு தகவல்". OneIndia (in Tamil).
- ^ Yamuna Sangarasivam (2022). Nationalism, Terrorism, Patriotism A Speculative Ethnography of War. Springer International Publishing. p. 150, 154, 159. ISBN 9783030826659.
- ^ "Diaspora youth group re-aligns Tamil narrative on enforced disappearances". Tamil Net. September 4, 2020.
- ^ "SL military bans devotional song at ancient Saiva temple in Batticaloa". Srilanka Brief. July 21, 2014.
- ^ வரதம். 2004.
- ^ "Puthuvai Ratnathurai's Poem Collection released". Tamil Net. August 2, 2003.
- ^ "Puthuvai Ratnathurai's poem collection released in Trinco". Tamil Net. August 10, 2003.
- ^ "Wilting Laughter: Three Tamil Poets - Chelva Kanaganayagam".