CHENNAI: Tamil poet and lyricist Vairamuthu has been chosen for the country’s highest literary award, Jnanpith, for the year 2025. He is only the third Tamil litterateur to be chosen for this award. after Akilan (1975) and Jayakanthan (2002). However, he is the first to receive the award for Tamil poetry; the other two got it for their prose. “To me, literature should elevate humankind. I travel among their dreams and emotions. I had two wings. With this award, I feel I’ve two more wings. I dedicate this award with gratitude to Tamil society and its people,” Vairamuthu told TOI on Saturday. “Jnanpith should have first gone to the great poet Bharathidasan. Unfortunately, he passed away before the award was instituted. So, Malayalam poet G Shankara Kurup got the first award in 1965. Sixty years later, as a poet, I’m proud to bring this award to Tamil Nadu,” Vairamuthu said. “I can understand this delay in recognizing Tamil writers, because this award is being given on a rotational basis. However, the Hindi literary world has got this award 12 times, Kannada eight times, and Malayalam six times. Tamil being a classical language should have been given more attention. That is my only regret. Hope, in future more Tamil writers will receive this award,” Vairamuthu said. Born in Theni district on July 13, 1953, Vairamuthu earned his master’s in Tamil from Pachaiyappa’s College, Chennai with gold medal. At the age of 18, he published his first poetry collection ‘Vaigarai Meengal’ while he was still a student. Vairamuthu began working in the Official Language Commission of TN govt. In 1980, he entered Tamil film industry as a lyricist in the film ‘Nizhalgal’, directed by Bharathiraja. The song ‘Idhu oru ponmaalai pozhuthu’, with music composed by Ilayaraaja, was praised for its new imagery. This knack of introducing new imagery, words, metaphors, similes, and alliterations earned Vairamuthu the title ‘Kaviperarasu’ (literally, Emperor of Poets). Vairamuthu has penned more than 8,000 songs and has won seven national awards for his lyrics. He has a rare distinction of writings songs for three generations, starting from Sivaji Ganesan to Kamal Haasan and Rajinikanth to Dhanush and Vijay Sethupathi. “Every day, I learn new things and update myself. That’s why I am able to work with different generations,” Vairamuthu added.
