Thanthai Periyar

தந்தை பெரியார்

Founder of the Self-Respect Movement and Dravidar Kazhagam; social reformer and rationalist

Periyar E. V. Ramasamy, revered as Thanthai Periyar, was a social reformer and rationalist who founded the Self-Respect Movement and the Dravidar Kazhagam. He is regarded as the ideological father of the Dravidian movement, from which the DMK emerged.

"There is no God. He who created God is a fool. He who propagates God is a scoundrel. He who worships God is a barbarian."

கடவுள் இல்லை; கடவுளைப் படைத்தவன் முட்டாள்; கடவுளைப் பரப்புபவன் அயோக்கியன்; கடவுளை வணங்குபவன் காட்டுமிராண்டி.

Defining Principle

Detailed Biography

Born in Erode in 1879, E. V. Ramasamy began as a Congress worker before breaking away over the party's failure to confront caste discrimination. In 1925 he founded the Self-Respect Movement, campaigning against untouchability, Brahminical orthodoxy, child marriage and the subjugation of women. He promoted rationalism, atheism and self-respect marriages conducted without priests, and reached a mass readership through his Tamil journals Kudi Arasu and Viduthalai. In 1944 he reorganised the movement as the Dravidar Kazhagam. Although he never sought electoral office, his ideas shaped generations of Dravidian politicians, and the DMK was founded in 1949 by his follower C. N. Annadurai. Periyar remained a relentless critic of caste and superstition until his death in 1973, and is honoured across Tamil Nadu as Thanthai Periyar.

Key Contributions & Impact

Founded the Self-Respect Movement in 1925 to combat caste oppression and superstition

Reorganised the Dravidian movement as the Dravidar Kazhagam in 1944

Pioneered self-respect marriages conducted without priests or religious ritual

Championed women's rights, widow remarriage and opposition to child marriage

Published the influential Tamil journals Kudi Arasu and Viduthalai

Provided the rationalist and anti-caste ideology from which the DMK emerged

Legacy Assets

Welfare Initiatives

Historic Milestones