200 years of Tamil print culture on display at Roja Muthiah Library

CHENNAI: Inscriptions, art and poetry – Tamil society carries a long history of communication. The urge to record and convey ideas has been present for centuries.

Tamil-Brahmi, which was used from around 550 BCE to 200 CE, evolved into Vattezhuthu and later became the scripts of Dravidian languages.

“Inscriptions from the 7th Century CE are still surviving, while palm-leaf manuscripts became the main medium of writing around the same period,” notes Professor V Arasu, author, ‘Journal: Two Centuries of Tamil Print Culture (1800–2000)’. “By the 16th Century, Tamil letters also began appearing in printed form. For a time, both traditions coexisted, with religious institutions making wide use of print. By the 19th and 20th centuries, journals and magazines had become central to Tamil print culture, carrying literature, politics, reform, and debate.”

It is this long thread that the Roja Muthiah Research Library (RMRL) has chosen to highlight during the Madras Week celebrations. Its exhibition presents journals spanning 200 years, displayed as fragments of Tamil society’s own history.

Religious journals held a major presence in the 1800s. Udhayatharagai (1841), run by the Yalpanam-based American Church Mission, gained popularity for its conversational narrative style, which engaged in debates between Hinduism and Christianity. The bilingual journal circulated until the late 19th Century. Hindu reformist publications such as Arya Dharmam (1855) and Thathuva Bothini (1864), linked to the Ved Samaj in Mylapore, also played a key role. Saivite journals such as Light of Truth (1897), Siddhanta Gyanabothini (1898), and Saivam (1915) also had a strong presence to the religious and philosophical discourse of the time.

The early 20th Century also saw the rise of Dalit-led publications. Boologa Viyasan (1903–1917), edited by Pooncholai Muthuvira Navalar, employed a Buddhist lens and a plain, report-like style. In 1906, Ayothidasar launched Oru Paisa Thamizan from Royapettah. Priced at one paisa, it argued that Buddhism was the Tamils’ original faith and engaged with caste and social debates. After his death in 1914, it briefly continued under new editors.

Women’s journals also marked a significant presence. While print often commodified women even in the 21st Century, Chinthamani (1924) broke that mould. Edited by Sister V Balammal, it was dedicated to women’s advancement, with a distinctive subscription scheme ranging from Rs 50 for Maharajas to Rs 5 for regular subscribers. The magazine published essays on women’s education and social reform. Other notable publications included Madhar Marumanam (1936) and Pudhumai Penn (1947).

By the 1920s and 1930s, journals began questioning religious authority, laying the ground for larger political movements. The Self-Respect and Dravidian movements used publications such as Kudiyarasu (1925), Pagutharivu (1934), Puratchi, and Viduthalai to spread their message. Running parallel was a stream of Tamil revivalist and nationalist journals, among them Tamizhan (1924), Tamil Murasu, and Thenmozhi.

Founded in 1994, the RMRL today houses over 5 lakh historically significant items. Its exhibition on Tamil print culture brings together these diverse legacy journals on religion, politics, reform, literature, Marxism, and social history as a record of how print shaped modern Tamil society.