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Sirumanavur Munisawmy Mudaliar

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Sirumanavur Munisawmy Mudaliar (Photo Courtesy: Mr D.Moorthy, Chinna Mandali) The first time I heard about Sirumanavur Munisawmy Mudaliar (yes, you read it right! This is how he spelt his name) was during the cultural mapping of the Cooum riverside temples which I undertook between 2014-16. We were at the Niranjeeswarar Temple, in a non-descript village called Chinna Mandali, that had earlier been known by various names such as Sezhumanavai, Sirumanavur and Sirimavur, that we heard about Munisawmy Mudaliar and the famous hymn he had penned on Lord Nataraja, called the Nataraja Paththu.  While Nataraja Paththu is commonly sung by devotees of Lord Shiva during events such as Arudhara Darisanam, I had not been aware that the catchy hymn had been composed by a person called Munisawmy Mudaliar. As our focus then was on documenting the temples on the banks of the Cooum river, and the Niranjeeswarar temple has ancient antiquities such as a Kotravai with a deer mount, dating back to

MGR - An eternal superhero!

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"People come from as far as South Africa, Malaysia and Sri Lanka to have a glimpse of his house and belongings. I have seen them look lovingly at his clothes, or the plaster cast that was applied when he was shot, with tears" says Mr Swaminathan, Manager of the MGR Memorial house in T.Nagar. " I joined him in 1972 when he started the party and ever since he has been taking care of me, he mentions fondly as he sits in his office surrounded by pictures of MGR. His role was originally in the party, and after MGR became Chief Minister in 1977 he was moved to his official residence and has remained there since, managing the memorial house since 1990 when it was thrown open to the public by MGR's widow and former Chief Minister, Mrs.V.N.Janaki. He pauses from time to time, his eyes looking far away, as he thinks of the larger than life persona about whom he is speaking. " Even when he was a struggling actor and was doing small roles in dramas, he w