Memorial will be built in honour of Ayothidasa Pandithar TN CM

  Chennai, Sep 3 (PTI) A memorial would be built in honour of social reformer Ayothidasa Pandithar (1845-1914), Chief Minister M K Stalin announced on Friday in the Tamil Nadu Assembly.  <br>     Reformist leader Thanthai Periyar had hailed Pandithar as a pioneer in social reforms and rationalism, the Chief Minister said and recalled the quote of the 19th century reformist that divisions like caste and religion were the stumbling blocks to India's progress.<br>     Pandithar was a writer, researcher, historian, doctor, orator and in essence a multi-faceted personality, the CM said in a statement in the House.<br>     In Tamil Nadu, no one could do politics without using the words "Tamilan and Dravidam" (Tamilian and the Dravidian land) and it was Pandithar who changed these two words into an idea that defined the political landscape of the region, he added.<br>     The reformer used these words as a weapon of wisdom and Tamil Nadu politics continued to function in the path shown by him, Stalin said.<br>     In commemoration of the 175th (birth) anniversary of Pandithar and in his honour a 'manimandapam' would be built in North Chennai, he said. PTI VGN<br>APR   APR

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