When the Bharatiya Janata Party swept the polls in Tripura, celebrations quickly turned into horror as vandals brought down a statue of Left icon Lenin.
Its ripple effect was felt in Tamil Nadu – BJP leader H Raja put out a post on Facebook threatening to vandalise statues of Dravidian Periyar. Within 24 hours, a Periyar statue was damaged in Vellore district’s Tirupattur.
This prompted a backlash across the state, with several clashes between protestors and the police reported, and almost 300 people getting arrested.
Raja took down the post and apologised for it, blaming his Facebook page admin for it.
Things calmed down for a few weeks, however, two more incidents were reported in quick succession – another Periyar statue was vandalised in Pudukottai district and a bust of Savitribai Phule was damaged in Telangana’s Sircilla.
Now, pre-eminent writer Perumal Murugan and celebrated Carnatic singer and activist TM Krishna have joined hands and composed a song on the issue.
Perumal Murugan penned the lyrics and TM Krishna has sung the song.
Here's the song. Find the lyrics below.
சிலைகள் எல்லாம் கலையின் வடிவம்
கலையே காலம் போற்றும் செல்வம்
Statues are works of art
Art that is the wealth of time
அலை மோதும் கற்பனை கொண்டு
விலை யில்லா உழைப்பில் வடித்த
With boundless imagination
Priceless labour did sculpt
மலைமேல் கோவிலில் மறைந்து நின்று
மனதை மயக்கும் கடவுளர் எனினும்
சாலை நடுவில் சிறந்து நின்று
சரித்திரம் பேசும் பெரியார் எனினும்
Be it the god who enchants
from the hilltop
Or Periyar, who reminds us of our past
standing tall in the middle of the road