Bharathi, Suddhananda

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(11 May 1897 – 7 March 1990), an ochre-robed yogi, a prolific writer and poet in Tamil (and also in other languages), whose austere looks and leonine movements make an unforgettable impression on the visitor. He practised yoga first under Raman Maharshi and then under Sri Aurobindo. He was an inmate of the Sri Aurobindo Ashram from c. 1929 to 1951/52, renamed Radhananda by Sri Aurobindo. His wide popularity, however, rests on his poetic genius. He has over three hundred books to his credit. His magnum opus is Bharathi Sakthi, an epic inspired by his contact with Sri Aurobindo and the Mother, in which he seeks to convey the Aurobindonian vision of a “super race” in terms of allegory and symbolism. This book won him in 1984 the first Rajarajan Award instituted by the Tamil University for the best creative work in Tamil. The poet has himself translated the entire epic into English and part of it into French.

Mentioned: {SABCL 27} 503

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