Tamil Thai Vazhthu

Tamil Thai Vazhthu 
What is Tamil Thai Vazhthu?
Tamil Thai Vazhthu, meaning an invocation to Mother Tamil, is the State Song of Tamil Nadu and is traditionally rendered at the beginning of official functions in the State.
The song is derived from the prefatory verse (paayiram) of Manonmaniam, a verse-drama written by P. Sundaram Pillai, and begins with the famous line “Neeradum Kadaludutha”.
Its present institutional form emerged from a 1970 Tamil Nadu Government Order that selected six lines from Sundaram Pillai’s work as a non-religious prayer/invocation for official functions.
Literary Origin — Manonmaniam
The origins of Tamil Thai Vazhthu lie in P. Sundaram Pillai’s Manonmaniam, a Tamil verse-drama whose original publication dates to 1892.
The prefatory portion of the work contained verses invoking the Goddess of Tamil and included references comparing the enduring vitality of Tamil with Sanskrit.
The original text contained the line referring to “Dravida”, which later became significant in debates surrounding the rendering of the State Song.
The work was dedicated to Robert Harvey, Professor and Head of the Department of Philosophy at Maharaja’s College, Thiruvananthapuram, where Sundaram Pillai served as a professor of philosophy for more than 15 years.
Manonmaniam also had literary roots beyond Tamil literature, with the material drawing upon Lord Lytton’s The Secret Way, associated with The Lost Tales of Miletus.
How did it become Tamil Nadu's official invocation?
The Tamil Nadu Government decided in 1970 to select a common invocation that would have no religious or sectarian association.
An order issued by Chief Secretary E.P. Royappa on June 17, 1970 selected six lines from Sundaram Pillai’s Manonmaniam for use as the official prayer song.
The order directed government departments, local bodies and educational institutions to render the song at the commencement of functions.

From Invocation Song to State Song
The song was initially conceived as an official Tamil invocation/prayer song, rather than as a State Song in the present constitutional or administrative sense.
The Tamil Nadu Government subsequently formally recognised Tamil Thai Vazhthu as the State Song on December 12, 2021.
The 2021 order also directed that it should be rendered first at official events.
In the same year, the government ordered that the song should be vocally rendered rather than merely played as a recorded version.

The Song and Its Rendering
The selected portion of Sundaram Pillai's work consists of six lines.
The song begins with “Neeradum Kadaludutha”, an invocation celebrating Tamil and the Tamil land.
The original literary text contained the expression “Thekkanamum Athil Sirantha Dravida Nal Thirunadum”, containing the term Dravida.
There has been variation in the ordering of lines between the government order and the later recorded version of the song.
According to the material provided, the government order placed the line referring to “Dravida Nal Thirunadum” after another line, whereas during recording the order was changed and the Dravida line was rendered first.

Who Composed the Music?
The music for the officially rendered version was composed by M.S. Viswanathan.
The recording was made with playback singers T.M. Soundararajan and P. Susheela.
Sundaram Pillai and the Dravidian Intellectual Tradition
P. Sundaram Pillai is regarded as an important early figure in the intellectual history associated with Dravidian thought.
His intellectual legacy has acquired significance in Tamil linguistic and cultural discourse.
The establishment of Manonmaniam Sundaranar University in Tirunelveli further reflects his lasting cultural and academic legacy.