THOOTHUKUDI: The Neithal Writers and Readers Association and Tamil language litterateurs, in a petition to the government, have sought correction in the name and birth date of the 16th Pearl Fishery Coast headman Don Gabriel De Cruz Parathavarma Pandian alias Pandiyapathy, stating that his date of birth should be corrected from December 13 to December 3, based on the stone inscription at his cemetery.
The Union Ministry of Culture had recognised Pandiyapathy as a freedom fighter under the ‘Unsung Heroes’ section of the Amrit Mahotsav portal following an article published by TNIE on December 13, 2021, during the 75th Independence Day.
Subsequently, the state government placed a portrait of Pandiyapathy in the gallery of freedom fighters at the Thoothukudi collectorate campus in 2024.
However, the public in Thoothukudi has expressed serious concern that the Amrit Mahotsav portal had incorrectly mentioned Pandiyapathy’s father as a freedom fighter and also carried an incorrect date of birth.
“The Union government must consider replacing his father’s name with Don Gabriel De Cruz Parathavarma Pandian and his birth date as December 3, 1753,” said Tamil Pandit Neithal Anto, a recipient of the Tamil Chemmal award for 2023.
Members of the Neithal Writers and Readers Association said the cemetery stone inscription is clearly written in Tamil with Tamil numerics.
Explaining the historical context, GU Pope awardee Fr D Amudhan of the Tanjore Diocese told TNIE that the inscriptions reveal Pandiyapathy was born on Margazhi 3, 1753, which corresponds to December 3, 1753.
He said that after the Gregorian calendar came into existence in 1582, discrepancies arose between the Tamil and English calendars, affecting the celebration of Christian festivals such as Christmas.
To address this, Father Henrique Henriques (1520–1600) aligned the Tamil calendar months with English months in 1586 so that Christmas would fall on Margazhi 25, a system still followed in Sri Lanka.
The same Tamil month pattern was followed during the period of Catholic missionary Constantine Joseph Beschi, also known as Veeramamunivar (November 8, 1680 – February 4, 1747), said the 83-year-old priest.
Don Gabriel De Cruz Parathavarma Pandian was conferred the title “Thermaran” after offering a golden car to the Our Lady of Snows Church in 1806. He opposed the British regime, supplied weapons to Poligar king Kattabomman of Panchalakurichi and later sheltered Kattabomman’s brother Oomathurai.
Speaking to TNIE, collector K Elambahavath said that different factions claim varied date of birth for Pandiyapathy.
However, the actual dates of birth engraved on his cemetery will be ascertained by experts. And based on their findings, the changes will be made formally, he added.