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{{Use dmy dates|date=October 2019}}
{{Use Indian English|date=October 2019}}
{{Infobox person
| image = Soundarapandian Nadar.jpg
| name = W. P. A Soundarapandian
| caption = Statue of W. P. A. Soundrapandian Nadar at the entrance to Theagaraya Road, Chennai.
| birth_date = 15 September 1893
|parents =
| birth_place = Pattiveeranpatti
| death_date = {{death date and age|df=yes|1953|2|22|1893|9|15}}
| occupation = Leader of Nadar Mahajan Sangam and Member of [[Madras Legislative Council]]
| networth =
| spouse =
| children =
| website =
| footnotes =
}}
'''Woothampatti Punnaivana Ayya Soundarapandian'''<ref>{{Cite web|title=W.P.A. SOUNDARA PANDIAN HR.SEC.SCHOOL.|url=http://soundarapandianschool.com/index.php?page=history_04/|access-date=2021-06-04|website=soundarapandianschool.com}}</ref> (15 September 1893 – 22 February 1953) was a leading figure in [[Nadar Mahajana Sangam]] and became the first [[Nadar (caste)|Nadar]] member of the [[Madras Legislative Council]] upon a recommendation by [[P.T. Rajan]] in 1920. He is known for his effort to associate the Nadar community with the [[Self-Respect Movement]] founded by [[Periyar E. V. Ramasamy]].<ref name="The Modernity of Tradition: Political Development in India">{{cite book | title=The Modernity of Tradition: Political Development in India| authors=Lloyd I. Rudolph and Susanne Hoeber Rudolph| year=1984| publisher=University of Chicago| isbn= 978-0-226-73137-7|page=48}}</ref> He was known as the '''uncrowned king of the Nadar community'''.<ref name="nadarsp177">[[#Nadars of Tamilnad|Nadars of Tamilnad]], pp 177</ref>

== Background ==

Nadar came from a prominent coffee planter family that owned estates near [[Kodaikanal]]. He was the principal leader of the Nadars from the 1920s to 1930's.

== Career ==

Nadar served as a member of the [[Madras Legislative Council]] from 1920 to 1937.<ref name="nadarsp177" /> He represented the interests of the [[Nadar (caste)|Nadar]] community in the Justice Party as well as the council.<ref name="nadarsp177" /> He also served as the President of the Ramnad District board from 1928 to 1930 and Madura District Board from 1943 to 1947.<ref name="nadarsp177" />

== Social activism ==

Invoking the ideologies of Periyar, he urged Nadars to advocate [[Self-Respect Movement#Self-Respect marriages|Self-Respect marriages]] and inter-caste dining. He was selected by Periyar as the president of the first self-respect conference held in 1929.<ref name="India's Silent Revolution">{{cite book | title=India's Silent Revolution: The Rise of the Lower Castes in North India|author=Christophe Jaffrelot| year=1984| publisher=Hurst & Co.| isbn=978-1-85065-670-8|page=167}}</ref> It is also rumoured that he had provided financial support for the [[Anti-Hindi agitation of 1937-40]].{{Citation needed|date=August 2010}} Acknowledging the agitation's popular support, Lord Erskine, the then Governor of Madras wrote to Viceroy [[Victor Hope, 2nd Marquess of Linlithgow|Linlithgow]] in July 1938 that "Compulsory Hindi has been the cause of great trouble in this province and is certainly contrary to the wishes of the bulk of the population..."{{Citation needed|date=August 2010}}

== Social Reform ==

Nadar also worked for the upliftment of [[Dalits]], [[Tiyyas]] and for other social causes. He succeeded in putting an end to the Kamudi punitive tax.

== Later life ==

The Justice Party government of the Raja of Bobbili (1932–36) was infamous throughout the province for its corruption and misgovernance {{Citation needed|date=July 2011}}. Hence, by the mid-1930s, despite Soundarapandian's personal charisma, the influence of the Justice Party began to wane. Moreover, the social reform measures such as the Temple Entry Authorization and Indemnity Act of 1939 introduced by the Indian National Congress government of [[C. Rajagopalachari]] and the rise of the Indian National Congress leader [[K. Kamaraj]] within the ranks of the Nadar community triggered Soundarapandian Nadar's political decline. By the time, Kamaraj became the President of the Tamil Nadu Congress Committee in the early 1940s, most of the Nadar community leaders had shifted their allegiance to the Indian National Congress and supported the [[Indian Independence Movement]].

== Commemoration ==

[[Pondy Bazaar]], [[Chennai]]'s principal [[shopping district]] is believed to have been named after Soundarapandian Nadar. A statue of the leader has been erected at the entrance of the bazaar and recently, a signboard was set up with the bazaar's name mentioned as "Soundarapandian Angadi". The bronze statue was sculpted by Nagappa Jagannathan and unvailed by Government of [[Karunanidhi|Kalaignar Karunanidhi]] in presence of Thiru Sivandi Adathinar.He was also active in setting up schools etc. for the Nadar community in his home town, kayamozhi. He is also referred to as 'The Uncrowned King of the Nadar Community'<ref name="The Nadars of Tamilnad">{{cite book | title=The Nadars of Tamilnad| url=https://archive.org/details/nadarsoftamilnad0000hard| url-access=registration|author=Robert Hardgrave| year=1969| publisher=University of California Press| isbn=81-7304-701-4|page=[https://archive.org/details/nadarsoftamilnad0000hard/page/319 319]}}</ref> in many books and papers related to the Self Respect Movement. He was also instrumental in setting up the coffee co operative curing works in [[Pattiveeranpatti]]. His descendants continue to live in [[Pattiveeranpatti]].

== Notes ==
{{Reflist}}

== References ==

* {{cite book|title=The Nadars of Tamilnad|url=https://archive.org/details/nadarsoftamilnad0000hard|url-access=registration|publisher=University of California Press|year=1969|ref=Nadars of Tamilnad}}
* {{cite book |first=Sumathy|last=Ramaswamy|year=1997|title= Passions of the tongue: language devotion in Tamil India, 1891-1970|publisher=[[University of Chicago Press]]|isbn=978-0-520-20805-6|oclc=36084635|url=http://www.escholarship.org/editions/view?docId=ft5199n9v7;brand=ucpress }}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Soundarapandian}}
[[Category:Dravidian movement]]
[[Category:Tamil activists]]
[[Category:Tamil Nadu politicians]]
[[Category:Anti-Brahminism]]
[[Category:1893 births]]
[[Category:1953 deaths]]
[[Category:People from Dindigul district]]

W. P. A. Soundarapandian Nadar - Revision history

imported>APPU at 10:48, 4 June 2021