Two years have gone by. On June 25, 2018, Tamilnadu state Information Minister Kadambur Raju announced in the Assembly that a temple for Bharat Mata at Papparappati in Dharmpuri district would come up at an expenditure of Rs 1.5 crore. It is the wish of the late freedom fighter, Subramania Siva.
It should have become a reality nearly after a century. But till date it has not.
The foundation stone for this temple was laid by the late freedom fighter, Deshbandhu CR Das, on June 23, 1923. Decades ago, Subramania Siva purchased a half-acre land in Papparapatti for building this temple but he died before his dream materialised.
Subramaniya Siva (04 October 1884 – 23 July 1925) was born in Batlagundu near Dindigul. He was a daring freedom fighter, writer and a close associate of V. O. Chidambarm Pillai and Subramania Bharathi. When he was in Tiruvanthapuram in 1906, for the first time, he listened to the fiery speeches from people like Chandra Varma belonging to Arya Samaj. These speeches left a deep impression on him and he decided to imbibe the spirit of patriotism and freedom from the oppressive British rule among the young people.
Soon he began giving thought-provoking, inspiring speeches on India’s freedom. Subramanya Siva’s speeches were so good and impressive; they changed the young mind against the imperialistic British. He impressed on the audience how it was important for them to get the country freed from the British rule. Siva organised people in th name of Dharma Paripalana Samajam. Meetings of this association were held in his residence. He instilled the habit of reading newspapers in the youth so that they would be imbued with Desa Bhakthi.
