Oomathurai photo
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While many of us know about the bravery and sacrifice of Veerapandiya Kattabomman, the valour of his younger brother Ooomaithurai is not known to many of us.
Oomaithurai’s real name was Kumaraswamy. Due to his speech impairment, he was called as Oomaithurai. He was instrumental in devising war strategy for his elder brother Veerapandiya Kattabomman.
After Veerapandiya Kattabomman was hanged in Kayathar in 1799 CE, Oomaithurai was captured alive by British in the first Polygar war and was kept in Palayamkottai prison for more than a year. As he was languishing in the prison, he was thinking of a plan to escape and mobilise forces to fight British.
Even as he was in prison, he was maintaining his channel of communication with Marudu Brothers and other Palaykarars. As per his plan, on a designated day in 1801 CE, his loyal soldiers entered the town in disguise (as devotees on their way to Tiruchendur) with weapons and did a jailbreak. Totally caught unawares, the soldiers who were guarding the prison, had to run helter skelter for their lives and in the melee that followed,
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Oomathurai, a valiant early freedom fighter of South Tamil Nadu - British India
| veerapandiya kattabomman tamilspider.com |
Thirunelveli Seemai (composite Thirunelveli District) of South Tamil Nadu has produced a galaxy of freedom fighters like Veerapandya Kattabomman, Bharathiyar, Vanchinathan, V.O. Chidambaram Pillai et al. Among them, Oomathurai was one of the early freedom fighters of India, whose exploits were much earlier than the Sepoy Mutiny of 1857 which started off at Meerut Cantonment in North India. Though the the natives of Palayamkottai made a vein attempt to drive the British out of their land, they laid the early foundation for freedom from the oppressive British rulers who dishonestly gobbled up just like the South American Anaconda, almost the whole of the vast Indian sub continent, exploiting the natural resources and subjugating Indian natives.
| Panchalamkururi & Kayathar, TN railmapindia.blogspot.com/ |
Oomathurai, alias Duraisingam was the yo
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Salutations to thee…. Oomaithurai, the valiant commander of our land, Nellai Cheemai, the Southern Tamil Country……
Thalavai Kumaraswamy @ Oomaithurai was the younger brother of the famous Chieftain Veerapandiya Kattabomma Naik of Panjalamgurichy who fought against the authority of the British East India Company during its inception phase in colonizing the Tamil country.
Oomaithurai was immensely popular and completely swayed the loyalty of the peasantry belonged to the ‘karisal’ (black cotton soil) tracts spanning across the Eastern parts of the Nellai Cheemai i.e. the present day Tuticorin District. He was an excellent organizer and a military genius who successfully turned the brewing rage of the southern agrarian communities against the mechanisms of the alien colonizers.
Though Oomaithurai was a dumb prince he led his followers in the battle and inspired the masses just by his sign language. He often would take out a straw before the assembly of his men and tear it apart and then would blow away to symbolically convey his re
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