Fake Authors, Fake ISBNs, ₹1500 for 300 page book: Writer Perumal Murugan Exposes Corruption in Periyar Arivulagam Book Purchase

Coimbatore: Writer Perumal Murugan has alleged that a massive corruption took place in the purchase of books for the Periyar Arivulagam library, which was inaugurated by Chief Minister Joseph Vijay on October 16, 2026. The modern library project was planned during the previous DMK regime and has now been completed. Built on seven acres at a cost of nearly Rs 300 crore, the library is a seven-storey building, equipped with several facilities like the Anna Centenary Library in Chennai and the Kalaignar Centenary Library in Madurai. A statue of Periyar has been designed at its entrance.

Several controversies have followed the opening of Periyar Arivulagam. There was a debate that the Chief Minister, who opened the library, did not mention even in name that it was a DMK project. Another controversy was that the Ayudha Puja holiday would not apply to a library named after Periyar. Former Chief Minister M.K. Stalin visited the library on November 4, 2026, and a felicitation function was held for him by the Dravidar Kazhagam that evening.

Perumal Murugan said it cannot be claimed that a project brought in one regime will be completed in the same regime. It is common, he said, for a project to be completed in the next regime after a change of government, and for a debate over who gets the credit to take place in political circles. He added that it has become the general rule in Tamil Nadu that every grand creation collapses into a hollow, empty building, though the decline usually takes some time to begin. In the case of Periyar Arivulagam, he said, the very beginning seems to be the downfall.

According to him, people who went inside the library have been left in great shock. He noted that the library is said to hold books useful for competitive exam aspirants, students and the general public, and that expert recommendations were reportedly obtained for buying books. But what are the books that have actually been purchased? As an example, he looked at the Tamil books on the fourth floor. Nearly 1,800 books published by Agalvilakku Pathippagam, which he said he counted himself, decorate the shelves, and all but a few of them have hard covers. Perumal Murugan said that despite being in the literary world for forty years, he had never heard of Agalvilakku Pathippagam.

He pointed out that a 300-page book titled Naaladiyaar Vaazhvin Vazhikaatti, by an author named Surya Balu, is priced at Rs 1,445, and that every book from the publisher is priced similarly. Other publishers, he said, price a 300-page book at only Rs 350. The book begins by describing Naaladiyaar as an important poet and philosopher of Tamil. Perumal Murugan, who studied Tamil literature formally for nearly fifteen years and taught it for thirty years, said he had learnt that Naaladiyaar is a collection of 400 four-line venba verses written by unnamed Jain monks. He said the book is full of such claims and that he does not have the patience to read it through.

He then examined another 300-page book, priced at Rs 1,395, titled Maduraikanchi Oru Ilakkiya Payanam by an author named Dev Nilan. The book says Maduraikanchi is a collection of 782 verses sung by a poet named Madurai Koozhathi Peruvazhuthi and describes him as a visionary warrior king. Perumal Murugan said he had read that the author of Maduraikanchi is Mangudi Maruthanar, who was a poet and not a king.

Among books related to Bharathiyar, he cited one titled Bharathiyar Kathaigal by Manisha Saravanan, which mentions a story titled Saadhanaiyin Mugam supposedly written by Bharathiyar. He said researchers like Y. Manikandan, who keep discovering Bharathiyar's writings, would have to confirm this. The story excerpt describes a man named Raman who was born in Madurai and sold footwear, and Perumal Murugan questioned whether this could be Bharathiyar's style of Tamil. In Keezhadi Seppum Varalaaru by Jothi Hariharan, a photograph of a large Nandi is presented as a sculpture found at Keezhadi. In Tamil Nadu Oru Paarvai by Dhanalakshmi Arjun, he said, the book names Muthuvelu Subbaiah Iyer as the first Chief Minister of Tamil Nadu in 1947 and refers to a Dravidian politician named M.K. Ramasamy, with Kamarajar taking over later.

Perumal Murugan said all the books from Agalvilakku Pathippagam are similar. He listed the names of the authors as Jothi Saravanan, Jothi Hariharan, Jothilakshmi Anbazhagan, Nivetha Anbazhagan, Thamarai Panneer, Rani Panneer, Thamarai Karthi, Thamarai Siva, Thamarai Murali, Surya Balu, Mangaleswari Balu, Vijaya Balu, Vijaya Adithyan, Trisha Vijay, Monica Surya, Monica Ravi, Brindha Sethuraman, Darshini Sethuraman, Manisha Saravanan, Manisha Dinesh and Divya Dinesh. Many of the titles from the publisher begin with the words Nagara Neer, meaning city water, such as Nagara Neer Maelaanmai: Podhumakkalin Urimai by Keerthi Govind, Nagara Neer Sattangal: Podhunala Porattam by Shakthi Surya, and Nagara Neer Edhirkaalam: Samathuva Ulagam by Jothi Hariharan. Other titles include Nagarathu Nedunchaalai Kavanigal by Malathi Sethuraman and Nagaram Vizhungum Iyarkai by Manisha Ramcharan.

He added that more than 100 books published by Phoenix Pathippagam are also placed on the shelves and can compete with the books mentioned above. Hundreds of unpacked book boxes are reportedly still lying in the library, and he wondered what kind of books may be hidden in them, and what the English books may contain.

Perumal Murugan said it is certain that a huge corruption has taken place in the purchase of books, likely running into crores of rupees. According to him, new publishing houses appear to have been started only to supply books to this library, and the books have been created using AI technology that has not matured. He said all the author names are fake and that all the ISBNs printed in the books are false, as an internet search shows no such numbers. An email address, [email protected], is given in the books, apparently created for this supply, and no mobile number is provided.

He raised several questions: who carried out a corruption worth crores by supplying fake books, what is the politics behind it, to whom did the money go, and how many more such books have been supplied. He demanded immediate action against everyone involved in the corruption and urged that an inquiry committee be formed to bring the frauds before the public. Before that, he said, all these books should be removed from the library shelves.