K.Jayaraman has been the connect with the past and the present. Every single historian from Coimbatore and elsewhere would know him very well. The wealth of exposure and knowledge of Jayaraman have been really helpful to countless researchers, writers, environmentalists and journalists. He lives with his spouse Meenakshi at a quaint place in Kovaipudur and his house is a store house of rare information. The unassuming scholar is known as Peruraar or Perur K. Jayaraman. He is a poet, writer, farmer , businessman, scholar , historian and environmentalist rolled into one.
K.Jayaraman has been the connect with the past and the present. Every single historian from Coimbatore and elsewhere would know him very well. The wealth of exposure and knowledge of Jayaraman have been really helpful to countless researchers, writers, environmentalists and journalists. He lives with his spouse Meenakshi at a quaint place in Kovaipudur and his house is a store house of rare information. The unassuming scholar is known as Peruraar or Perur K. Jayaraman. He is a poet, writer, farmer , businessman, scholar , historian and environmentalist rolled into one.
The ancestors of Jayaraman had migrated to the Tamil speaking parts of the Vijayanagar Empire long ago. They had stayed in the Madurai region and subsequently moved over to Telungupalayam and later to Narasipuram. His grandfather Ungamma Naidu had been blessed with a son due to the grace of Goddess Ankala Parameswari and hance his son was named as Kalappa Naidu. Jayaraman was born to U.Kalappa Naidu and Lakshmiammal. He did his early schooling at the ' Thinnai Pallikoodam ' that was being run by the single teacher Karuppanna Pillai who belonged to the academic lineage of Arumuga Navalar. Jayaraman continued his studies at the Thondamuthur Boys High School and the R.S.Puram Boys High School thereafter. The Padmashri awardee Dr R V Ramani of the Sankara Eye Society was his schoolmate in Coimbatore. His clansmen and elders had created the Telungupalayam village long ago and the community deity ' Chenraya Perumal ' is in this territory. The Kuladeivam is ' Malliswari ' and she was worshipped even during the sojourn of the family at the Virupakshi palayam. The deity has travelled with the family and is now in this region.
K.Jayaraman' s mother hailed from Perur and his maternal grandfather P.R.Venkataswamy Naidu was a freedom fighter and farmer who happened to be an expert in Silpasastram. He had picked up this skill from Halebid during a time when he had to hide himself from the British authorities. The ancestors of P.R.Venkataswamy Naidu had worked as supervisors at the time when Alagadri Naick constructed the ' Kanakasabhai ' at the Perur Patteswarar Temple. It must noted that the sincere P.R.Venkataswamy Naudu refused the piece of land that was allotted to him by the Government after independence.
" I remember getting the ' sukku mittai ' and talking to Kovai Kizhar C.M.Ramachandran Chettiar those days. P.A.Raju Chettiar was a regular who used to love the ' Tamil Archanai ' at the Lord Dhandayudhapani shrine on Mondays in the Perur Temple. Our family friends included Thangavel Pathar and they used to make items for P.A.Raju Chettiar & Brother. My teachers Duraiswamy and Muthuswamy left a good impression and I learnt more outside the school. I used to tag along with my teacher and attend classes given by Pa.Su.Maniam Ayya at the Government Arts College. My experience as a Manager at Associated Engineering Works gave me an oppourtunity to go to Bengaluru and begin sericulture at Coimbatore. I was among the first to indulge in sericulture. The interest in Tamil was an outcome of having interacted with a number of scholars at the Perur Tamil Kalloori. Perur was full of knowledgeable people all the time. Once while digging in our farm , a few old items were discovered and this introduced me to world of archelogy and history. Archeologists began to excavate in our lands thereafter. Our family was closely connected with the Santhalinga Adigalar Madam in Perur and therefore I got an oppourtunity to meet scholars like Kuppurasu and Puviyarsu. Many of the students used to bathe in our farm and the place opposite to the Padithurai was kind of a beach which facilitated intellectual chats for a long time. Thanks to these developments I got interact with a number of stalwarts who had done archeological research and they include Dr.Poonkunran, Dr. R.Nagaswamy, Iravatham Mahadevan, Dinamalar Krishnamurthy and Pulavar Rasu, " stated a calm Jayaraman.
K.Jayaraman had served the world of literature by escorting people like Ki.Va.Jagannathan , Ki.Rajanarayanan , Vikraman, M.P.Sivagnanam, K.A.P.Viswanatham, Kundrakudi Adigalar etc., whenever they visited Coimbatore. He used to offer filter coffee and talcum powder to Kundrakudi Adigalar. Kovai Gnani, Sirpi Balasubramaniam, Mullai Adhavan, Nanjil Nadan, Writer Sujatha , C.R.Ravindran, Vijaya Padhipagam Velayudham, Solomon Pappaiyya, G.K.Sundaram, N.Mahalingam, Nammalwar the progenitor of natural farming , Ma.Ra.Po. Guruswamy, Irusu Pillai, Dr.Markandan , Dr.Poovannan, Senniappanar, Pattiappanar, I.K.Subramaniam, C.S.Kannayiram, Ikkarai Boluvampatti Ramaswamy, Veerabhadra Gowder, Nellai Kannan, Ramapattinam Anandaraja , Rajesh Kumar and a number of Pontiffs were known to him and he continues to be in touch with a number of them. The list is endless and could well makes its way to become a directory. K.Jayaraman ( Vice President ) has been associated with the Nanneri Kazhagam for decades and has been closely connected with Bapuraju, V.V.Sriram, N.Parthasarathy, Pa.Kuppuswamy and Iakoka Subramaniam of the same body. He has also worked with a number of PWD engineers in the interest of the River Noyyal. Jayaraman has done a lot of good work with INTACH, Osai, RAAC, Siruthuli, Karam, CEE ( Centre for Environment Education ) for several decades. In fact he is author of the poem on River Noyyal and it is being used as the Noyyal Anthem by Siruthuli. Quite a few journalists have taken inputs from him on varied subjects and written about them. He had sung the song ' Vaishnava Janato ' in front of Vinoba Bhave as a boy. Jayaraman had been responsible for quite a few archeological finds and it was he who introduced the ' Rajakesari Peruvazhi ' to the outside world. the enterprising gentleman was running a ' Vazhakkai Mandi ' for sometime. A number of publications have interviewed him and also written about him.
The scholar used to attend Kamban Kazhagam, Silappadikaram meetings while also attending Periya Govindaswamy Naidu Memorial lectures in Coimbatore. He has been in touch with ' Sivakudil ' at Kovaipudur for quite sometime. His work connected with environment had given him oppourtunities to interact with Sunderlal Bahuguna and Medha Patkar. ' Iyarkai Vivasayi ' Nammalwar used to stay at his house while visiting Coimbatore. He has been associated with Khadi and Sarvodaya from his younger days. These experiences impelled gave him to stay at the Wardha Ashram for a week.
The environmentalist worked along with Team Siruthuli and Shankar Vanavarayar while restoring the River Noyyal to its original breadth at the Perur Padithurai nearly 15 years ago. Jayaraman ensured the proper completion of the work by staying put on the site until the place was made ready to receive the River Noyyal in Perur.
K.Jayaraman and a few others had looked after the personal needs of former Union Minister George Fernandes during the dreaded ' Emergency ' that had been declared on the country by the then Prime Minister Indira Gandhi. " George Fernandes was in Perur for 23 days. He used to spend a lot of time in and around the Perur Patteeswarar Temple. His food was simple and it consisted of aval ( flattened rice ), water, jaggery and coconut. We used to serve him tandoori roti made by North Indian workers who were working in the salt petre factory that had rented out a part of our farm. He was served papaya too. I met him nearly 25 years later and he remembered me well. Originally we were told that it was an important person but we understood the gravity of the situation much later. It has been an interesting journey , " smiled Jayaraman while showing some old photos and newspaper cuttings at his home.
The Journey continues.