ABSTRACT
This chapter is a study of three works written by Tiruvārūr Vi. Kaliyāṇacuntara Mutaliyār (1883–1953) known as Tiru.Vi.Ka, a Tamil and Śaivite scholar, Congress politician, and Trade Union leader and activist. Two of these, Caivattiṉ camaracam and Irāmaliṅka Cuvāmikaḷ tiruvuḷḷam (The Sacred Heart of Ramalinga Swamigal) were about Ramalingar. The third is his memoir, Vāḻkaikkuṟippukaḷ (Life Notes). Looking at Tiru.Vi.Ka’s reading of Ramalingar in the first two works the chapter then returns to the memoir to examine how Tiru.Vi.Ka arrived at his mature views on Ramalingar by coming to a certain understanding of his own religious life and the turns it took, thus transforming both Ramalingar and himself in the process.
