Tamil Thai

Tamil Thai (Tamil: தமிழ்த்தாய், romanized: Tamiḻttāy, lit. 'Tamil mother') refers to the allegorical and sometimes anthropomorphic personification of the Tamil language as a mother. This allegory of the Tamil language in the persona of a mother was established during the Tamil renaissance movement of the latter half of the nineteenth century. The concept became popular in the Tamil-speaking world after the publication of a song invoking and praising Tamil mother in a play titled, "Manonmaniyam", written by Manonmaniam Sundaram Pillai (1855 – 1897) and published in 1891. Under the auspices of the DMK, the Tamil Thai Valthu, with music composed by M.S. Viswanathan, has since been adopted as the state song of the Government of Tamil Nadu. rdf:langString