Leaders pay tributes to Ondiveeran on memorial day

Madurai: Tuticorin MP Kanimozhi Karunanidhi, speaker M Appavu and forest minister M Mathiventhan were among leaders who paid tributes to Ondiveeran at his memorial at Palayamkottai in Tirunelveli city on his 253rd memorial day on Tuesday. Ondiveeran was the commander-in-chief of Poligar king Pulithevar who was among the pioneers in Tamil Nadu to resist the colonial interests of British East India Company.
Hailing from the oppressed arunthathiyar community, not much of written documents is available on his valour, but local lore praises him as a mighty warrior who defeated the advances of the company.Addressing the event, Kanimozhi said former chief minister Kalaignar announced construction of a memorial for Ondiveeran at Tirunelveli in 2010 and funds were sanctioned.