Varathalingam Rathnathurai (commonly known as Puthuvai Ratnathurai) is a poet, songwriter and sculptor who served as the head of Arts and Culture Division of the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE), a separatist Tamil militant organisation in Sri Lanka. He is a known personality among Eelam Tamils and has written many revolutionary songs and poetry for the LTTE. He disappeared after the end of the Sri Lankan Civil War in 2009.
Ratnathurai headed the Tamil Eelam Arts and Cultural Guild during the LTTE's de facto administration of northern Sri Lanka. On May 21, 2016, the Tamil Guardian reported that he was last seen in the custody of the Sri Lankan military on May 18, 2009, in Mullivaikkal. In 2012, Sinhala daily newspaper Divaina reported that he is in the custody of the Sri Lankan Army.This has not been confirmed by the Sri Lankan Army.
Ratnathurai began writing Tamil poetry at the age of 14. He also wrote many poems under the pseudonyms Vyasan and Malika. He wrote, Inda Maan Mukum Naman Maan which is a sentimental song that has been well received by many people. He is a native of Puttur, Jaffna district.
In September 2014, the Sri Lanka Army banned Piddukku ma’n chumantha perumaanaar, a devotional song authored by Ratnathurai.
Early life Hailing from a Vishwakarma community in Puttur in Jaffna, Ratnathurai was the second child of Kandiah Varathalingam, a sculptor hailing from Thirunelveli in Jaffna, and his wife Pakkiyam.
Books
வானம் சிவக்கிறது (1970) இரத்த புஷ்பங்கள்(1980) ஒரு தோழனின் காதற் கடிதம் நினைவழியா நாட்கள் உலைக்களம் பூவரசம் வேலியும் புலுனிக் குஞ்சுகளும் Ulaikalam, 2009 English Translations Some of his poems were translated into English by renowned Canadian Tamil academic Professor Chelva Kanaganayakam as part of a book titled "Wilting Laughter: Three Tamil Poets": December, a Thing of Beauty Beauty Unseen Writing the Remnants of a Dream A Poet's Fearless Death An Elegy for a Teacher The Temple Across the Field Waiting Crescent Moon Those Days Were Beautiful Yearning The Frolicking Clouds Resurgent Dawn and a Restless Poet The Sculptor and the Statue Moving River Silenced, the Temple Bells The Poet, the Wind, and the Flowers On the Third Day After the Festival Fulfilment Grant Me a Wish Three Questions Relationship Beauty and the Sea Bright Even in the Night Our Folks Are Not Ungrateful Where Snow Falls
Further reading
References
External links A poet's fearless death at Tamil Guardian Puthuvai Ratnathurai's Poetry collection