“Ramamirtham Ammaiyar does not represent an ‘average’ woman activist of the Self Respect Movement, but one who marked the outer limit to which a woman activist of the movement could reach out.” Thus wrote S. Anandhi, a veteran academic specialising in women’s studies, in Social Scientist 33 years ago. Known more by her prefix ‘Muvalur’, Ramamirtham (1883-1962) was a contemporary of Muthulakshmi Reddy (1886-1968) and both shared their zeal for the abolition of the Devadasi system (dedication of girls to temples). In a sense, she could be credited with having launched a public campaign ahead of Muthulakshmi Reddy. In fact, when E.V. Ramasamy, or Periyar, introduced her to Muthulakshmi Reddy, both were in the Congress. “She was thrilled to find a kindred spirit who could also use her position to bring about a legal solution,” V.R. Devika records in her Muthulakshmi Reddy: path-breaking woman in social reform and medicine (2022), quoting from the notes of Ramamirtham. Both EVR and Ramamirtham left the Congress in 1926, says Professor Anandhi. For about five years, she was in the Congress and, like many of her generation, she was attracted by the leadership of Mahatma Gandhi.
Sold at the age of 5
Born in Tiruvarur, Ramamirtham was sold, at the age of five, by her mother Chinnammal to Aachikannu, a Devadasi, in Muvalur for, what Ms. Devika writes in her work, a princely sum of ₹10 and an old sari. Pointing out that Aachikannu brought her up “with love and care”, the author, quoting Ramamirtham’s biography Vaazhvum Paniyum (Life and Work) written in Tamil by Jeevasundari, says Ramamirtham, a quick learner, became proficient in music, Telugu, and Sanskrit by the time she was 10. When she attained puberty, she was given the formal name of Muvalur Ramamirthammal. But her full name is “Muvalur Aachikannu Ramamirtham Ammal,” Professor Anandhi observes, denoting Aachikannu was the person who raised Ramamirtham.
