Category:Periyar Memorial, Chennai

Erode Venkata Ramasamy (17 September 1879 – 24 December 1973), affectionately called by his followers as Periyar, Thanthai Periyar or E. V. R., was a businessman, politician, Indian independence and social activist, who started the Self-Respect Movement or the Dravidian Movement and proposed the creation of an independent state called Dravida Nadu, comprising the states of South India. He is also the founder of the socio-cultural organisation, Dravidar Kazhagam.