Karunanidhi memorial opens today — touchscreens showing his literary work, photos, a letter from Sonia

Chennai: An underground museum, a library, 7D screens, touchscreen displays, and a documentary on Karunanidhi’s life. These are some of the highlights of the memorial for the Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (DMK) patriarch and former chief minister, set to be inaugurated today.

The memorial — which is at the Anna Complex near Marina Beach on Kamarajar Salai — will be inaugurated by Tamil Nadu CM M.K. Stalin, the current chief of the DMK and Karunanidhi’s son, who had announced the memorial at the state assembly on 22 February. A renovated memorial for DMK founder C.N Annadurai will also be unveiled at the same time.

“I invite the members of the ruling party, Opposition, alliance parties, and the people of Tamil Nadu to take part in the event,” he had said then. 

In a letter he wrote to DMK cadres Sunday, Stalin accused the rival All India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (DMK), which was in power when Karunanidhi died, of not giving land to bury the leader. Significantly, in August 2018, the DMK had to fight a legal battle to secure Karunanidhi his final resting place, next to DMK founder C.N. Annadurai, at Chennai’s Marina Beach.

The Edapaddi Palaniswami-led AIADMK government did this out of a grudge, Stalin’s letter, written in Tamil, said.  

“But not just the party men — the entire Tamil Nadu had made a tearful demand. The rulers showed no mercy. The legal battle commenced at midnight and the order was passed the next day permitting Kalaignar’s burial on the beachfront next to (the) Anna memorial,” he said, referring to the legal battle in the Madras High Court just days after his father’s death. On 8 August, 2018, the Madras HC permitted DMK to bury the party patriarch on the shores of the Marina.  

In response, AIADMK ex-MP J. Jayavardhan told the Print said that the EPS government was only following the law.

“There were multiple cases in the honourable Madras High Court against the burial being done at the Marina. The DMK has no moral right to speak about this because Karunanidhi was the first to deny space to the former CM K. Kamaraj at the Marina even though there were many requests for this,” he said.

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Selfie point, photo gallery on Karunanidhi

Stalin had announced a memorial for Karunanidhi on 2.21 acres of land at the Marina beach at a budget of Rs 29 crore in August 2021 — four months after his government was voted to power in the state.

Also referred to as Kalaignar for his contributions to Tamil literature, the playwright-turned-politician Karunanidhi succeeded Annadurai as chief of the DMK in 1969 and was a five-time CM of the state of Tamil Nadu. He died in August 2018.

Senior DMK leaders ThePrint spoke to said that the memorial was meant to showcase the multifaceted leader’s achievements in literature, art, and politics.

Displayed on the front is a letter addressed to Karunanidhi by former Congress president Sonia Gandhi. In her letter, Gandhi said that it was due to the DMK patriarch’s efforts that Tamil was declared a classical language in 2005. 

Other attractions at the memorial include a selfie point, touchscreens on which people can browse Karunanidhi’s literary work and an underground museum with a photo gallery with glimpses from the former CM’s personal and political life. 

Apart from Karunanidhi’s memorial, the Anna Memorial Complex also has the mausoleums of three other former Tamil Nadu chief ministers — Annadurai, M.G. Ramachandran, and J. Jayalalithaa. 

In his letter Sunday, Stalin compared this to Karunanidhi building memorials for his political opponents. 

“He constructed the memorial for Kamaraj designed like a Chakra, which was the symbol on the early Congress flag, and the memorial for Rajaji (C. Rajagopalachari, the second CM of the erstwhile Madras State who wrote a book retelling the Hindu epic, Ramayana) on a Ramayana theme. Kalaignar crafted an umbrella in (AIAMDK founder) M.G, Ramachandran’s memorial to show that he provided shade for many,” he said in his letter. 

(Edited by Uttara Ramaswamy)

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