ANNAMALAI UNIVERSITY

ANNAMALAI UNIVERSITY

In the early 1920s to promote Tamil Literature, Rajah Sir S. R. M. Annamalai Chettiar founded Sri Minakshi College, Sri Minakshi Tamil College and Sri Minakshi Sanskrit College in a rural setup at Chidambaram. In 1928, Rajah Sir S. R. M. Annamalai Chettiar agreed with the local Government to handover the above said institution for establishing a university. Thus, on January 1, 1929 Annamalai University was established as per Annamalai University Act 1928 (Tamil Nadu Act 1 of 1929). In 2013, the Annamalai University Act, 2013 (Tamil Nadu Act 20 of 2013), was passed and has come into force from September 25, 2013. The emblem of the university has a shield divided into six parts holding elephants, lotus, veena, coconut palm and a south indian temple in cyan, pink and orange. Below the shield its motto ‘With Courage and Faith’ is written on a red banner. The shield symbolises protection, courage, heritage, authority and bravery; the lotus denotes purity, enlightenment, rebirth, transformation, personal growth, resilience, overcoming obstacles and divine beauty; elephants represent harmony, success and protection; the coconut palm is the ‘tree of life’ which keeps giving something to society all through its life; a veena symbolises art, culture, education, knowledge and wisdom and the temple with gopuram denotes god’s grace and the land of Tamilnadu.