The 150th birth anniversary of V Krishnaswamy Iyer, who founded Indian Bank, was celebrated recently in a grand function at the Music Academy. The chief guest of the function was K Rosaiah, Governor, Tamil Nadu.

The Indian Bank, founded in 1906 by Krishnaswamy Iyer, was just one of the great institutions that Iyer had founded. A doyen, who propagated ayurveda, sanskrit and several other facets of Indian culture, was also the founder of Sri Venkataramana Ayurveda Dispensary, Madras Sanskrit College and Kuppuswamy Sastri Research Institute.

Rosaiah spoke about the philanthropic capacity of V Krishnaswamy Iyer and said, “For well over a century, trained, talented ayurvedic physicians have come out of institutions that he founded. And they have succeeded in propagating the rich science.” Talking about his contribution to the freedom struggle, the Governor said, “He took active part in the freedom struggle and lead the congress session held in Bombay. In 1890, he attended the Calcutta Congress as a delegate. He actively participated in the Madras session as well. He also developed close friendships with stalwarts such as Sri Gopale Krishna Gokhale, Lok Manya Tilak, Ashutosh Mukherjee, Madan Mohan Malaviya and Feroze Shah Mehta.”

Rosaiah further added that glorious tributes were paid to Krishnaswamy Iyer by the Governor of Madras Presidency and all leading public figures in India then.

source:  http://www.newindianexpress.com / The New Indian Express / Home> Cities> Chennai / by Express News Service – Chennai / September 30th, 2013