Overview

Veerapandiya Kattabomman was an 18th-century Palayakarrar and chieftain from Panchalankurichi in Tamil Nadu, India who waged a war against the British East India Company. He was captured by the British and hanged in 1799 CE

Fight Against British

Kattabomman refused to accept the sovereignty of British East India Company , and fought against them.

Kattabomman was betrayed by the then ruler of the kingdom of Pudukottai Vijaya Raghunatha Tondaiman to the British on 1 October 1799. He was subsequently arrested at Kayathar, interrogated till 16 October 1799 and sentenced to public hanging. On 16 October 1799, he was hanged at Kayathar in Thoothukudi District, Tamil Nadu.

Honor and monuments

Kattabomman memorial at Kayathar

  • Sivaji Ganesan`s ” role in the film Veerapandiya Kattabomman won him the Best Actor Award at the Afro-Asian Film Festival held in March 1960 at Cairo
  • In 1974, the Government of Tamil Nadu constructed a memorial at Kayathar and the remnants of the old fort at Panchalankurichi are protected by the Archaeological Survey of India. Another memorial was inaugurated by the government on 18 June 2015.
  • To commemorate the bicentenary on 16 October 1799 of Kattabomman’s hanging, the Government of India brought out a postal stamp in his honour.
  • The Indian Navy communications centre at Vijayanarayanam is named as INS Kattabomman.
  • Until 1997, the state transport bosy of Tirunelveli District was called Kattabomman Transport Corporation.
  • Veerapandia Kattabomman Panpattu Kazhagam (Veerapandia Kattabomman Cultural association) is an organisation named in his honour.
  • The district administration celebrates `Veerapandia Kattabomman festival’ at Panchalankurichi on his anniversaries.