Virakesari
Encyclopedia
Virakesari ta:வீரகேசரி is the name of one of the leading Tamil
dailies in Sri Lanka
. Virakesari is the oldest and the largest circulated Tamil Newspaper in Sri Lanka
. Virakesari is owned by Express Newspapers (Ceylon) (Private) Limited, a leading print and web media organization in Sri Lanka
.
by the name PR. Subramanian in the first half of 1900s. He was an entrepreneur from the village Avanipatti in Tamil Nadu
, India. Avanipatti is a small village of the 96 villages of the Nagarathars.Then, it was the first and leading Tamil daily doing brisk business.
to Ceylon as Sri Lanka
was then called. His passion was journalism
and he was a writer for several newspapers in India. In British Ceylon
he saw the conditions of the Indian Labourers and decided that he would establish a newspaper
to promote justice and equality for those people by publishing a newspaper with a distinct voice of its own.
The first edition was published on the 6th August 1930 under the masthead “Virakesari
” meaning “Victorious Lion” . Chettiyar guided the publication for over 20 years laying the foundation for a strong and progressive future, instilling principles of accuracy and neutrality that gained wide renowned. Today these values are the base for the newspapers journalistic vision. Then the publication focused on the rights and grievances of the Plantation workers, capturing the attention, imagination of the Tamil speaking population. Today this newspaper
is the most widely circulated and read newspaper by the entire Tamil speaking population in Sri Lanka.
In 1948, soon after Ceylon obtained independence from British dominance, the Ceylon Parliament enacted the Ceylon Citizenship Act
. Faced with the choice of obtaining Ceylonese citizenship or continuing with his Indian citizenship, Chettiar chose to return to his homeland, unable to come to terms with losing his nationality. Before his departure, he sold his interests to a small group of Ceylonese Citizens of Indian origin
.
In 1965, during the period of political upheaval in Sri Lanka, the Virakesari newspaper was taken over by a sinhala political party
with the intention of introducing a Sinhalese national newspaper. However, as fate would have it, the company was sued for defamation compelling the new owners to relinquish control, reverting ownership to the earlier owners.
In 1970, Express Newspapers (Ceylon) Limited was registered as a private company and as publisher of the Virakesari newspaper. It was the intention of the Directors that as a company, expansion programs could provide for a wide range of tamil language publications for the tamil speaking population.
Today, the Virakesari has evolved into a national newspaper with the tag line “Tharamana Valiyil Thelivaana Thagaval” meaning ‘Quality news with clarity’ it is underscored by the core-value of having content of the highest quality and integrity catering to the entire Tamil speaking population, Express Newspapers (Ceylon) Limited also publishes a wide range of magazines and newspapers catering to the different sectors and markets of the Tamil speaking population.
Express Newspapers (Ceylon) Ltd is now a leading print media company in Sri Lanka and a well-established name within reach of an estimated 3 million readers across the country.
Express Newspapers (Cey) Limited is situated at 185, Grandpass Road,
Colombo-14 and links to the periphery through 10 branch offices.
website in 2002 and in 2005 they launched Virakesari
's E-paper, which was the World's first Tamil
E-paper. The websites boasts of over 2.5 million hits from across the world. Virakesari also plays a significant role in the field of Social Media
having large numbers of young audience engaged on their websites.
Network Sites:
http://www.virakesari.lk
http://www.epaper.virakesari.lk
http://www.yarlmann.lk
http://www.thirumanam.lk
http://www.aboutcolombo.lk
http://www.biz.lk
) spread across the world, Virakesari
has become a world renowned name in Tamil
. Virakesari has a Weekly edition printed in Doha
and distributed around the states of Middle East
. The Sunday Virakesari is distributed in over 15 countries including USA, Canada
, UK, France
, Germany
, India
, Middle East
, New Zealand
and Australia
.
, the daily tabloid “Metro News”, the weekly magazine “Mithran Varmalar”, the monthly magazines “Sugavalvu, Jothida Kesari and Kalaikesari” as well as the English language magazine “Home Builder”. Recently it has commenced publishing three community news papers, The “Vidivelli” for the Eastern Muslim
community, the “Sooriyakanthi” for the hill country Tamil community and most recently “Yarl Osai” for the Tamil communities living in the Jaffna peninsula
.
Tamil language
Tamil is a Dravidian language spoken predominantly by Tamil people of the Indian subcontinent. It has official status in the Indian state of Tamil Nadu and in the Indian union territory of Pondicherry. Tamil is also an official language of Sri Lanka and Singapore...
dailies in Sri Lanka
Sri Lanka
Sri Lanka, officially the Democratic Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka is a country off the southern coast of the Indian subcontinent. Known until 1972 as Ceylon , Sri Lanka is an island surrounded by the Indian Ocean, the Gulf of Mannar and the Palk Strait, and lies in the vicinity of India and the...
. Virakesari is the oldest and the largest circulated Tamil Newspaper in Sri Lanka
Sri Lanka
Sri Lanka, officially the Democratic Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka is a country off the southern coast of the Indian subcontinent. Known until 1972 as Ceylon , Sri Lanka is an island surrounded by the Indian Ocean, the Gulf of Mannar and the Palk Strait, and lies in the vicinity of India and the...
. Virakesari is owned by Express Newspapers (Ceylon) (Private) Limited, a leading print and web media organization in Sri Lanka
Sri Lanka
Sri Lanka, officially the Democratic Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka is a country off the southern coast of the Indian subcontinent. Known until 1972 as Ceylon , Sri Lanka is an island surrounded by the Indian Ocean, the Gulf of Mannar and the Palk Strait, and lies in the vicinity of India and the...
.
Foundation
Virakesari was founded by a ChettiarChettiar
Chettiar , also spelled Chetty, is a title used by various castes in South India especially in Tamil Nadu. In Kannada, it appears as Setty, Shettar and Shettigar, who are Padmashalis in Andhra Pradesh....
by the name PR. Subramanian in the first half of 1900s. He was an entrepreneur from the village Avanipatti in Tamil Nadu
Tamil Nadu
Tamil Nadu is one of the 28 states of India. Its capital and largest city is Chennai. Tamil Nadu lies in the southernmost part of the Indian Peninsula and is bordered by the union territory of Pondicherry, and the states of Kerala, Karnataka, and Andhra Pradesh...
, India. Avanipatti is a small village of the 96 villages of the Nagarathars.Then, it was the first and leading Tamil daily doing brisk business.
History
The history of the Virakesari Newspaper begins in 1930 with the arrival of P.R. Subramaniyam Chettiyar a native of Avanipatti, South IndiaSouth India
South India is the area encompassing India's states of Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka, Kerala and Tamil Nadu as well as the union territories of Lakshadweep and Pondicherry, occupying 19.31% of India's area...
to Ceylon as Sri Lanka
Sri Lanka
Sri Lanka, officially the Democratic Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka is a country off the southern coast of the Indian subcontinent. Known until 1972 as Ceylon , Sri Lanka is an island surrounded by the Indian Ocean, the Gulf of Mannar and the Palk Strait, and lies in the vicinity of India and the...
was then called. His passion was journalism
Journalism
Journalism is the practice of investigation and reporting of events, issues and trends to a broad audience in a timely fashion. Though there are many variations of journalism, the ideal is to inform the intended audience. Along with covering organizations and institutions such as government and...
and he was a writer for several newspapers in India. In British Ceylon
British Ceylon
British Ceylon refers to British rule prior to 1948 of the island territory now known as Sri Lanka.-From the Dutch to the British:Before the beginning of the Dutch governance, the island of Ceylon was divided between the Portuguese Empire and the Kingdom of Kandy, who were in the midst of a war for...
he saw the conditions of the Indian Labourers and decided that he would establish a newspaper
Newspaper
A newspaper is a scheduled publication containing news of current events, informative articles, diverse features and advertising. It usually is printed on relatively inexpensive, low-grade paper such as newsprint. By 2007, there were 6580 daily newspapers in the world selling 395 million copies a...
to promote justice and equality for those people by publishing a newspaper with a distinct voice of its own.
The first edition was published on the 6th August 1930 under the masthead “Virakesari
Virakesari
Virakesari ta:வீரகேசரி is the name of one of the leading Tamil dailies in Sri Lanka. Virakesari is the oldest and the largest circulated Tamil Newspaper in Sri Lanka. Virakesari is owned by Express Newspapers Limited, a leading print and web media organization in Sri Lanka.- Foundation...
” meaning “Victorious Lion” . Chettiyar guided the publication for over 20 years laying the foundation for a strong and progressive future, instilling principles of accuracy and neutrality that gained wide renowned. Today these values are the base for the newspapers journalistic vision. Then the publication focused on the rights and grievances of the Plantation workers, capturing the attention, imagination of the Tamil speaking population. Today this newspaper
Virakesari
Virakesari ta:வீரகேசரி is the name of one of the leading Tamil dailies in Sri Lanka. Virakesari is the oldest and the largest circulated Tamil Newspaper in Sri Lanka. Virakesari is owned by Express Newspapers Limited, a leading print and web media organization in Sri Lanka.- Foundation...
is the most widely circulated and read newspaper by the entire Tamil speaking population in Sri Lanka.
In 1948, soon after Ceylon obtained independence from British dominance, the Ceylon Parliament enacted the Ceylon Citizenship Act
Ceylon Citizenship Act
The Ceylon Citizenship Act No. 18 of 1948 was a controversial law passed by the Ceylon Parliament which denied citizenship to 11% of the population.-Background:...
. Faced with the choice of obtaining Ceylonese citizenship or continuing with his Indian citizenship, Chettiar chose to return to his homeland, unable to come to terms with losing his nationality. Before his departure, he sold his interests to a small group of Ceylonese Citizens of Indian origin
India
India , officially the Republic of India , is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by geographical area, the second-most populous country with over 1.2 billion people, and the most populous democracy in the world...
.
In 1965, during the period of political upheaval in Sri Lanka, the Virakesari newspaper was taken over by a sinhala political party
Sinhala
Sinhala , also known as Helabasa, is the mother tongue of the Sinhalese people, who make up the largest ethnic group in Sri Lanka, numbering about 15 million. Sinhala is also spoken by other ethnic groups in Sri Lanka, totalling about 3 million...
with the intention of introducing a Sinhalese national newspaper. However, as fate would have it, the company was sued for defamation compelling the new owners to relinquish control, reverting ownership to the earlier owners.
In 1970, Express Newspapers (Ceylon) Limited was registered as a private company and as publisher of the Virakesari newspaper. It was the intention of the Directors that as a company, expansion programs could provide for a wide range of tamil language publications for the tamil speaking population.
Today, the Virakesari has evolved into a national newspaper with the tag line “Tharamana Valiyil Thelivaana Thagaval” meaning ‘Quality news with clarity’ it is underscored by the core-value of having content of the highest quality and integrity catering to the entire Tamil speaking population, Express Newspapers (Ceylon) Limited also publishes a wide range of magazines and newspapers catering to the different sectors and markets of the Tamil speaking population.
Express Newspapers (Ceylon) Ltd is now a leading print media company in Sri Lanka and a well-established name within reach of an estimated 3 million readers across the country.
Express Newspapers (Cey) Limited is situated at 185, Grandpass Road,
Colombo-14 and links to the periphery through 10 branch offices.
Managing Directors
- S. Iswaraiyar (1930–1957)
- R.A Nadesan (1957–1959)
- T.P Kesavan (1960–1966)
- H.J.M Peiris (1966-1970)
- R. Krishnamoorthi (1970-1973)
- M.G. Wenceslaus (1973 - 2001)
- Kumar Nadesan (2001 till date)
Editors-in-chief
- P.P.R Subramaniya Chettiar (Founder Editor)
- H. Nellaiya
- V. Ramasamy Iyangar
- K.P Haran
- K.V.S Vas
- V. Sivapragasam (1966-1983)
- S.Sivanesachelvan (1984-1996)
- S. Nadarajah (1996-2005)
- R. Prabaghan (Daily Virakesari) (2005-till date)
- V. Thevaraj (Sunday Virakesari)(2005-till date)
Online presence
The company has made great strides in the IT field. The Online Division of Express Newspapers launched www.virakesari.lk, a 24x7 breaking newsBreaking news
Breaking news, also known as a special report or news bulletin, is a current event that broadcasters feel warrants the interruption of scheduled programming and/or current news in order to report its details. Many times, breaking news is used after the news network has already reported on this story...
website in 2002 and in 2005 they launched Virakesari
Virakesari
Virakesari ta:வீரகேசரி is the name of one of the leading Tamil dailies in Sri Lanka. Virakesari is the oldest and the largest circulated Tamil Newspaper in Sri Lanka. Virakesari is owned by Express Newspapers Limited, a leading print and web media organization in Sri Lanka.- Foundation...
's E-paper, which was the World's first Tamil
Tamil language
Tamil is a Dravidian language spoken predominantly by Tamil people of the Indian subcontinent. It has official status in the Indian state of Tamil Nadu and in the Indian union territory of Pondicherry. Tamil is also an official language of Sri Lanka and Singapore...
E-paper. The websites boasts of over 2.5 million hits from across the world. Virakesari also plays a significant role in the field of Social Media
Social media
The term Social Media refers to the use of web-based and mobile technologies to turn communication into an interactive dialogue. Andreas Kaplan and Michael Haenlein define social media as "a group of Internet-based applications that build on the ideological and technological foundations of Web 2.0,...
having large numbers of young audience engaged on their websites.
Network Sites:
http://www.virakesari.lk
http://www.epaper.virakesari.lk
http://www.yarlmann.lk
http://www.thirumanam.lk
http://www.aboutcolombo.lk
http://www.biz.lk
Achievements
The company (ENCL) has upgraded its typesetting, graphic, and printing departments with a state of the art technology. Its innovativeness was recognized when the Virakesari was voted the “Best Designed Newspaper” at the “Journalism Awards for Excellence 2005” by the Editors Guild and the Sri Lanka Press Institute. In 2010 www.virakesari.lk won Sri Lanka's most Favorite Tamil Website at the Best Web Competitions by majority votes.Foreign Editions
Due to the significant numbers of SriLankan Tamil population (diasporaSri Lankan Tamil diaspora
The Sri Lankan Tamil Diaspora refers to the global diaspora of the people of Sri Lankan Tamil origin. It can be said to be a subset of the larger Sri Lankan as well as Tamil diaspora....
) spread across the world, Virakesari
Virakesari
Virakesari ta:வீரகேசரி is the name of one of the leading Tamil dailies in Sri Lanka. Virakesari is the oldest and the largest circulated Tamil Newspaper in Sri Lanka. Virakesari is owned by Express Newspapers Limited, a leading print and web media organization in Sri Lanka.- Foundation...
has become a world renowned name in Tamil
Tamil language
Tamil is a Dravidian language spoken predominantly by Tamil people of the Indian subcontinent. It has official status in the Indian state of Tamil Nadu and in the Indian union territory of Pondicherry. Tamil is also an official language of Sri Lanka and Singapore...
. Virakesari has a Weekly edition printed in Doha
Doha
Doha is the capital city of the state of Qatar. Located on the Persian Gulf, it had a population of 998,651 in 2008, and is also one of the municipalities of Qatar...
and distributed around the states of Middle East
Middle East
The Middle East is a region that encompasses Western Asia and Northern Africa. It is often used as a synonym for Near East, in opposition to Far East...
. The Sunday Virakesari is distributed in over 15 countries including USA, Canada
Canada
Canada is a North American country consisting of ten provinces and three territories. Located in the northern part of the continent, it extends from the Atlantic Ocean in the east to the Pacific Ocean in the west, and northward into the Arctic Ocean...
, UK, France
France
The French Republic , The French Republic , The French Republic , (commonly known as France , is a unitary semi-presidential republic in Western Europe with several overseas territories and islands located on other continents and in the Indian, Pacific, and Atlantic oceans. Metropolitan France...
, Germany
Germany
Germany , officially the Federal Republic of Germany , is a federal parliamentary republic in Europe. The country consists of 16 states while the capital and largest city is Berlin. Germany covers an area of 357,021 km2 and has a largely temperate seasonal climate...
, India
India
India , officially the Republic of India , is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by geographical area, the second-most populous country with over 1.2 billion people, and the most populous democracy in the world...
, Middle East
Middle East
The Middle East is a region that encompasses Western Asia and Northern Africa. It is often used as a synonym for Near East, in opposition to Far East...
, New Zealand
New Zealand
New Zealand is an island country in the south-western Pacific Ocean comprising two main landmasses and numerous smaller islands. The country is situated some east of Australia across the Tasman Sea, and roughly south of the Pacific island nations of New Caledonia, Fiji, and Tonga...
and Australia
Australia
Australia , officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country in the Southern Hemisphere comprising the mainland of the Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous smaller islands in the Indian and Pacific Oceans. It is the world's sixth-largest country by total area...
.
Sister Publications
Express Newspapers publications include, besides the VirakesariVirakesari
Virakesari ta:வீரகேசரி is the name of one of the leading Tamil dailies in Sri Lanka. Virakesari is the oldest and the largest circulated Tamil Newspaper in Sri Lanka. Virakesari is owned by Express Newspapers Limited, a leading print and web media organization in Sri Lanka.- Foundation...
, the daily tabloid “Metro News”, the weekly magazine “Mithran Varmalar”, the monthly magazines “Sugavalvu, Jothida Kesari and Kalaikesari” as well as the English language magazine “Home Builder”. Recently it has commenced publishing three community news papers, The “Vidivelli” for the Eastern Muslim
Muslim
A Muslim, also spelled Moslem, is an adherent of Islam, a monotheistic, Abrahamic religion based on the Quran, which Muslims consider the verbatim word of God as revealed to prophet Muhammad. "Muslim" is the Arabic term for "submitter" .Muslims believe that God is one and incomparable...
community, the “Sooriyakanthi” for the hill country Tamil community and most recently “Yarl Osai” for the Tamil communities living in the Jaffna peninsula
Jaffna Peninsula
The Jaffna Peninsula is an area in Northern Province, Sri Lanka. It is home to the capital city of the province, Jaffna and comprises much of the former land mass of the ancient Tamil kingdoms of the Nagas and the medieval Jaffna kingdom. The peninsula is mostly surrounded by water, connected to...
.