A poem written by the late Prof. P. Sundaram Pillai, Professor of History in the Travancore University, and a noted Tamil scholar, has been adopted as the prayer song for Tamil Nadu Government functions.
It is a two-stanza verse beginning with “Neerarum kadaludutha...” from Prof. Sundaram Pillai’s play, “Manonmaniam”.
Only the first six-line stanza is to be used for the purpose of the State prayer song.
An announcement about the prayer song was made by the Chief Minister, Mr. M. Karunanidhi on March 10, 1970.