Current Affairs

CM Vijay opens 'Periyar Arivulagam' library and science centre in Coimbatore

16-10-2026 · English

CM Vijay opens 'Periyar Arivulagam' library and science centre in Coimbatore

Topics: Tamil Nadu · 16 October 2026 Current Affairs (UPSC / TNPSC / SSC / RRB)

News

On 16 Oct 2026 CM C. Joseph Vijay opened 'Periyar Arivulagam', a library and science centre built for about ₹300 crore at Gandhipuram, Coimbatore (Nanjappa Road, near the town bus stand). Built by the Public Works Department on 7 acres of Prison Department land, the ground-plus-seven-floor building covers 1.98 lakh sq ft. It has over one lakh books, a digital library, a planetarium, a science centre, a STEM lab, a separate floor for persons with disabilities, a competitive-exam training centre and a start-up incubation centre.

Key facts

Opened16 Oct 2026 – CM C. Joseph Vijay
SiteGandhipuram, Coimbatore – Prison Department land, 7 acres
CostAbout ₹300 crore (building ₹245 cr; books ₹50 cr; e-books/IT ₹5 cr)
Building1.98 lakh sq ft; ground + 7 floors; Public Works Department
Features1 lakh+ books, planetarium, STEM lab, auditorium, Periyar statue
FoundationNov 2024 – then CM M.K. Stalin

Background

  • Periyar E.V. Ramasamy: born 17 Sep 1879 at Erode; died 24 Dec 1973 at Vellore. In 1925 he left the Congress and started the Self-Respect Movement; the same year (2 May 1925) he launched the journal 'Kudi Arasu'.
  • Vaikom Satyagraha (1924–25): a struggle in Travancore (today's Kerala) for the right of oppressed castes to use the roads around the Vaikom temple; Periyar joined, was jailed, and is hailed as 'Vaikom Veerar'. The renovated Periyar memorial at Vaikom was opened on 12 Dec 2024.
  • Polity: President of the Justice Party in 1938; at the 1944 Salem conference the Justice Party was renamed 'Dravidar Kazhagam'. The title 'Periyar' was conferred at a women's conference in Madras in 1938. Since 2021 Tamil Nadu observes 17 Sep as 'Social Justice Day'.
  • Tamil Nadu's big libraries: Anna Centenary Library, Kotturpuram, Chennai (15 Sep 2010); Kalaignar Centenary Library, Madurai (15 July 2023); now Periyar Arivulagam, Coimbatore (2026).

Tamil Nadu link: it follows Chennai (Anna) and Madurai (Kalaignar) as the big knowledge hub for the western region. The same day, 89 completed works worth ₹408.25 crore were opened in Coimbatore and welfare aid of ₹34.72 crore was given to 9,343 beneficiaries.

Source: ANI, Open Magazine, Newsd, 16 Oct 2026; DT Next (Oct 2026); Deccan Herald (Nov 2024)

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