Veeran Sundaralingam

Who was Veeran Sundaralingam?

Sundaralinga Kudumbanar, also known as "Veeran" Sundaralingam, was an 18th-century CE general from Tamil Nadu, India. He was born in Governagiri village in Tuticorin district. He was a general of the Poligar Veerapandiya Kattabomman in his fight against the British East India Company. He belonged to the Mallar community. According to a majority of the accepted historical accounts, he was killed in 1799, while fighting for Kattabomman during the First Polygar War. Another view is that he was killed in the Second Polygar War while assisting Kattabomman's younger brother Oomaithurai.

A widely held account is that Sundaralingam died in the process of blowing up a British ammunition dump 1799. He planned to get near the dump surreptitiously and blew it up. His fiancée Vadivu drove a herd of goats near the ammunition dump at night, with Sundaralingam hiding among the goats covered in a blanket made of wool. As they approached the ammunition dump, a British soldier spotted Sundaralingam and raised alarm. Sudaralingam grabbed the fire torch from Vadivu's hand and jumped into the ammunition dump.