Renowned Sanskrit Scholar Ramamurti Passes Away

CHENNAI:  Self effacing, humble, erudite and extremely methodical, P S Ramamurti had dedicated more than 50 years of his life to the propagation of the Sanskrit language. The renowned and much loved scholar passed away on Tuesday. Known as PSR among friends, Ramamurti hailed from a family of Sanskrit lovers. Groomed by his father, P A Subrahmanya Ayyar, a former Professor of English, Annamalai University and founder of the Egmore Samskrt School and Surabharati Samiti,

“He spent more than 50 years with ESS and the Surabharati Samiti that his father founded. He was one of the most humble and self effacing men around, even with the monumental contribution to Sanskrit that he has made through his life,” said S Viswanathan, editor and publisher, Industrial Economist, in which Ramamurti did a stint as Associate Editor for 12 years.

Ramamurti’s contribution came largely through the two institutions he helmed. For over 60 years, the Egmore Samskrt School has conducted a Gita recitation competition in  January every year, with over 2,000 participants. The meter for recitation of the Gita developed by the School was even adopted by the Chinmaya Mission.

Ramamurti had a Master’s in English and a Doctorate in Samskrt. He had a brief stint as a Professor of English at Vivekananda College, worked as account executive at Efficient Publications before turning to journalism. He is survived by wife Lalitha and daughter Meera Narayanan.