Thiyagi Saravanan was born and brought up at Mel Kodappa Mund, Ooty in the Nilgiris district, Tamil Nadu. He was born in the year 1902 to Shri A. Muthuswamy and Smt. Papathy Ammal. He took an active part in the freedom struggle of our nation during his teenage years and sacrificed youth and family life.
Kodappa Mund is one of the holy places in India that the Father of the Nation, Mahatma Gandhi, visited in the year 1934. A temple named Sundara Gandhi Vinayagar - constructed by the washermen community who lived there - was inaugurated by Gandhiji. Hails from the downtrodden washermen community. Thiyagi A.M.Saravanam made all arrangements for the honorable visit of our Gandhiji to Kodappamund. The meeting was presided over by him. The downtrodden and so-called untouchables entered the temple in the presence of Gandhiji. Later a centenary function was celebrated at the same place where Gandhiji sat during his visit in the year 1934. The centenary meeting was alos organized and presided over by Thiyagi A.M.Saravanam.
Thiyagi A.M.Saravanam was arrested for keeping a photograph of Baghat Singh, Rajguru, and Suk Dev in his house. On another occasion, he was arrested for cutting down the British flagpost erected in front of the municipal market in the middle of Ooty town. Yet again, he took an active part in the Individual Satyagraha Movement and was imprisoned. He also took an active part in the Quit India Movement and was imprisoned again.
As Thiyagi was an aggressive freedom fighter, the colonial police were posted round the clock in front of his house and made searches on the house now and then. Mareyayee Ammal, his wife, protested against the cruel actions of the colonial police and took part in the freedom struggle. During the Quit India Movement, Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose coined the slogan ‘Jai Hind’. People were scared to shout the slogan as severe punishments were awarded to those who did this. Therefore, people were scared but Thiyagi named his son Jaihind Rajan.
Among all the freedom fighters in the Nilgiri district, Thiyagi A. M. Saravanam was arrested several times and spent the maximum number of years in jail. He worked and started the District Union for the upliftment of his community. He was an ardent follower of the late C.M. Kamraj who offered him an MLC post which he declined considering his family condition. Considering his active participation in the freedom struggle, the government of India and the government of Tamil Nadu offered him the freedom fighters’ pension. Smt. Indira Gandhi, the then Hon’ble Prime Minister of India, honored him with a Tamrapatra. Thiyagi A. M. Saravanam was arrested several times and was kept in Ooty, Coimbatore, Trichi, Vellore, and Chennai Central Jails.