Henry Alfred Krishnapillai

Who was Henry Alfred Krishnapillai?

Henry Alfred Krishnapillai was a well-known poet in Tamil language. He was born in a Hindu family, but later converted to Christianity. Even after his conversion, he retained his Hindu surname. He was an accomplished Tamil teacher and hence after his conversion sought to work on Tamil literary works. After his retirement he worked on his magnum opus, Ratchanya Yaatrigam. This work was based on John Bunyan's Pilgrim's Progress, although not a translation. The work itself took 16 years to complete and is one of finest works of Tamil literature of the nineteenth century.

Krishnapillai is well known to use analogies from Hindu text in his Christian writings. His Christian hymns are still popular among Tamil Protestants. These hymns are similar in style to Hindu text Tevaram.