caption birth_place other_names nationality birth_date known_for image article_title name occupation
a portrait of iyothee thass nilgiris district kathavarayan british indian 20 may 1845 dalit buddhist movement file : iyothee thass.jpg iyothee thass
 iyothee thass siddha physician
iyothee thass

c. iyothee thass -lrb- 20 may 1845 -- 1914 -rrb- was a prominent dalit and anti-caste activist and a practitioner of siddha medicine who is regarded as a pioneer of the dravidian movement .
he famously converted to buddhism and called upon the paraiyars to do the same , arguing that this was their original religion .
he also founded the punchmar mahajana sabha in 1891 along with rettaimalai srinivasan .
punchamars are the 5th group in the varna system .
`` iyothee thass '' is the most common anglicized spelling of his name ; other spellings include pandit c. ayodhya dasa , c. iyothee doss , c. iyodhi doss , c. iyothee thoss , k. ayōttitācar -lrb- avarkaḷ -rrb- or k. ayōttitāsa -lrb- paṇṭitaravarkaḷ -rrb- .
