R. Balakrishnan

R. Balakrishnan (ஆர். பாலகிருஷ்ணன், born November 6, 1958) is a retired civil servant, author, researcher, poet and has written several books in Tamil. He is a former Indian Administrative Service officer. After his retirement in 2018, he served as the chief advisor to the Chief Minister of Odisha state government till 2024. Currently he is appointed as the Chairman of the International Institute of Tamil Studies , Chennai.

R. Balakrishnan
ஆர். பாலகிருஷ்ணன்
R. Balakrishnan
Born	(1958-11-06) November 6, 1958 (age 67)[1] Dindigul Tamil Nadu  India
Occupation	Indian Administrative Service
Spouse	Sujatha
Children	Rupavarthini, Smrithi

Early life

R. Balakrishnan was born in Natham (Dindigul district). He studied B.A. and M.A. Tamil Literature in Madurai. He worked as Sub-Editor in Dinamani Daily Newspaper, Madurai Edition from 1980 to 1984 July. He was the first candidate to take the civil service exams in Tamil and was selected to the Indian Administrative Services in the first attempt. Till date he is the only person who has this credentials (i.e., B.A. and M.A. in Tamil literature and civil services in Tamil). He belongs to the 1984 batch.

Career

In his thirty-four years of civil service with the Government of Odisha and the Government of India,^[2] Balakrishnan held several notable positions. He retired^[3] as the additional chief secretary and development commissioner in 2018. Earlier, he held the assignment of Deputy Election Commissioner, Election Commission of India twice. He also served as the Chief Vigilance Officer, Chennai Petroleum Corporation Limited, Chennai. After retirement he served as the Chief Advisor to the Chief Minister's Office and Chief Advisor (Special Initiatives) Government of Odisha.^[4]

Balakrishnan is a Trustee at the Roja Muthiah Research Library Trust (RMRLT) and also the Honorary Consultant to the Indus Research Centre at the RMRL. Currently he is appointed as the chairman of the International Institute of Tamil Studies .

His significant contribution as a civil servant are in the areas of Election Management, Disaster Management, Finance Management, Odia Language and Culture.

Research

R. Balakrishnan is a researcher in the field of Onomastics, Indus Studies, Indology, and Tamil Studies. He works on the issues connected to the Dravidian origin, the prehistory of Tamils and Indus Valley Civilization. He follows a multi-disciplinary approach in the reconstruction of the past with a focus on place name clusters. Using comparative place name clusters as markers for past migrations, he has published research papers. He has researched Konark Sun temple and the tribal origins of Sun worship.

In 1997, he brought out the evidence for the existence of a cluster of place names in tribal areas of Madhya Pradesh (Chattisgarh) that are exact counterparts of place names used in Madurai-Idukki region of southern India. He called this "Chhindwara Syndrome" and further investigations drew him to Indus Valley Civilization.

In 2010 at the World Classical Tamil Conference at Coimbatore, he announced evidence for a "Korkai-Vanji-Tondi Complex" (KVT Complex) that has survived in the place name corpora of northwestern parts of the Indian subcontinent. He cited this as evidence for the probable Dravidian presence in the Indus Valley region in the past.

His publication The 'High-West: Low-East' Dichotomy of Indus Cities: A Dravidian Paradigm (Indus Research Centre, Roja Muthiah Research Library, 2012) put forth multi-disciplinary evidence in favour of the Dravidian Hypothesis. His Tamil publication Cintuveḷip paṇpāṭṭiṉ tirāviṭa aṭittaḷam (சிந்துவெளிப் பண்பாட்டின் திராவிட அடித்தளம்) was described by the Indus scholar Iravatham Mahadevan as the "most remarkable among the Tamil works published so far on this subject". The book has acquired greater significance as the announcement about the Keezhadi excavation and its probable similarities to Harappan artefacts was made within a few months of publication.

He was awarded Doctor of Letters (Honoris Causa) by Periyar Maniammai University for his contribution in the field of Indology and in the specific context of his book Cintuveḷip paṇpāṭṭiṉ tirāviṭa aṭittaḷam.^[5]

His book Journey of a Civilization: Indus to Vaigai was published in 2019 by the Roja Muthiah Research Library. He translated this to Tamil as Oru Panpattin Payanam: Sindhu mudhal Vaigai Varai and in 2023 it was released by the Honourable Chief Minister of Tamil Nadu Thiru M. K. Stalin.

He is honorary consultant to the Indus Research Centre of the Roja Muthiah Research Library, Chennai.^[6]

He has researched the prehistory and cultural heritage of Odisha. His recent book Abadha Padachinha is the Odia translation of his research articles on Odisha, its history, culture and heritage.

Lectures

He has given numerous Lectures on Different topics in many forums and through online platforms.

Works

Balakrishnan is also a poet^[7] and lyricist. He has written books in Tamil^[8] and English.^[9]

His publications are Anbulla Amma (1991), Siragukkul Vaanam (2012), Sinduveli Panpattin Travida Adithalam (2016), Nattukkural (2016), Panmaayak Kalvan (2018), Irandam Sutru (2018), Abadha Padachinha (articles about Odisha)(translation in Odiya) (2019) and Journey of a Civilization: Indus to Vaigai (2019,^[10] Kadavul Aayinum Aaga(2021), Ani Nadai Yerumai(2022), Oer Yer Uzhavan(2022),^[11] Oru Panpattin Payanam(2023),^[12]

List of works:

அன்புள்ள அம்மா (1991) சிறகுக்குள் வானம் (2012) சிந்துவெளிப் பண்பாட்டின் திராவிட அடித்தளம் (2016) நாட்டுக்குறள் :  திருக்குறள் இன்பத்துப்பால் தழுவிய நாட்டுப்புறப் பாடல்கள் (2016) பன்மாயக் கள்வன் : குறள் தழுவிய காதல் கவிதைகள் (2017) இரண்டாம் சுற்று (2018) Abadha Padachinha (articles about Odisha)(translation in Odiya) (2019)Journey of a civilization : Indus to Vaigai (2019) குன்றென நிமிர்ந்து நில் (2019)கடவுள் ஆயினும் ஆக  : சங்கச்சுரங்கம்-முதலாம் பத்து (2021) அணி நடை எருமை  : சங்கச்சுரங்கம்-இரண்டாம் பத்து (2021) தமிழ் நெடுஞ்சாலை (2021) ஓர் ஏர் உழவன் : : சங்கச்சுரங்கம்-மூன்றாம் பத்து (2022) ஒரு பண்பாட்டின் பயணம் : சிந்து முதல் வைகை வரை (2023) இப்படி ஒரு தீயா!  : குறள் தழுவிய காதல் கவிதைகள் (2023) அகஸ்தியர் : ஒரு மீள்பார்வை (2025)