Venkatarama Ramalingam (19 October 1888 – 24 August 1972), sometimes called Namakkal Kavignar, was a Tamil poet from Tamil Nadu, India and independence fighter who wrote poems about independence. Working as a clerk in an office and later as a primary school teacher, he wrote hundreds of poems. He also participated in the Salt Satyagraha against the British government in 1930 and went to jail for one year. He received the "Padmabhushan" award in 1971 from the Indian government.^[1][2]