Chidambaram Pillai, who subscribed to militant forms of resistance against the British colonial government.

He went into exile in Pondicherry, then under French rule, when his militant activities attracted a warrant for his arrest from the British colonial government.

[1] Venkatesa Subramaniam Aiyar was a close friend of Shuddhananda Bharati; he started with him the Bharadwaja Ashram at Cheranmadevi.

Aiyar's militant attitude prompted the British Raj in 1910 to issue a warrant for his arrest for his alleged involvement in an anarchist conspiracy in London and Paris.

Aiyar landed in Pondicherry on 4 December 1910 disguised as a Muslim to escape arrest and remained there as exile.

On 22 September 1914 the German cruiser SMS Emden entered the Madras harbour and bombarded the city.

The British colonial government blamed this on the activities of the exiles in Pondicherry, and urged the French Governor to deport Aiyar and his companions to Africa.

Aiyar returned to Madras after World War I and worked as the editor of the newspaper Desabhaktan (Patriot).