Mahakavi Bharathi Memorial Library, Erode

This public library in Karungalpalayam, Erode, began as a local reading room. On 31 July 1921 the Tamil poet Subramania Bharathi came here to speak on the theme 'Man is Immortal'. He fell ill a few weeks later and died, so the talk turned out to be his last public address, and the reading room was later raised to a full library in his memory. Locals still call it the Karungalpalayam Library.

The Erode administration has since renovated the old building. Alongside its books, the library keeps a modest museum on Bharathi's life, with portraits of the poet, copies of his works, and his speeches and articles written for the Tamil daily Swadesamitran.