Modern Tamil literature traces its lineage to the iconic Tamil poet C. Subramania Bharati (1882–1921), among other foundational figures. Bharati is remembered every year on 11th December, his birth anniversary, to commemorate the day as Bharatiya Bhasha Diwas to promote language harmony in the country. While we recall the poet’s life and compositions, we must remember that there is also a history of the reception of Bharati in the intellectual tradition of twentieth-century Tamil Nadu. Bharati was variously referred to as Desiya Kavi (Nationalist poet), Vedanta Kavi (Vedantic poet) and Maha Kavi (Great poet) by different people based on their ideological positions. Among many readings of Bharati, the efforts of literary critics associated with the progressive literary movement in Tamil Nadu focused on his social and political message. The progressives reframed criticism to highlight hitherto much-neglected aspects of his poetry and prose, namely, the social reform and socialism on the one hand and his criticism of caste, patriarchy and authoritarianism on the other. Focusing on the writings and speeches of P. Jeevanandam (1907–1963) and T.M. Chidambara Ragunathan (1923–2001), representative figures of the progressive literary movement in Tamil Nadu, this essay attempts to outline their views on Bharati and evaluate the strength and weaknesses of their intervention.