D. G. S. Dhinakaran
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| D. G. S. Dhinakaran | |
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| Born | July 1, 1935 |
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| Died | February 20, 2008 Chennai, India |
| Occupation | Evangelist |
Dr. D. G. S. Dhinakaran (July 1, 1935 - February 20, 2008) was a Christian preacher from South India. He ushered in an era of large evangelistic meetings, the likes of which were not seen in India before.
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[edit] Early life
Born on July 1, 1935 to a father who was a school teacher, Dhinakaran had a life of hardship and poverty.[1] At the age of 19, driven by desperation, he was going to commit suicide when his uncle intercepted him and led him to commit his life to Jesus Christ.
He took up a job in the State Bank of India.
On August 17, 1959, he married Stella and the couple had two children named Paul and Evangeline.
[edit] Ministry
He began his ministry while he was still working as an executive in the State Bank of India, in 1962. Soon he was attracting large crowds.
In 1972, he started a radio ministry through FEBA radio. Over the years he expanded his ministry into video and television. During the course of his ministry also released a large number of songs, sung in his unique style, which has a large fan following.
Dhinakaran partnered with many other Christian leaders and evangelists, from within and outside India. He also had some strong detractors, who falsely criticized various aspects of his ministry, from his style to his theology. Despite this and other forms of criticism, Dr. Dhinakaran's ministry continued to flourish under the leading and anointing of the Holy Spirit.
He regularly conducted or participated in, annual public evangelical meetings in the various cities of India, a tradition which has been continued by his son Dr. Paul Dhinakaran. One of the most notable of such meeting was the "Perinbha Peruvizha" (The Festival of Joy) that used to be held anuually on the Marina Beach in the city of Madras(Chennai). Dhinakaran would preach for a few nights from the famous, but now-demolished, stage called Seerani Arangam, on this annual event and would draw such huge crowds that the roads to the beach had to be shut down to other traffic to allow the crowd to get to and from the meetings.
[edit] Other life events
[edit] Establishment of Karunya
In the early 1980s, Dhinakaran set about to build an engineering college near Coimbatore. Eventually Karunya Engineering College (now known as Karunya University) was inaugurated on November 4, 1986.
[edit] Death of daughter
On May 21, 1986, while on their way to board a flight to Coimbatore to visit the site of his new engineering college, the car in which Dhinakaran, Stella and Evangeline were travelling was involved in a crash. Dhinakaran and Stella sustained serious injuries and Evangeline was killed. This event affected Dhinakaran for many years to come.
