Pappa Umanath was born as Dhanalakshmi on 5 August 1931 in Kovilpathu, near Karaikal, Madras Presidency, British India (now Tamil Nadu, India). Her mother, Lakshmi, alias Alamelu, moved to Golden Rock, Tiruchirappalli after her husband"s death.
Lakshmi started a canteen near the Golden Rock Railway Workshop for railway workers. The railway workers who came to the canteen used to call Dhanalakshmi "Pappa" (small girl), which became the origin of her name. At a young age, Pappa participated in several agitations along with her mother and railway workers.
Dhanalakshmi joined the Communist Party of India (Consumer price index) in 1945 and moved to Madras (now Chennai).
Pappa was not allowed by the jail authorities to attend her mother"s funeral, as she refused to quit the party. In 1952, Dhanalakshmi married fellow party member R. Umanath in a self-respect marriage.
She was arrested again during the Sino-Indian war. In 1964, her party split in two over the war, and she joined the newly formed Communist Party of India (Marxist) (Consumer price index(M)).
She co-founded the All India Democratic Women"s Association in 1973 and became its general secretary.
She contested the 1984 Tamil Nadu Legislative Assembly election from Thiruverumbur Constituency, but lost. She had three daughters, one of whom was U. Vasuki, a Consumer price index(M) politician. She died on 17 December 2010 in Trichy.
She was a member of the Communist Party of India (Marxist) and was elected from the Thiruverumbur Constituency to the Tamil Nadu Legislative Assembly in 1989. In 1948, the Consumer price index was banned by the Government of India and members of the party were arrested, including Dhanalakshmi, her mother, and a number of the party"s leaders. In the jail, when members of the party went on a fast against authorities, her mother died after 23 days of fasting.
