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Discovering Roots of Vaishnavism in the Sangam Age

Epigraphist D. Sundaram and archeologist R. Poongundran deciphering the stone inscription at the Perumal temple in Vadachitoor

Discovering Roots of Vaishnavism in the Sangam Age

According to the popular story The Tower of Babel in the Old Testament, when human beings wanted to live together and attempted to build a city and a tower reaching up to the heavens, the Lord, by making each of the people speak a different language, prevented them from reaching the heavens. And it is surprising that such a desire of man to link earth with heaven can be seen even at a village Vaishnavite temple in Coimbatore.

“ The tall pole, which is called Garuda Kambam, erected vertically in front of the temple, is a symbol of man's wish to connect earth with the heavens” explained R.Poongundran, eminent archeologist and former Assistant director of Tamil Nadu Archeology Department.

Poongundran and epigraphist D.Sundaram were recently at a Perumal temple in Vadachittoor near Pollachi for deciphering a few stone inscriptions on the shrine's wall. As the temple is gearing up for the consecration shortly, the villagers invited the duo to decrypt the stone inscriptions and trace the history of the shrine.

As the inscriptions were covered in thick lime-mortar paste for ages, the epigraphists cleaned and deciphered them.

“ An inscription reads that the Mahamandapa of the shrine was built in the Kali Yuga year 4969. As Kali Yuga begins 3101 years ago, subtracting it from 4969, we arrive at the answer that the shrine was built in 1868. Though it is a Vaishnavite temple with Lord Perumal being its deity, the epigraph notes that the Mahamandapa was built by one 'Kumarasamy Gounden' ” informed Sundaram.

Describing the entry of Vishnu cult in the Kongu region being nothing but the comeback of the social life in Mullai, one of the five Sangam period landscapes, Poongundran explained:

“ The ancient Tamils of Mullai ( Forests) engaged in the occupation of cattle rearing and worshiped the deity Mayon, who is now identified with Lord Krishna, believed to be an avatar of Vishnu or Perumal”

Deciphering another inscription on the wall of Thayar Sannithi ( The abode of Lakshmi, the Mother Goddess of all creatures protected by Lord Perumal) at the temple, Sundaram noted:

“ According to an inscription the Thayar Sannithi could have been built by one 'Veeramuthu Mudhali' . The epigraph also states that it was consecrated in 1848 ”

Quoting the lines Kongum, Kudanthayum, Kottiyoorum Engum Thirinthu Vilayadum Enmakan... from Nalayira Divya Prapantham, a collection of 4000 Tamil verses composed by the 12 Vaishnavite Azhwars, Poongundran points out:

“Vaishnavism takes its roots from the social life of the ancient Mullai land Tamils. And the movement's popularity is wide in the Kongu region, which is known for its cattle wealth” added Poongundran. 

Link to my article in The New Indian Express : http://epaper.newindianexpress.com/c/5549598 

The Consecration of a Village Shrine after 50 Years

A Summer Night Drenched in Vani's Memorable Melodies

Revisiting the Shrine of Karamadai Ranganatha

The mothers of yesteryear Coimbatore had a strategy to feed their adamant little children by playfully threatening them that the Dasari ( Religious mendicant) of Karamadai Ranganathar Temple, who would visit every house in the locality with his huge Theepandham ( Flambeau), would whisk away the little ones, if they refused to eat food. Appropriately, the Dasari too would be seen frightening, clad in short drawers with strings of small bells tied to his wrists and ankles. Sporting a big Namam ( A Vaishnavite religious mark) on his forehead, he would look possessed, as he chanted Govindha Parak ! Govindha Parak !and danced in front of the house.

Though such Dasaris of Lord Ranganatha are hardly seen nowadays in the city, the annual festival of the Arulmigu Aranganathasamy Temple is held in fervor with the participation of a sea of devotees at Karamadai every year. And the grand festival was over last week.

On the origin of the shrine, legend has it that a cow from the herd of an Irula tribesman shed its milk on an anthill amidst the Kaarai plants (Canthium parviflorum), after which a temple for Lord Ranganatha emerged there. It is also interesting to note the etymology behind Karamadai, which literally means a water channel near the abounding Kaarai plants.

Nevertheless, history informs that the temple was constructed by the Vaishnavite Vijayanagara kings, who, like their Shaivite counterparts, wanted to exploit the forest wealth of Coimbatore's aboriginal Irula tribe by making them embrace their 'official' religion. With the Western Ghats being around 10 km from the temple, the Vijayanagara kings named the hills surrounding the shrine as 'Ranganathar Mudi', 'Perumal Mudi' and so on. What's more, they made even the tribal deity Pettathamman as the wife of Lord Ranganatha.

Decades ago, the devotees of Coimbatore practised a culture of worshipping the Dasaris of Lord Ranganatha by offering Kavalam ( Plantain fruits cut up into small slices, and mixed with sugar, jaggery, fried grain or beaten rice) into their mouths. The Dasaris, who would eat a little of the Kavalam, spit the remainder into the hands of the devotees, which the latter, unimaginably, ate in the superstition that it would cure them of all diseases !

It may be noted that popular Tamil writer Perumal Murugan was hounded by the Hindutva and caste outfits, since he had said in his novel Madhorubhagan that childless women in Thiruchengode indulge in consensual sex at the Arthanareewarar Temple in order to get conceived . But, it is surprising to know that the same practice was said to be in vogue at Karamadai Ranganathar temple too, as noted anthropologist and ethnographer Edgar Thurston recorded on pages 147 and 148 of his book Omens and Superstitions in Southern India thus:

“ Some people say that, many years ago, barren women used to take a vow to visit the temple at the time of the festival, and, after offering Kavalam, have sexual intercourse with the Dhasaris. The temple authorities, however, profess ignorance of this practice”

Compiled by : B. Meenakshi Sundaram

Sources: 1) Sappe Gokalu – A collection of Irula tribal songs – R. Lakshmanan

                2) Omens and Superstitions in Southern India - Edgar Thurston

                3) Naali - A documentary film on the Irula tribe - R.Murugavel, R. Lakshmanan and    Ashok

Link to my article in The New Indian Express :http://epaper.newindianexpress.com/c/4731591

A Greeting, which Became the Village

Jayakumar, a resident of Kothavadi, a village near Kinathukadavu, regularly offers food to a mother and her child. But to the surprise of everyone, the duo is not alive today and they just stand as images on a hero stone near his house today.

Pointing at the hero stone, Jayakumar says:

“The woman, whom the people of Kothavadi call as Ottalamman, one day appeared in my dream and asked me food for her child”

Ever since the dream, Jayakumar has been performing Pooja for the memorial and ‘offering’ food to the duo. The hero stone, which portrays the mother and child, also contains the images of two bulls being in the posture of hitting the woman with their horns.

According to an oral tradition in Kothavadi, the hero stone was erected in memory of a woman from a Boyer community, who was killed by the bulls while grazing them on the meadow. With Ottar meaning members of the Boyer community, the villagers say that the female deity has been suitably named as Ottalamman. However, another tale prevalent in the village maintains that the hero stone was erected to honour a pregnant woman, who died after the attack of a bull while she was on the way to a farmland, carrying lunch to her husband.

Ancient Tamils of the Kongu region followed the tradition of erecting hero stones in memory of the warriors, who were killed in the battle for redeeming their village’s cattle from an enemy troop. Such memorials were also set up to honour the village guards, who met their end by fighting against tigers. Being suitably called as Pulikuththi Kall, the memorials can still be seen in the localities like Irugur and Pattanam on the outskirts of Coimbatore.

But, it is interesting that such ‘hero stones’ were also erected in memory of women.

“In ancient Kongunadu people erected ‘hero stones’ for women, who ended their lives by jumping into their husbands’ funeral pyre. Reminding the cruel practice called Sati, the memorials were called Maasatikals. Moreover, hero stones were also erected to honour the women, who met their doom in pregnancy. And such a memorial is the Ottalamman’s” Explains epigraphist D.Sundaram, who dates the hero stone to a period between 16^th and 19^th century.

The village Kothavadi got its name after the Chera king Ravi Kothai. Explaining the etymology behind the name, a resident of Kothavadi informs that the people’s greeting the king as ‘Kothai Vaazhi’ (May you prosper, King Kothai) has got corrupted to Kothavadi! 

However, the people will be glad, if their hamlet is renamed as ‘Annadurai Vaazhi’, since Mayilsamy Annadurai, the project director of Chandrayan, is the native of Kothavadi!  

 Link to my article in The New Indian Express: http://epaper.newindianexpress.com/c/4297617

An Art Critic, Poet and Film Maker

 

 Photo S.Kamalakannan

The first pieces of art, which Monikhaa an art critic, poet and documentary film maker, came across in her life, were the pencil sketches of yesteryear actors Gemini Ganesan, Lakshmi, Bharathi and so on, as her mother, who was an art teacher, drew them.

“I still remember the images drawn by my mother Kamala, which looked like vintage black and white photos” she recalls.

                                                                                    

An Assistant professor in the Department of Visual Communications, Avinashilingam Deemed University for Women, Monikhaa is also a passionate writer. Her monthly column Naveenathuvam – Kizhakkum Merkkum (Modernism – East and West) appeared for around two years in Theeranathi, a literary magazine of the popular Tamil periodical Kumudham. Besides, she has penned a book of Tamil poems Thikku Thulaithozhiththal (Losing directions) and made a documentary film Azhagin Elimai on noted Tamil writer R.Chudamani 

 

Sharing her early day interests in art, Monikhaa reminisces:   

“The first pieces of art, which held me spellbound, were the illustrations by artist Maniam for the celebrated Tamil novel Ponniyin Selvan. Done by using the India Ink, Maniam’s appropriate and lively illustrations for the scenes in the historical novel would be so realistic”

Involved in drawing similar realistic images on one morning, Monikhaa even forgot that the day was her English examination and had to rush to school being late.

“But, I had always been a class topper in all my academic studies” she informs.  

Despite a native of Pollachi, Monikhaa had her studies in Government College of Fine Arts in Chennai and Maharaja Sayajirao University of Barado, where she bagged a gold medal for academic excellence.   

 

Also spending around ten years in New York, Monikhaa says that her days in the US provided her an opportunity to study the original paintings of popular artists like Picasso, Vincent van Gogh and Leonardo da Vinci

“While in India people show little concern for art, I was surprised to come across that each art work exhibited at the museums in New York is accompanied with its detailed background”

Substantiating her point that most in the country hardly show any interest in revisiting the past, Monikhaa, a passionate lover of antiquities, recalls how the illiterate people in Chennai used to call a museum in Egmore as ‘Seththa College’ or ‘The College for the dead’ ! 

 

The art critic, who presented her research papers in the symposia conducted at various places in India and abroad, says that she has a great flair for studying Jain art.

Recalling the records found in various pieces of literature on the Shaivite king Koon Pandiyan’s impaling a total of 8000 Tamil Jains in Madurai, Monikhaa even explains the cruel scene from the picture of a sculpture. 

“Though much in Tamil literature including the masterpieces like Silapathikaram, Neelakesi and  Soolamani were the contributions by Jain scholars, it is sad that even in museums the statuettes of Jain Tirtankaras are not given importance on par with the Chola bronzes” she rues.  

Link to my article in The New Indian Express:http://epaper.newindianexpress.com/c/4291191