Tribute to the Distinguished Japanese Tamil Scholar

Noboru Karashima

While many of the present day college and university professors take their jobs as a 'repose' for the 'rest' of lifetime after their 'herculean tasks' in obtaining academic research degrees, it is surprising how the distinguished Japanese Tamil scholar and historian, Prof Noboru Karashima, who passed away recently, had dedicated his entire life in researching thousands of stone inscriptions and threw new light on the history of medieval South India.

“ Noboru Karashima's first research article on the two kinds of villages the Alloors and Eesaanamangalams, which he penned in 1966, threw new light on the structure of feudalism during the Chola period in 10^th and 11^th centuries. By deciphering and researching a number of inscriptions, Karashima opined that the people in Alloors, the non-Brahmins, had joint ownership of agricultural lands, while the individuals in Eesaanamangalams, the Brahmin colonies, held the same separately. Because, the Chola kings brought the Brahmins from outside and donated them the Eesaanimangalams. The kings also provided each Brahmin individual a piece of land” informed eminent archeologist Y.Subbarayalu, who had worked with Noboru Karashima for many decades in India and abroad.

Karashima, a recipient of Padma Shri award, was a professor Emeritus at the University of Tokya and Taisho University. He was author of the books A Concise History of South India, South Indian History and Society, South Indian History in Transition and many more.

Paying tributes to his departed archeology peer in a meeting organized by Thamizhnadu Kalai Ilapkkiya Perumandram in the city recently, Subbarayalu pointed out:

“Karashima was planning to visit Coimbatore in January, 2016 and go to Ooty, his favorite hill station, and from there to Mysore and Chennai to meet his friends. But his wish didn't come true ”

R. Poongundran, another veteran archeologist and former Assistant Director, Tamil Nadu Archeology Department,averred:

“ The research articles penned by Karashima were scientific. They throw light on the social life, ecology and economic conditions of ancient Tamil Nadu under Cholas. His book A Concise History of South India is a comprehensive work after K.A Nilakanta Sastri's A History of South

India”

Explaining the educational system in Japan during the student days of Karashima, Subbarayalu noted that the country excelled in all fields as her people studied all sciences only through their mother tongue.

“ Karashima earlier penned his research articles even on the history of Tamil Nadu only in Japanese. Nevertheless, for the first time, he presented a research paper in English only at the First World Tamil Conference, held in Kuala Lumpur in 1966” said Subbarayalu.

Remembering his last communication with Karashima, Subbarayalu worried:

“I received Karashima's email on October 18 regarding a symposium to be held in Japan. But I never imagined that would be his last communication to me. I later learned that he was hospitalized for about a month and breathed his last on November 26” 

Link to my article in The New Indian Express: http://epaper.newindianexpress.com/c/7551793 

Remembering the Plague-hit Kovai's Angel of Mercy

A file photo of Mercy Paul, the first woman doctor of Coimbatore, with her daughter Primela Mary and grand children

Sadagopachari, a son of an orthodox Jeeyar ( A preacher of Vaishnavism) of Tirunelveli, one day, became Arthur Paul!. Had the man, who pursued education in the famed St. Joseph's College, Trichy in the 19^th century, not embraced Christianity, Coimbatore could not have seen its first woman doctor Mercy Paul, who was none other than his daughter.

“ Because, in the orthodox Hindu society, girls had little opportunity to pursue even formal school education. My grandfather Sadagopachari was even driven out of home after he embraced Christianity ” recalls 70 year old Primela Mary, a retired physics teacher from G.R.G.Matriculation Hr.Sec.School and the daughter of Coimbatore's first woman doctor. Primela Mary was also a recipient of Dr. Radhakrishnan state award for the best teacher.

Mercy Paul, who was born in 1905, came to Coimbatore around 1929 as an L.M.P ( Licentiate Medical Practitioner, since there was no M.B.B.S then).

Fondly called as 'Paul Doctoramma' by the then Coimbatoreans, Mercy Paul pursued her education in the Christian Medical College and Hospital, Vellore, under its founder Dr. Ida.S. Scudder, an American medical missionary-turned physician, who championed the cause of women by founding the exclusive medical school for girls.

Reminding Portia's quote The quality of mercy is not strained ... from William Shakespeare's play The Merchant of Venice, Mercy's love for mankind made her serve and save the people from plague when the city witnessed the outbreak of the deadly disease.

Nonetheless, the physician, who saved hundreds of human lives from the jaws of death, could not get a chance even to pay the last rites to her father Arthur Paul when he passed away in Guntur, Andhra Pradesh, as there was little transport facility in the past.

An inconsolable woman, when she later decided to leave Coimbatore, it was Diwan Bahadur C.S. Rathina Sabhapathy Mudaliar, the municipal chairman of Coimbatore, advised her to continue her service here” recalls Primela.

In contrast to the modern age, where most corporate hospitals cheat and fleece patients, Paul doctoramma was devoted to serve people and demanded no fees from them.

“I remember an occasion when some parents rushed their child to our home, saying that it had swallowed a coin. However, within a few minutes I could see them shed tears of joy and look up to my mother after she removed the foreign object from the little one's stomach. Though my mother served in the municipal hospitals of Coimbatore, which were called Solakada Mukku Aaspathiri and Devangapettai Aaspathiri, she never loved a luxurious life. She felt no dissimilarities, when the rich, seeking her medical service, took her to their posh bungalows in cars and the poor to their huts on bullock carts “ Primela reminisces. 

Source: Ida Scudder, the Angel of Mercy – By Primela Mary  

Link to my article in The New Indian Express http://epaper.newindianexpress.com/c/6675223

A Trip into the Ancient South under the Cholas

Kambar, Kongunadu's Friend or Foe ?

Thanipadal Thiratttu, an old collection of classical Tamil poetry, contains a verse on Kongunadu, which is attributed to the great Tamil poet Kambar. However, if the people of the Kongu region read it, they will certainly condemn the famed bard, as the poem portrays their land in poor light.

The verse points out that all streams and rivers in the Kongu region being dirty, emanated the odor of mud. The uneven lands, full of stones and thorns. Crudely named villages suffixed in 'Patti' and 'Thotti'. Kambanchoru ( A meal in bulrush millet), the regular food of the people and the men bearing 'unfashionable' names like 'Bomman' and 'Thimman'. Worse still, the poem describes the Kongu girls as 'dogs' and 'devils' and tells a reader never to imagine leading a life in such a dark region called Kongunadu.

Nevertheless, eminent historian and epigraphist Pulavar Se. Rasu, in his new book Kongunadum Kambaraum, disagrees with the opinion and asserts that Kambar could not have written such a song, but any 'Vambar' ( A person who intentionally provokes others) must have done it !

Citing references from various pieces of classical Tamil literature, Rasu says that the water of river Bhavani had the fragrance of sandal and river Noyyal has been described as 'Manakkum Kanchi Maanadhi' ( The fragrant Noyyal). As the water in these two rivers was once as clear as crystal, even the ornaments, which the girls lost while swimming, were visible in the depth of the rivers, when viewed even from the surface!

Kambar, who penned the work Mangala Vazhthu, an auspicious, long lyric, which is recited in the wedding ceremonies of the Kongu Vellalar community, Eaer Ezhupathu, a collection of 70 songs admiring the occupation of agriculture and so on, had high regards for the people of Kongunadu.

Moreover, with its popularity, the poet's masterpiece Kambaramayana, had two different impacts on the literary world of Kongunadu.

Emperuman Kavirayar, a 17^th century Tamil poet, rewrote the Kambaramayana in a simple language, setting to the music played on 'Thakkai' a traditional percussion instrument of Kongunadu and appropriately titled his work as 'Thakkai Ramayanam'. On the other hand, while Ramayana portrayed the Lankan king Ravana as the villain in the epic, Pulavar Kuzhandhai, an eminent Tamil scholar and a rationalist thinker of the Kongu region, made Ravana as the hero of his literary work Eravana Kaviyam, which was banned in 1948. However, after over a period of over two decades, the ban was lifted in 1971.

Like Kambar admiring the philanthropist Sadayappa Vallal in his Ramayana, Emperuman Kavirayar too lauds a Kongu local ruler Aththappa Nallathambi Kangeyan, a philanthropist, who commissioned the poet to compose the Thakkai Ramayanam.

Admiring the value of the work, T.A.Muthusamy Konar, the first historian of Kongunadu, once expressed his wish to publish the literature and advertised in his monthly journal Viveka Diwakaran that whoever brought him the palm leaf manuscript of Thakkai Ramayanam, he would reward him with Rs 10 !

Source: Kongunadum Kambarum – Pulavar Se. Rasu, former head, department of epigraphy and archaeology, Tamil University,Thanjavur. 

Link to my article in The New Indian Express : http://epaper.newindianexpress.com/c/6596964 

The Purana of Kongunadu's Conventional Agriculture

It is doubtless that no other literary work in the world has glorified agriculture as much as Thirukural. And the people of the ancient Tamil land had high regards for the farmers' service to mankind , as read from a couplet in the great work, which points out that even ascetics would long for their wants, if farmers failed to till their lands. Though the Tamil classic dedicates an exclusive chapter on farming and its key role in shaping mankind, the credit of authoring a comprehensive work on agriculture goes to a 19^th century Tamil poet from the Kongu region.

According to a tale in Greek mythology, Hades, the king of the underworld, fell in love with Persephone, the beautiful daughter of Demeter, and abducted her to his dark land. Though it was a common belief that one who ate anything in the underworld could not reach the earth again, Persephone, unable to bear the pangs of hunger, tasted and swallowed six seeds of pomegranate in the land of Hades. As she did so, the logic behind the tale informs that Persephone must live the first six months in the underworld and the following six months on earth.

When Persephone appeared on earth, the planet witnessed blooming of flowers and growing of crops, as the joy of her mother Demeter, the Goddess of vegetation, knew no bounds. However, when the time came for Persephone to bid adieu to earth, Demeter worried a lot and the earth turned unproductive. Legend has it that this was the reason behind seasonal changes.

But, the Vellala Puranam, a literary work on agriculture by Mahavidwan Kandasamy Kavirayar, links the origin of agriculture with Hindu mythology.

Kandasamy Kavirayar, who was born at Veerachi Mangalam near Dharapuram in the Kongu region, penned the work in the 19^th century. The book was first published in 1907 at Nithya Kalyanasundaram Printing Press in Erode by Naa. Muthusami Pulavar, who was also a traditional medical practitioner and astrologer in Kongarpalayam.

Though Vellala Puranam narrates the legend of Marabalan or Vellalan, the first agriculturist said to be born from river Ganga, flowing from the matted hair of Lord Shiva, the work admires the virtues of farming and provides information on everything related to agriculture like suitable seasons for cultivating crops, methods of irrigation and so on. Being a handbook even for today's organic farming, Vellala Puranam provides valuable information on a variety of traditional agricultural equipment and the use of manure to improve the soil's fertility.

The book, which consists of 1373 songs under 29 chapters, says that Marabalan was married to Aintree the daughter of Indira and Tharaniyavathi, the daughter of Kubera in heaven.

Vellala Puranam notes that the four-faced God Brahma created Marabalan to save human beings from hunger and his descendants spread across the world as agriculturists.

However, noted epigraphist and Kongu historian R.Jegadeesan says:

“ With the portrayal of people ploughing lands in the lyrics of Pathitrupaththu, a Sangam period work and the excavation of rain-fed grains in places like Kodumanal and Porunthal, the history of agriculture in the Kongu region dates back to the later years of the Neolithic period, when people experienced the transition from nomadic life to settled community life”

Sources: 1) Vellala Puranam – Mahavidwan Kandasamy Kavirayar,

2) Kongu Kalanjiyam - Volume II 

Link to my article in The New Indian Express : http://epaper.newindianexpress.com/c/6527533 

Monkey’s Worship Made Shiva ‘Sukreeswara’

Sukreesawarar Temple

Tirupur, which is now popularly called ‘The Dollar city’, accommodates a great number of migrant labourers from various states of the country by providing them job opportunities in its numerous knit-wear units. With its stupendous economic growth (Despite at the cost of its natural environment) in the recent years, Tirupur soon developed into a much-sought after destination for lucrative income.  And it is surprising that the present day knit city, which was once a nondescript village in Palladam Taluk, rose to the heights of a district and brought the latter under it. Nevertheless, few in the modern day Tirupur know the glory of its tiny locality Sarkar Periyapalayam, which, several centuries ago, flourished as a famous trade town.  And the evidence for its historical eminence is available as inscriptions on the walls of the Sukreeswarar Temple.

Though the temple is called ‘Kurakkuthali’ from the lines Kongil, Kurupil, Kurakkuthaliyai…, as the Shaivite poet Sundarar praises it in his literature Tevaram, the history of the shrine is shrouded in myths. Legend has it that the temple got its name as ‘Sukreeswarar Kovil’ after Sugriva, the king of monkeys, who carried a Shiva linga, rested it at a place and relaxed for a while. But, as he could not lift the linga from the place again, it is said he worshipped Lord Shiva there. Hence, like Patteeswara , Magudeeswara and so on, a new Eswara  appeared at Sarkar Periyapalayam as Sukreeswara  !

Throwing light on the trade activities of a large merchant guild at Sarkar Periyapalayam, whose name is mentioned as Mukundhanur in an epigraph, an inscription spread on the entire large wall of the shrine unfolds how the traders planned the expenses to conduct the temple festival Vaikasi Thiruvizha to worship the deity Kurakkuthali Nayanar. Interestingly, expressing their consent, as many as 64 merchants have ‘signed’ their names on the inscription. While four of them have given their signatures in the ancient Vatezhuthu (Rounded script) the rest have done it in Tamil script. The four merchants had hailed from ‘Malaimandalam’ which refers to the present day Kerala.  

Poongundran, former assistant director, Tamil Nadu Archeology Department, says:

“The inscription, which contains both Vatttezhuthu and Tamil scripts, throws light on the gradual development of Tamil orthography in ancient times”  

Taking a history enthusiast to the world of trade in ancient times, the inscription details the names of different commodities and the customs duty on their exports and imports.

Besides, the it also informs the names of the merchants with their native towns as Urayurudayaan Periyyayya Devan, Pandimandalathu Sundarapandiyapurathu Siriyapillai ,  Eralapurathu Vyapari Koothan Kannan and so on. 

Pointing out the mention of the place ‘Eralapuram’ in the inscription, Poongundran informs it is none other than today’s Ernakulam in Kerala!

Source: Kongil Kurakkuthali – Sukreeswarar Kovil – Epigraphist D. Sundaram

Link to my article in The New Indian Express : http://epaper.newindianexpress.com/561112/The-New-Indian-Express-Coimbatore/09082015#page/4/1

The Kongu Woman who Triggered the Protest against Alcohol

  

Though a treat in wine has become undesirably inevitable even in family functions these days, it is shocking that the 'alcoholic culture' has seen its development even in a school girl's alleged consumption of liquor, which caused her to make flutter in the city some days ago. Adding fuel to the fire, when the news hit the headlines, comments poured into social networks like Facebook and WhatsApp. Interestingly, a commentator remarked that progressive thinkers and feminists should only be happy about the incident misinterpreting women's liberty as nothing but their liberty in consuming liquor on par with men!

Despite the history of consuming liquor dating back to several centuries and proofs on women drinking toddy found in ancient pieces of Tamil literature, consuming liquor in the present day brings harm to both men and women. And no progressive thinker or a feminist can demand equal rights for women in consuming liquor rather than seeking a total ban on it.

While the TASMAC outlets sell Indian Made Foreign Liquor today, the 56^th song in Purnanuru, a Sangam period literature informs that the ladies in the palace of the Pandya king served him the 'fragrant cool wine brought in fine ships by the Greeks'. Though the song stands witness to the trade ties between ancient Tamils and Greeks, it throws light on the opulent lives of the Sangam age kings.

It is an old story that the Kongu chieftain Adhiyaman presenting poetess Avvayar a rare species of 'Nellikani' (emblica officinalis) - the fruit believed to provide ailment free longer life. However, a Tamil teacher will be stranded at the very first line of the 235^th poem in Purananuru, since Avvayar states in it that Adhiyaman had also offered her toddy to drink!

What's more, noted Tamil writer Perumal Murugan, in one of the chapters from his controversial novel Madhorubhagan, portrays the fiction's hero Kali sharing toddy with her mother, as they discuss a family affair during a calm night.

Though many farmers associations have been demanding to lift the ban on toddy, claiming it as a non-toxicant drink, the total ban on abolishing alcohol, irrespective of it being toddy or IMFL, seems gaining moment with the demise of Gandhian activist Sasi Perumal on Friday. It may be noted that he died during his protest to shift a TASMAC outlet located in the proximity of educational institutions and places of worship at Marthandam in Kanyakumari district.

Several decades ago, in Gandhiji's non-cooperative movement, even women from the Kongu region played a key role in abolishing alcohol by picketing plenty of toddy shops. As the agitation gained momentum, even other Congress leaders Madhan Mohan Malavia and C.Sankaran Nair suggested Gandhiji to give up the protest.

However, Gandhiji is said to have told them thus:

“It is not in my hands. I have to discuss this with two women crusaders against alcohol in Erode”

The one is Nagammal, wife of Periyar E.V. Ramasamy and the other Kannammal, his younger sister!

Sources: 1) Purananuru, 2) Madhorubhagan – Perumal Murugan, 3) Muzhu Madhuvilakku Adhuve Namathu Ilakku – R. Ravikumar

Link to my article in The New Indian Express : http://epaper.newindianexpress.com/555928/The-New-Indian-Express-Coimbatore/02082015#page/3/1