Culture
Tamils Have Always Rebutted Anyone Who Tried To Deny The Hinduness Of Their Land—And They Are Doing It Again
- This time, an unstoppable youthful saffron surge seems to be emerging in the state.
Nataraja (Wikimedia Commons)
From 30 September 2022, a section of movie-goers in Tamil Nadu have been in a frenzy following the release of the movie titled PS-I.
This Mani Ratnam-directed movie with A.R. Rahman's music is a highly de-Hinduised version of Kalki's magnum opus Ponniyin Selvan.
The music particularly seemed to be largely designed to remove any semblance to traditional southern Indian music. The main character Vanthiya Thevan was shown with not even a trace of any kind of a sacred mark on his forehead.
Yet, despite all these attempts, the basic Hindu character of the novel could not be subdued or erased by the director and team.
This has created a furore among the entrenched as well as elitist anti-Hindu elements in India which often overlap with 'Breaking India' forces.
The first salvo was fired by a director Vetri Maran, who claimed that there were forces in Tamil film industry who try to portray Rajaraja Chola as a Hindu. Thirumavalavan joined voices with him. Seeman, alias Simon of the Naam Tamizhar Katchi (NCK) too lent his voice of support to this 'Rajarajan-not-Hindu-but-a-Saivite' chorus.
The latest to jump into this group is the actor-turned-politician Kamal Hassan.
Their shared core meme is simple:
Hinduism is a colonial construct.
So during the time of Rajaraja Chola there was no such entity as Hinduism. He was only a Saivite. And Saivism has nothing to do with Vedic religion.
Saivism is egalitarian while Vedic religion is nothing but Varna system cunningly brought in by Aryan-Brahmins to enslave Tamils.
Saivism is derived from Tamil culture while the Aryan-Brahminical religion sees Tamil as inferior and is Sanskrit-based.
So, from Thirumavalavan to Kamal Hassan, the chorus chant is that Rajaraja Chola was a Saivite and not a Hindu. They essentially derive their rant from the meme described above.
What is important here is to see how the meme creates a binary. Brahmin versus non-Brahmin; Sanskrit versus Tamil; 'Aryan' versus 'Dravidian' etc.
Further, notice how the Christian, evangelical-funded crackpot-theories work through this. They claim that Tamil Saivism was not what is seen today but a branch of Thomas-Christianity. Distortions by Brahmins has lead to what is understood as Saivism today, they claim.
Some of the greatest Saivite and Tamil scholars have repeatedly refuted these claims. They have always emphasized the oneness of Saivism with the pan-Indian Vedic Saiva tradition.
Let us look at both the word Hindu and the reality of Vedic Saivism from historical and Saivite point of view, respectively.
'Kalki' Krishnamurthy the author of Ponniyin Selvan had written three major history-based fictions. Ponniyin Selvan is the third one.
The second fiction work was Partiban Kanavu. This fiction ends with the marriage of Sundara Chozhan and Kunthavai—daughter of Pallava emperor Narasimha Chakravarti. 'Kalki' makes Hieun-Tsang one of the attendees of the wedding.
The historical Hiuen Tsang (Xuanzang) used the term Inthu to denote this entire nation and imparted a clear spiritual meaning to it.
This land is 'Inthu' because Inthu means moon (both in Chinese and Sanskrit) and India with its spiritual traditions and seers was surely seen as the moonlight for the world in darkness.
One can very well picturise Hiuen Tsang calling on Rajaraja, had he come centuries later during his reign.
Known to his devotees as 'Vaidhika Saiva Siddhanta Jnana Banu' (Sun radiating the Wisdom of Vedic Saiva Siddhanta), Swamigal wrote extraordinary exemplary Tamil.
During his life time he saw some Saivite scholars deluded by the 'Aryan race theory'. They claimed that the Vedas mentioned in sacred Tamil Saivite literature were different from the four Vedas.
He further stated that the Vedas which the sacred Saivite Tamil books refer to are the Rig, Yajur, Sama and Atharvana Vedas. He pointed out that Saiva Siddhanta has its heart anchored in Vedic Darshana.
Another saint, Ramalinga Vallalar, also used the term 'Hindu' and claimed that only the Hindu Vedagama texts have the nectar of knowledge that lead to immortality and also stated that the other religions in as much as they contain this knowledge are at best approximations.
Pa.Inthuvan, a cheerful youth in his twenties has taken on the Dravidianist and other anti-Hindu forces with gusto and facts. Never uncouth in his responses, a rarity in Tamil digital landscape, he replies with facts and weaves in a characteristically readable style.
Well versed in classical Tamil literature and adept in using a lucid, accessible style in writing, he employs a question-answer format to answer silly questions raised cultural-illiterates who pose as public intellectuals.
Similarly, Sundara Rajan, another young writer, uses every daft question on Tamil culture to culturally educate the larger population.
One can be sure there are more are there to come. Tamil Nadu is slowly but surely finding its Sanatana and Vedic roots.
