The First Tamil Hindutva Magazine

Tamil Nadu has a rich tradition of Hindutva of its own. Though a deeper phenomenon of Indic life, Hindutva in the present context is the resistance movement thrown up by the national life force against the predatory expansionism of monocultures.

It was a woman poet, Ganga Devi, who perhaps first showed the deep Vedic, and hence Tamil, roots of Hindutva when she wrote in the fourteenth century, CE, the poetic work Madura Vijayam or Vira Kamparaya Charitham. It speaks of how “the water of the river Tamraparani, which used to be rendered white by the sandal paste rubbed away from the breasts of youthful maidens at their bath, was now flowing red with the blood of cows slaughtered by the invaders”. It is a poetic criticism of the anti-woman veil system imposed by Islamist aggression, which at the same time was also destroying the Earth-bound spirituality of the nation symbolised by the cow.

A serendipitous chance led to the discovery of an old bound volume of this magazine – six of them between 1946-47. The magazine was named Thondan, meaning “volunteer”. In the Tamil context, it meant one who provides services to people voluntarily. The name of the founder-editor was Arumuga Navalar, not to be confused with Arumuga Navalar of Eezham. The list of the names of those who had wished well for the magazine, is the cream of Tamil society of the time – the famous poet Kavimani Desigavinayagam Pillai, the eminent trade unionist Thiru V Kalyanasundaranar, and Tamil scholar C P Ramaswami Iyer, Marai Thirunavukkarasu, Shuddhananda Bharati, Ki Va Jagannathan, Namakkal poet Venkatarama Ramalingam Pillai and so on.

The messages sent went beyond the customary ones. For example, Bharati in his lyrical message, defines a “Hindu” as one who removes the misery of others and Hindu dharma as the ocean of bliss. He wishes the magazine to make Hindu dharma flourish all over the world. The Namakkal poet – the famous freedom fighter – wishes the magazine to revive the valorous tradition of Tamil Nadu and remove the “mental sickness of so-called atheists”.

In the same magazine, another article written by Alladi Krishnaswamy Iyer, who would later become one of the members of the Constituent Assembly of free India, argues that the revenue from Hindu temples should not be used by the government for public education.

On 12 October 1946, the Panchayat board under Sri Kanagasabapathy Pillai passed a resolution to open the Thiruchendur Subramanya Swamy temple for all Hindus. The 'king' of Sivagangai made a proclamation for temple entry at all famous temples, namely Thirukoshtiyur-Kallaiyar temple, as well as temples in Manamadurai province. All these proclamations are highlighted and appreciated. The magazine was clearly at the forefront of mobilising public opinion and the views of all sections of Hindu society in favour of temple entry.

The magazine had published a statement made by Malaviya on Noakhali riots. Malaviya had cautioned Hindu society against the complacency of feeling that they were the majority. “Such a feeling could be the death knell of Hindu society,” he had warned.

The next issue of the magazine is quite stormy. It takes head on the orthodoxy opposing the temple entry movement. The editorial likens the orthodoxy opposing temple entry to the old lady who thinks that by brandishing her broom she could stop the ocean waves. Navalar further writes that those who consider themselves authorities of dharma should come forward and voluntarily proclaim their support for temple entry without waiting for legislation to impose it. A suggestion is made to give relief and financial assistance to Noakhali riot victims from the Tirupati temple funds.

Even as early as 1947, a Hindutva magazine discussed the so-called body-based poetry of Aandal – without compromising on both its sensual dimension and spiritual core – and a woman wrote it! A series on Indian science mentions Satyendra Nath Bose, clearly keeping itself updated with the latest science developments. (There is also the fallacy about ancient technology, but then, given the textual availability of the period, it could be understood.)

February 1947 saw in Madras a Hindu conference inaugurated by Govardhan Sankaracharya. The head of the conference was Sri V V Srinivasa Iyengar. The conference passes a resolution demanding the cessation of temple entry. The conference demands that at least four temples – Bhadrachalam Rama temple, Tirupati Venkatachala temple, Kanchi Varadaraja temple, and Triplicane Parthasarathy temple – be exempted from temple entry. Thondan harshly criticises this stand: “Are these four temples going to be the Pakistan of orthodoxy?”

As a first step to prove their conversion, he asks the families to demolish the 'Gangai Amman' Goddess temple and build a church there. However, a youth, one Gothandaraman, told Marai Thirunavukkarasu about this. So he went there and held talks with the family. They told him about the problems they faced at the hands of certain so-called caste Hindus. After the talks with all sections of society, they tore the agreement they had made with the evangelist. Further, they made it clear that they would live their lives as Hindus. A committee consisting of Kothandaraman and some eminent citizens, was made to take care of the problems of the people in the area.

We learn from the old pages of the magazine, now fast getting discoloured, that there was even a programme to train Tamil Hindu youths as pracharaks for dharma. There is a question-answer section and there are cartoon-like illustrations. There is a cartoon supporting temple entry. The gods and acharyas bless temple entry from the sky while a small group of orthodox people oppose it. Unfortunately, that page is too damaged to be scanned. Here, we see a picture depicting the contrast of a government temple board affluent with revenue while temples are in a dilapidated condition – yes, that was in 1947 and it could as well be talking about temple conditions today.

We don’t know what happened to this noble endeavour – why it stopped. But there is one thing I know. If today in Kanyakumari district there is a socio-political awakening of Hindus like nowhere else in Tamil Nadu, it is because of the punya-bala of such souls. In fact, Tamil Nadu can get its inspiration from such great savants who dedicated their lives for the cause of dharma and society, from Iyya Vaikundar to Thanulinga Nadar to Swami Madhuranantha Maharaj.