Post 3: Analysis

Hello everyone and welcome back to “Divinity through Tamil History”!   

It has been one week since this project and I have uncovered a tremendous amount of information. As said before I have read various peer-reviewed sources, contacted my external advisor, and started the outline for my research paper. Right now is a segment which I would like to call….   

Blast to the Past … (I hate it as much as you)  

This week I read 4 peer-reviewed sources:

• Village Deities Of Tamil Nadu In Myths And Legends: The Narrated Experience By Ülo Valk And S. Lourdusamy
• Language Of The People In The World Of Gods: Ideologies Of Tamil Before The Nation By Sumathi Ramaswamy
• Orientalism And The Modern Myth Of “Hinduism” By Richard King
• Bhakti In The Early Jain Tradition: Understanding Devotional Religion In South Asia By John E. Cort

Here is what I learned from each of them 

Village Deities of Tamil Nadu in Myths and Legends: The Narrated Experience by Ülo Valk and S. Lourdusamy 

This article analyzes the religious ship local Tamil Gods have with the Hindu Gods and with the people such as Pujaris and Dalits. When it comes to the relationship with the Hindu Gods, it is important to first recognize the stories believed by Tamil Hindus. In the lore of Tamil Gods, the Mother Goddess (known as Amman) is given the highest importance, unlike the Trimurti (Brahma, Vishnu, and Shiva) as seen in Vedic Hinduism. In some legends, she is the mother of the Trimurti, which supplants the power of the Trimurti but follows the more well-known Shaktha denomination in Hinduism. Amman, also known as Ishvari, is wed to Shiva or Ishvaran who she made either from her dirt or as she imagined the Trimurti. Besides Amman, the Trimurti, and other pan-Indian Gods, there are local Tamil Gods like Aiyanar and Munieshvaran who are related to the pan-Indian Gods. For example, Aiyanar is said to be the son of Vishnu’s female form, Mohini and Shiva. Most of these Tamil Gods will be protectors for the Pan-Indian Gods or Major Tamil Gods such as Shiva having Munieshvaran as his guardian. To summarize, the Tamil village deities are inferior to the pan-Indian Gods, however, the pan-Indian Gods serve the Tamil Goddess Amman. 

When it comes to the relationship between the village gods and the people, it is very complex and has no one answer. For example, Aiyanar may not like Dalits and views them as impurities, yet the God Viranar is protective and accepting of Dalits and will even have them as his priest. These Gods are mainly frightening, protecting the people from evil spirits yet vicious to those who disrespect them, even by thinking that these Gods do not exist. They are a fearful protector and many people have claimed to experience these Gods, either by being blessed by them such as having progeny, or have faced disaster for questioning and disrespecting them. Some people even have said to have seen or heard them. Especially during the nighttime, they travel on their vehicles, usually horses, to ward off evil. In summation, these deities go along protecting villages, listening to people’s prayers, cursing those who disrespect and anger them, and even reporting back to Ishvaran and Ishvari. 

Language of the People in the World of Gods: Ideologies of Tamil before the Nation by Sumathi Ramaswamy 

This article delves into the idea of Tamil and how through different lenses, such as politics and religion, the language is praised. Tamil has always been dear to those who speak it. Yet we see that to deify it or to put a supreme title on the language, Tamil has a history of being entwined with Hindu deities. For example, the article talks about a poem where the heroine writes to Lord Chokkanathar (Shiva) in Tamil. But when the letter reaches Chokkanathar, he does first talk about the heroine but praises Tamil as being the medium for love for that woman. However, the author does acknowledge that the poem comes after the Sanskritization of the language and even the idea of  Sanskritic “Hinduism” being the dominant religion of the land. It is noted even by Tamil saints. For example, Tamil alvars like Thirumanagi Alvar (a Vaishnava saint) describe Vishnu as one who speaks the “northern language” (Sanskrit) yet enjoys and embodies the sweet and poetic Tamil language. This is the same with Shaivite saints like Appar. The Tamil language somehow appropriated the Sanskrit versions of Vishnu and Shiva, and even Shakthi, and made them Tamil, incorporating Tamil-centric stories that praise Tamil through the worship of God. This is why the adjectives given for the idea of Tamil are “pure” and even “the one that causes salvation”. Another story that “proves” Tamil as being divine and even better the Sanskrit is the birth of Tamil, being penned down by the revered Hindu sage Agastya (known as Agasthiyar in Tamil) though was divinely inspired by the God Murugan (aka. Ceylon), the son of Shiva. These Gods even feature as Kings of Tamil kingdoms, mainly Madurai. One thing to note is the suppression of the God Murugan, where before he was seen as the youthful war God who claimed his agency, later was reworked as doing his works on the commands of his father Shiva. For example, in stories where famous Tamil saints like Arunagirinathar get their tongue marked by the spear of Murgan (indicating that the Tamil they speak and write is now divine) because Murugan is impressed by the person later becomes reworked as Shiva instructing Murugan to do so because he is his father. To summarize, we see how Tamil becomes regarded as divine by entwining the language with Pan-Indian Gods. 

Orientalism and the Modern Myth of “Hinduism” by Richard King: 

Richard King writes about the idea of Hinduism and how it is a wrong term to describe the vast faiths within India. King goes into the history of the term and delves into how this orientalist view of Hinduism stems from colonization. In fact, it’s good to note that believers in “Hinduism” weren’t the only people called Hindu/ Hindoo. In fact, Indian Christians and Muslims were categorized as Hindoo Christians and Hindoo Muslims, maybe to say that these Christians and Muslims practice a form of their religion that is not like the West. The term “Hinduism” was used to coin all the various beliefs that India has, it is like an umbrella term. However, this provides a negative stereotype of Hinduism because it dismisses the entire complexity of beliefs within India. Hinduism is not a structured belief, it differs for each person based on their faith. For example, one Hindu may be Shaktha, another may be Vaishnava, or maybe believe in local gods like Renukamba. To categorize all these beliefs into one name diminishes the diversity of these beliefs and paints Hinduism as one tone. 

Now I read the article, “Bhakti in the Early Jain Tradition: Understanding Devotional Religion in South Asia by John E. Cort”, however, it did not relate to the topic I was delving into through this project. I chose it initially thinking that it will talk about the early Jain temples in Tamil Nadu where Jainism and  Hinduism flourished.  But it focused more on Jain texts like Jain Agamas. This did not correspond with what I was focusing on so I did not incorporate it into this post.   

After reading these articles, I connected with my external advisor, Shyam Ramachandran. He gave me insight into the anthropology of Tamil people, and their shift from a pastoral life (where local gods were the prime deities for the people) to a royal and hierarchical life (this is where Pan-Indian Gods started to shape the religion). He also showed me evidence of Hero stones (a stone dedicated to those who sacrificed their lives and became deified) and how these heroes may have shaped the lives of the village deities, for example, Madurai Veeran. Another item he brought to my attention where statues of Aiyanar, which were created during the Chola Empire. This showed how local Gods like Aiyanar were initially worshipped along with Pan-Indian Gods, however, we see a huge shift from being a royal god to the village deity that we see today. Mr. Ramachandran showed me these historical artifacts to show how Tamil tradition had always flourished yet drifted away. We rarely see Tamil people praying or acknowledging hero stones, or have gods like Aiyanar in their temples along with other Pan-Indian Gods. These artifacts prove the existence of a dying Tamil religion. This information will now become form the basis of my project. 

Thank you very much for joining me in the segment, Blast to the Past! And thank you all for reading another post on “Divinity through Tamil History” and stay tuned for the next one. 

Valk, Ülo, and S. Lourdusamy. “Village Deities of Tamil Nadu in Myths and Legends: The Narrated Experience.” Asian Folklore Studies, vol. 66, no. 1/2, 2007, pp. 179–99. JSTOR, http://www.jstor.org/stable/30030456. Accessed 6 Apr. 2023. 

Ramaswamy, Sumathi. “Language of the People in the World of Gods: Ideologies of Tamil before the Nation.” The Journal of Asian Studies, vol. 57, no. 1, 1998, pp. 66–92. JSTOR, https://doi.org/10.2307/2659024. Accessed 6 Apr. 2023. 

King, Richard. “Orientalism and the Modern Myth of ‘Hinduism.’” Numen, vol. 46, no. 2, 1999, pp. 146–85. JSTOR, http://www.jstor.org/stable/3270313. Accessed 6 Apr. 2023.