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INTRODUCTION
Gandhian Social Movements in TamilNadu is a
captivating theme. The scholar has identified it as a potential
theme for doctoral research, for it was a remarkable reform in
the Indian Society in general and Tamilnadu in particular as it
brought out equality among various social groups. Moreover, this
still remains a virgin theme for intensive research, for no one
has taken it up for any doctoral programme so far. This is an
added advantage and incentive to the scholar.
TEMPLES AS ABODES OF BRAHMINISM
The first half of the 20th century witnessed
remarkable socio-political changes in Tamil Nadu. The temples
had played a significant role in the socio-religious life of
the people.1 Temple authorities became the makers of rules
and regulations to control the life of the people. Like other
____________________________
1. P.V. Jagadisa Ayyar, South Indian Shrines (New Delhi : Asian Educational Services, 1982), pp.1-3.
2
parts of India, in Tamil Nadu too, the temples were considered
as the abodes of Brahminical deities.2 They were closely inter-
related with the institution of caste system. It is believed that
casteism was the contrivance of the Brahminical mind by which
the Brahmins always sought to maintain their racial superiority
at the cost of the non-Brahmins.3 It was this pernicious
system that had brought more corruption into the Indian society
in general, and Tamil Nadu and its culture in particular,
dividing man from man and placing an impassable barrier
between the different classes of the same society.4
It is believed that the hierarchical caste system with
its many attendant evils were brought into India by the
Brahmins in the early years of India‟s history. According to
Varnashrama Dharma, the Indian society was divided into two
larger sections, the high and the low castes, or the pure and
____________________________
2. S. Abid Husain, The National Culture of India (New Delhi :
National Book Trust, 1978), pp.40-42.
3. Hermann Kuke and Dietmar Rothermund, A History of
India (Calcutta : Rupa and Co., 1991), p.153.
4. G.A. Oddie, Social Movements in India : British Protestant
Missionaries and Social Reforms 1850-1900 (Delhi : Manohar Publishers, 1978), pp.28-32.
3
the polluting castes.5 The Brahmins, the Kshatriyas, the
Vaisyas and the Sudras formed a pyramidical hierarchy with the
Brahmins at the apex and the Sudras at the base. All others
outside the pale of this system were considered as impure low-
castes. It was considered that the touch of a few or even the
sight of others polluted the high castes.6
Though the caste system was an all India phenomenon,
it was unknown to ancient Tamil Nadu. No distinction was
made on the basis of birth and everything was decided on
merit, ability and personality. Untouchability, unapproachability
and unseeability and similar customs were unknown to the
ancient Tamils.7 The Aryans who were familiar with the
conventional system of Varnashrama Dharma in North India
found an entirely different social set up during their migration
to South India. Until their migration, the Tamil people
____________________________
5. S.V. Desika Char, Caste, Religion and Country A View of
Ancient, Medieval India (London : Sangam Books, 1993),
pp.15-17.
6. N.D. Kamble, The Scheduled Castes (New Delhi : Asian
Publishing House, 1982), p.4.
7. Joy Gnanadason, A Forgotten History - The Story of the
Missionary Movement and the Liberation of People in South Travancore (Madras : Gurukul Lutheran Theological
College and Research Institute, 1994), p.18.
4
felt free with their respective professions.8 They never thought
of their superior or inferior status. The Brahmins, who formed
a microscopic minority emerged as the greatest arbiters and
peace makers, extended their counsel to the reigning kings too.9
By virtue of their spiritual authority, they exercised considerable
influence in the society. In order to buttress their spiritual
superiority and temporal welfare, they gerrymandered customs
and conventions, socio-economic and administrative systems
which brought the entire society under the provisions of the
Sastras. Further, the status afforded to the Brahmins by the
Tamil kings and the increasing use of Sanskritic forms provided
the base for the introduction of the hierarchical organisation of
caste in the Tamil society.10
During the medieval period, the non-Brahmins
including the untouchables were divided into Valankai or Right
hand castes and Idankai or Left-hand castes. Abbe Dubois, a
____________________________
8. T.R. Sesha Iyengar, The Ancient Dravidians (Madras : Asian
Educational Services, 1925), pp.56-58.
9. P.T. Srinivasa Iyengar, Pre-Aryan Tamil Culture (New Delhi :
Asian Educational Services, 1982), pp.18-22.
10. Robert L. Hardgrave, The Dravidian Movement (Bombay :
Popular Prakashan, 1965), pp.8-11.
5
French Missionary pointed out that the division did more harm
than good by being a perpetual source of disturbance among
the people.11 The ninety eight sects under each of the two
divisions were generally of the industrial and agricultural
classes.12 The Brahmins and a few other communities who
claimed the highest predominance were kept aloof from these
two groups. These superior castes acted as the creators of
trouble between the Right-hand and the Left-hand factions.13
The division in the society led to regular confrontations among
the different sects of the two groups. Most of the skirmishes
were centred around certain privileges like the right to wear
chappals or to ride through the streets in a palanquin or on
horseback during marriage festivals.14 Confrontation also
prevailed over the issue of the use of a particular kind of
musical instrument suitable for such occasions, the right of
carrying flags of certain colours or certain devices during these
____________________________
11. Abbe Dubois, Hindu Manners, Customs and Ceremonies translated by Henry Beauchamp (Oxford : The Clarendon
Press, 1897), p.75.
12. K.K. Pillai, Social History of the Tamils (Madras :
University of Madras, 1975), pp.235-237.
13. P. Chidambaram Pillai, Right of Temple Entry (Nagercoil :
Alexandra Press, 1933), pp.246-248.
14. P. Subramanian, Social History of the Tamils (1707-1947)
(New Delhi : D.K. Print World (P) Ltd., 1996), p.54.
6
ceremonies. The Mackenzie Manuscripts indicated that the
members of the Valankai group were permitted to use white
umbrella and white horse, both of which were symbols of
honour. The Idankai group could use the white umbrella but
never the white horse.15
The Dharmasastras put heavy inhibitions on the
untouchables. The most important was that they were not
allowed to worship inside the temples. These people remained
far away from the glance of the non-caste Hindus who were
also not permitted into the temples. Physical cleanliness,
intellectual appetite and economic status never helped the non-
caste Hindus to enter even the areas near the temples.16
In case of accidental pollution, the idols should undergo
fresh consecration through various ceremonies in order to make
them pure once again. These purification ceremonies were
collectively known as Punyaham.17 Among the caste -Hindus, the
____________________________
15. T.V. Mahalingam (ed.), Mackenzie Manuscripts : Summaries
of the Historical Manuscripts in the Mackenzie Collection
(Madras : University of Madras, 1972), Vol.I, pp.146-148.
16. S. Manickam, Nandanar, The Dalit Martyr - A Historial
Reconstruction of His Times (Madras : C.L.S. Publications, 1990), pp.22-23.
17. Punyaham means ceremonies connected with purifying the
idols from pollution.
7
Brahmin priests alone were permitted to enter the inner-shrine
or Garbhagraha (sanctum sanctorum) of the temples.
As the Hindu worship is congregational, even if the
worshippers belonged to the castes which enjoyed the privilege
of entering the temple, they could make their offerings to the
deity only through the intermediary class of priests.18 Even
now, they could not themselves perform the ritual of Archana
(chanting of mantras with flowers) to the deity directly. The
privileges of the caste-Hindus became the disabilities of the
non-caste Hindus and the authorities in the helm of affairs
wanted to perpetuate this system. No wonder, the authorities
denied to the non-caste-Hindus the right to walk along the
roads around the temples and worship.19 Inspite of their
massive strength, the non-caste-Hindus accepted the spiritual
and temporal predominance of the caste-Hindus and gave
implicit obedience to all their arbitrary laws.
During the medieval period, in Tamil Nadu the
Bhakti Saints preached the fundamental equality of all religions
____________________________
18. Peter Ronald de Souza (ed.), Contemporary India Transitions
(New Delhi : Sage Publications, 2001), pp.58-62.
19. Thomas Samuel, One Caste, One Religion, One God (New
Delhi : Manohar Publications, 1977), pp.49-50.
8
and the unity of God. They advocated that the dignity of man
depended on his actions and not on his birth. They protested
against excessive ritualism, formalities of religion, the domination
of priests and emphasised simple devotion and faith as the
means of salvation for one and all.20 Ramanuja, one of the
most celebrated Brahmin Bakthi saints, who held the view that
though the Sudras and other lower castes could not read out
the Upanishads and the Vedas, atleast they could have been
given the privilege of visiting the temples atleast once in a
year.21 But these revolutionary preachings failed to produce the
expected yield in the hierarchical order of the Tamil society.
In the meanwhile, the advent of the Christian
Missionaries and their educational institutions tried to expose
the mythological concepts that governed the caste restrictions.22
The spread of English education and the formation of caste
____________________________
20. C.M. Agur, Church History of Travancore (Madras : S.P.G.
Press, 1901), pp. 826-844.
21. K.A. Nilakanta Sastri, Development of Religion in South
India (Madras : University of Madras, 1963), pp. 88-91.
22. R. Caldwell, A History of Tinnevelly (Reprint) (New Delhi :
Asian Educational Services, 1982), pp. 245-248.
9
associations inspired the non-caste Hindus to bargain for their
legitimate status within the fold of Hinduism.23
Some of the non-caste Hindu communities like the
Nadars amassed with wealth through their business and
industry. Their sound financial position enabled them to rise
equal to the high-caste people. Among them, the Nadars of
Sivakasi were accorded the status of Kshatriyas24 in
recognition of their being warriers, yet they could not follow the
vedic form of ceremonies which remained the exclusive right of
the Brahmins. They began to wear the sacred thread and to
chant the Gayatri Mantras. They tried to secure freedom of
worship in all the Hindu temples and also a due share in the
administration of the temples.25 This movement gathered
momentum during the last decades of the 19th century. When
the caste- Hindus strongly opposed such moves, the Nadars
____________________________
23. H.R. Pate, Madras District Gazetteers : Tinnevelly (Madras :
Government Press, 1917), pp.224-225.
24. Robert L. Hardgrave, The Nadars of Tamilnadu: The Political
Culture of a Community in Change (Bombay : Oxford University Press, 1969), pp.7-8.
25. John Chandler, Seventy-Five Years in the Madura Mission (Madras : American Madura Mission Press, 1909), pp.21-25.
10
started asserting their right to perform temple ceremonies.26 It
led to a number of clashes between the Nadars and the
Maravas, another dominant Kshatriya Community. Finally the
issue was placed before the judiciary for perusal and
judgement.27 The Privy Council at London, the highest appellate
body in the British Empire, in its judgement categorically
denied permission to the non-caste Hindus like the Nadars the
right to enter the Hindu temples since they occupied an inferior
status in the caste hierarchy.28 After the Privy Council verdict,
instead of continuing the struggle, they constructed massive
temples on the model of the Brahminical style and tried to
confine themselves within the precincts of their respective
temples for a short period.
The advent of Gandhiji into the National Movement
was a great blessing to the marginalised people like the non-caste
____________________________
26. Mattison Mines, The Warrier Merchants : Textiles, Trade
and Territory in South India (Cambridge : Cambridge
University Press, 1984), pp.146-147.
27. Judicial Department, G.O. No.1332, dated 16th July 1907.
28. Sankaralinga Nadan Vs Raja Rajeswara Dorai on Appeal
from the High Court of Judicature at Madras to Privy
Council at London. Reported in Indian Law Reports 31 Madras 236 (1908) and in 35 Indian Appeals 176 (1908).
11
Hindus. In 1920, in its historic annual session at Nagpur,29
the Indian National Congress adopted a distinct and unequivocal
political resolution for the admission of the depressed classes
into the Hindu temples. By the Bardoli Resolution of 1922,
Gandhiji brought out a new colour of social content to the
Congress programme by advocating the idea of removal of
untouchability. At the Congress session at Kakkinada a
resolution was passed due to the initiative of T.K. Madhavan, a
prominent nationalist from Travancore that proper steps should
be taken for the eradication of untouchability in the country.30
The Congress volunteers tried to convince the people that the
denial of elementary rights amounted to a great social injustice.
It led to the inauguration of the Temple Entry Movement. It
was a socio-religious protest spearheaded by an oppressed
section of the Hindu society against the tyranny of caste-
system.31 It was not a mere process of opposing sanskritization
but a determined struggle against religious segregation and social
____________________________
29. K.P. Goswami, Mahatma Gandhi A Chronology (New Delhi : Government of India Publications, 1971), p.83.
30. T.K. Ravindran, Eight Furlongs of Freedom (New Delhi : Light & Life Publishers, 1980), p.6.
31. R.R. Diwahar, My Encounter with Gandhi (New Delhi : The Gandhi Peace Foundation, 1989), pp.23-24.
12
discrimination. By rising the banner of resistance against
untouchability, it marked the beginning of another struggle for
socio-religious equality and civil liberties in Tamil Nadu.
When the Indian National Congress included the
Right of Temple Entry in its agenda, the Colonial Government
started its traditional strategy of Divide and Rule in India.
After the discussions in the three Round Table Conferences,
Ramsay Mcdonald, the then British Prime Minister gave his
famous Communal Award by which the Depressed Class
People (Harijans) in India were given separate electorates.32
Gandhiji condemned it in letter and spirit and observed that it
was a planned conspiracy to separate the Harijans from the
main stream of Hinduism and started Fast unto Death
agitation on 20th September 1932 while he was in the Yeravada
jail.33 In order to save the life of Gandhiji, the leaders of the
caste-Hindus under Pandit Madan Mohan Malavya conducted
wide range of discussions with the Depressed class leaders like
____________________________
32. Under Secretary Safe File No.804, Government of Madras,
dated 16th December 1932.
33. Krishna Kripalani, Gandhi : A Life (New Delhi : National
Book Trust, 1968), pp.136-139.
13
B.R.Ambedkar. As a result, the latter agreed to give up his
demand for Separate Electorate and signed the historic
agreement called Poona Pact on 24th September 1932 with the
leaders of the caste - Hindus and enabled Gandhiji to break his
fast.34
Immediately after the Poona Pact, the caste-Hindus
convened an All India Conference consisted of both caste-Hindus
and Depressed classes at Bombay on 25th September 1932.35
In the conference, it was resolved that since then no one
should be regarded as an untouchable by reason of his birth
and that those who had been so far regarded would have the
same rights like the caste-Hindus to use public wells, roads,
schools, temples and other public institutions.36 As the first
step to carry on the propaganda for the abolition of
untouchability, they inaugurated an All India Anti- Untouchability
____________________________
34. The Collected Works of Mahatma Gandhi (New Delhi :
Ministry of Information and Broadcasting, 1972), Vol.LI, pp.462-466. Hereafter CWMG.
35. Muhut Behari Verma, History of the Harijan Sevak Sangh
1932-1962 (New Delhi : Harijan Sevak Sangh Publications, 1971), pp.49-52.
36. S.N. Busi, Mahatma Gandhi and Babasaheb Ambedkar Crusaders against Caste and Untouchability (Hydrebad :
Saroja Publications, 1997), pp.248-250.
14
League in Bombay on 30th September 1932 with the blessings
of Gandhiji.37 Subsequently the League was named as Harijan
Sevak Sangh with Delhi as its headquarters.38 At the time of
its inauguration Gandhiji was in prison. With true love and
affection Gandhiji named the Depressed Classes as Harijans
(the sons of God).39 When he was released on 22nd August
1933, Gandhiji observed that Harijan service would always be
his first priority and would be the breath of life for him and
the most precious one than his daily bread.40
After the formation of the Harijan Sevak Sangh at
the national level with Seth Ghanshyandas Birla and Amritlal
V.Thakkar popularly called as Thakkar Baba as its President
and General Secretary respectively, its branches were opened in
____________________________
37. CWMG, Vol. LIV, p.177.
38. V.T. Patil (ed.), New Dimensions and Perspectives in Gandhism (New Delhi : Inter-India Publications, 1989),
pp.427-441.
39. Stanley Wolpert, An Introduction to India (New Delhi :
Viking Publications, 1991), p.64.
40. Owen M. Lynch, The Politics of Untouchability Social
Mobility and Social Change in a City of India (New Delhi :
National Publishers, 1974), pp.174-179.
15
all over the country within a short span of time.41 The Tamil
Nadu Harijan Sevak Sangh under the leadership of Dr. T.S.S.
Rajan was also immediately formed with headquarters at
Tiruchirapalli. As the President of the State Unit, T.S.S.
Rajan worked hard for the abolition of untouchability in Tamil
Nadu.42 By exhibiting his extra-ordinary talents and ability, he
organised a lot of Harijan workers mostly prominent Congress
leaders and established branches of the Sangh at District, Taluk
and even at Village level to carry on the Harijan service.
The Tamil Nadu Harijan Sevak Sangh with its
galaxy of versatile and dedicated leaders and volunteers totally
plunged into the service for achieving Harijan Temple Entry at
an earlier date and for the removal of all sorts of social
disabilities from the Hindu society to give ways for the
upliftment of Harijans.43
____________________________
41. CWMG, Vol. LIV, pp.18-19.
42. Saroja Sundararajan, March to Freedom in Madras Presidency, 1916-1947 (Madras : Lalitha Publications, 1989),
pp.467-470.
43. C. Rajaji, Social Disabilities (Madras : Thackar Baba
Vidyalaya, 1967), pp. 4-9.
16
Gandhiji wanted to mobilise the popular will in
favour of the abolition of untouchability and the right of temple
entry to the Harijans. Gandhiji requested A.V. Thakkar Baba,
General Secretary, All India Harijan Sevak Sangh to prepare a
plan to conduct an All India Harijan Tour.44 The latter
consulted all the provincial heads of the Sangh about the
proposed „Gandhiji‟s Harijan Tour‟ and finalised it. Accordingly
Gandhiji started his Harijan Tour from Wardha on 7th November
1933. After completing his tour in the Central Province,
Gandhiji began his tour in South India from Vijayawada on
16th December 1933. He reached Kanyakumari on 23rd January
1934 where he was given a rousing reception by Thakkar
Baba, T.S.S. Rajan and others.45 Gandhiji spent a number of
days in Tamil Nadu and created awakening for the cause of the
temple-entry for the Harijans. His tour has made tremendous
impact in the socio-political realm of Tamil Nadu.46
Blessed and solomnised by Gandhiji, surprisingly the
Temple Entry Movement was organised and sphere-headed by the
____________________________
44. Harijan, Vol. III, dated 22nd March 1935, p.44.
45. S. Padmanabhan, The Forgotten History of the Land's End (Nagercoil : Kumaran Pathippakam, 1971), pp.11-14.
46. T.S.S. Rajan, Tamil Nattil Gandhi (Tamil) (Madras :
Kalaimagal Karyalayam, 1954), pp.2-9.
17
caste-Hindus who once denied permission to the non-caste
Hindus for their entry into the temples. Temple-entry agitations
were organised at Vaikkam,47 Guruvayur,48 Suchindrum,49
Madurai50 and Trichirappalli51 etc. In 1937 when
C.Rajagopalachari formed the Congress Ministry in the Madras
Presidency, the Temple Entry Regulation was passed which
legally opened temples to the non-caste Hindus.52 The Temple
entry regulation brought about a silent and bloodless revolution
in the Hindu society.
____________________________
47. H.J.N. Horsburgh, Non-Violence and Aggression : A Study of
Gandhiji's Moral Equivalent of War (London : Oxford
University Press, 1968), pp.60-62.
48. P.C. Roy Chaudhury, Gandhi The Man (Mysore : Geetha
Book House, 1974), p.50.
49. P. Ramachandran, M.E. Naidu and Suchindrum Satyagraha
(Nagercoil : Sivakami Publications, 1979), pp.10-12.
50. V. Kandasamy, Madurai in Indian National Movement
(Madurai : Sarvodaya Ilakkiya Pannai, 1993), p.110-120.
51. S. Muthuswami Pillai, Neethi Katchi Varalaru (Tamil) (Madras : Mullai Nilayam, 1995), pp.2-3.
52. Madras Legislative Assembly Debates, 1939, Vol.8, p.361.
18
HYPOTHESIS
In this study, certain fundamental questions have been
raised which constitute the working hypothesis. To mention a few:
a) Whether or not the social scenario in Tamil Nadu favoured
social inequality ?
b) Whether or not the attempts made by the Indian National
Congress were aimed for the abolition of the distinctions
and disparities based on caste, if so in what way it
served as an instinct for social equality?
c) Whether or not the Tamil Nadu Harijan Sevak Sangh was
capable of bringing out any change in the social realm in
favour of Temple Entry ?
d) Was the Harijan tour of Gandhiji mobilised the public
opinion in favour of Temple Entry Movement in Tamil Nadu?
e) To what extent did the Indian National Congress and its
Temple-entry agitations serve as agents for change in the
social realm?
These and similar questions have been raised in this
study and an attempt has been made to find answers which
constitute the findings of this research work.
19
METHODOLOGY
The methodology followed in reconstructing the thesis
is partly descriptive and partly analytical and interpretative. In
order to describe the major developments in the historical
sequence and to establish their interconnectedness, a chronology
based narration becomes essential. In highlighting the most
significant developments, historical explanations and critical
interpretations become imperative.
SOURCES OF INFORMATION
Data for the present study have been collected from
both primary and secondary sources. The primary data for the
construction of the thesis have been culled out mainly from the
original documents preserved in the National Archives of India,
New Delhi; Nehru Memorial Museum and Library, New Delhi;
Gandhi Memorial Museum and Library; Sabarmati Ashram,
Ahmedabad; Tamil Nadu Archives, Chennai; Gandhi Memorial
Museum Library, Madurai and Tamil Nadu Harijan Sevak Sangh,
Madurai. They included Despatches or General Letters,
the Judicial and Revenue Proceedings, C.I.D. Reports,
20
Fortnightly Reports, Native Newspaper Reports, Sundries and
Miscellaneous. The Collected Works of Mahatma Gandhi (100
volumes) published by the Government of India, the back
volumes of Harijan, Young India, Indian Opinion, The Hindu,
The Mail and The Madras Mail served as the primary sources
of information to complete this research work.
Epistolary Sources also provided a good deal of
information about the social conditions prevailed in Tamil Nadu
during the period under review. Abbe Dubois‟s Hindu Manners,
Customs and Ceremonies (Oxford : Claranden Press, 1906)
and Francis Buchanan‟s A Journey from Madras through the
Countries of Mysore, Canara and Malabar (London : Bulnor
and Co., 1807) vividly portray the social settings in Tamil Nadu.
John Chandler‟s Seventy Five Years in the Madura Mission
(Madras : American Madura Mission Press, 1909) gives not only
a picture of religious activities but also interestingly narrate
matters of socio-political and economic significance that came to
the notice of the Missionaries.
Of course, there are several Secondary Sources of
importance like Robert L. Hardgrave‟s The Dravidian Movement
21
(Bombay : Popular Prakashan, 1965), Eugene F.Irschick‟s Politics
and Social Conflicts in South India : The Non-Brahmin
Movement and Tamil Separatism 1916-1929 (Bombay : Oxford
University Press, 1969), Christopher John Baker‟s The Politics
of South India 1920-1937 (Cambridge ; Cambridge University
Press, 1976), P. Chidambaram Pillai‟s Right of Temple Entry
(Nagercoil : Alexandra Press, 1933), K.R. Hanumanthan‟s
Untouchability A Historical Study (Madurai : Koodal Publishers,
1979), A. Ramasamy‟s Tamil Nattil Gandhi (Tamil) (Madurai :
Gandhi Memorial Fund Publications, 1969), C.J. Baker & D.A.
Washbrook‟s South India : Political Institutions and Political
Change 1880-1940 (Delhi : Mac Millan, 1975) and E. Sa.
Viswanathan‟s The Political Career of E.V. Ramasamy
Naickar (Madras : Ravi and Vasanth Publishers, 1983). These
works undoubtedly contain useful references. But the
informations furnished by them are inadequate. P. Chidambaram
Pillai narrates the general aspects on the right of unprevilaged
and much importance has not been given to the comprehensive
history of the Gadhian Social Movements in Tamil Nadu. Likewise,
A. Ramasamy also outlines the visits of Gandhiji in Tamil Nadu
and made marginal references about the Gadhian Social Movements.
Therefore, having felt the need to fill the gaps, the scholar has
22
ventured to do further research on the theme, making use of
several new source materials preserved in the Archives and
other institutions. An analytical study of the source materials
served the purpose of reconstructing the thesis in a spirit of
free enquiry and with a view to present an objective account as
humanly as possible.
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