There have been references to Brahmins even in the earliest period of Tamil literature. A sage named Gautama who served in the court of Senguttuvan's predecessor is praised in the Tamil work Silappatikaram.[1] The Tolkāppiyam, which belongs to an earlier era, speaks of "the victorious Brahmin".[1] One of the poems in the Puṟanāṉūṟu written by one Mulam Kilar of Avur praises the learning and character of a Brahmin Kauniyan Vinnam Tayan of Cholanadu. The poem praises his efforts and those of his ancestors in combating the penetration of Buddhism in the Tamil land.[2] Kauniyan Vinnam Tayan is also praised for the faithful performance of sacrifices.[3]
The Tamil novel had its beginnings in Mayuram Vedanayakam Pillai's Prathapa Mudaliar Charithram which appeared in 1879. The second Tamil novel was Kamalambal Charitram written by B. R. Rajam Iyer in 1893 and the third was Padmavathi Charitram written by A. Madhaviah in 1898. Both these novels portray the lives of Brahmins in rural parts of Madras Presidency.
In R. K. Narayan's famous book Swami and Friends he depicts the vagaries in the school-life of a young Iyer boy, Swaminathan, and how he and his family, especially his father, W. S. Srinivasan, deal with them. The book provides an interesting insight into father-son relations in traditional Iyer households in the early twentieth century, besides providing details of day-to-day life. Along with the text of the tale, the sketches to accompany it, by R. K. Laxman, in early editions, provide a wealth of information about the latter.
In films
Iyers have been positively portrayed in Hindi films such as Tere Mere Sapne. Malayalam films such as Iyer the Great[4] and the Sethurama Iyer series which have fictitious Iyer characters in the lead.
There have always been movies in Tamil portraying Brahmin society and traditional values in a positive manner until 1970. The black-and-white era saw Tamil films as Thyagabhoomi and Vietnam Veedu.
Except for the film Aaha (1996), Tamil brahmins have been portrayed negatively till date.
Recently, movies by S. Shankar, such as Gentleman and Anniyan, Ajith's film Aalwar and Simbu's film Silambattam has a Brahmin playing a protagonist character, where they use religion as one of the motivations, to get rid of corruption and other bad elements in society.
Negative portrayals
In literature and print media
According to J. H. Hutton, there was opposition to Brahmins from Tamils as early as the 13th century AD.[5]
During the Raj, anti-Brahminism was actively propagated by both British administrators as well as writers.[6] J. H. Nelson, a popular administrator and writer, spoke of non-Brahmins as superior and degraded Tamil Iyers and Iyengars.[7]Charles E. Gover's The Folk Tales of South India is replete with anti-Brahmin rhetoric. He remarks:
The Brahmans have corrupted what they could not destroy[8]
Bishop Robert Caldwell, regarded as one of the instigators of the Dravidian Movement was vociferous in his attacks on Tamil Brahmins. V. Kanakasabhai Pillai, in his 1904 book, The Tamils 1800 years ago, holds Brahmins responsible for making a conscious attempt to "foist their system on the Tamils".[7] Hindu savant Maraimalai Adigal, who founded the Pure Tamil Movement, in a book called Vellalar Nagareegam or The Civilization of the Vellalars published in 1923, said that the classification of Vellalars as Sudras were a part of an Aryan-Brahmin conspiracy and launched a veiled attack on Brahmin historians and intellectuals.[9]
From 1930 onwards, with the rise of Periyar and the Justice Party, anti-Brahminism intensified to larger proportions. The periodicals and newspapers of the Justice Party such as Viduthalai and Justice[10][11][12][13] launched scathing attacks on Brahmins.[14] The works of Periyar as well as C. N. Annadurai's Aryamayai ridicules the rituals and practices of Brahmins and accuses them of propagating casteism and superstitions. Periyar's pattern of anti-Brahmin rhetoric was absorbed by his followers and the Dravidar Kazhagam, the cultural organisation that he established continues to indulge in vehement anti-Brahmin rhetoric in its magazines and periodicals, though popular support and enthusiasm for their anti-Brahmin tirade has died down with the passage of time.[15]
There have also been novels criticising the patriarchal nature of Tamil Brahmin society and critically portraying the plight of Brahmin women[16]A. Madhaviah, one of the earliest Tamil novelists, launched a sharp criticism of the sexual exploitation of young girls by older men in the 19th century upper caste society.[17] His English novel Clarinda tells the story of a Brahmin woman who is saved from sati by a British soldier.[17] She falls in love with the soldier and converts to Christianity on the death of her lover.[17] In his Tamil novel Muthumeenakshi penned in 1903, he describes the plight of a Brahmin child widow.[17] The story ends on a happy note with the remarriage of the widow as per her wishes.[17] Ameen Merchant's The Silent Raga depicts the life of women in an agraharam as a gruesome endeavour.[18]
In recent times, apart from sporadic outbursts of anti-Brahmin sentiment in newspapers and television, anti-Brahminism has largely subsided.[15] Anti-Brahmin sentiment reached intense proportions on the occasion of the arrest of the Kanchi Shankaracharya[19][20] and when Periyar's statue in Srirangam was defaced by activists of the Hindu Munnani.[21][22]
In film
There have been an extensively large number of Indian movies in which Brahminical practices and customs have been ridiculed or broadly stereotyped and played for laughs. Some of the early Tamil films ridiculing the Brahminical orthodoxy as Nandanar (1935) and Seva Sadanam (1938) were by the Tamil Brahmin director K. Subrahmanyam. Nandanar was based on the tale of a rich Brahmin landlord called Vedhiyar who illtreated his farm-workers.[23] The movie ends with Vedhiyar falling on the feet of a farmhand Nandan who worked in his fields on realising that the latter was blessed by Lord Nataraja.[23] This scene generated a huge controversy as orthodox Brahmins objected to Vedhiyar falling on the feet of Nandan as Vedhiyar was incidentally played by Viswanatha Iyer who was a Brahmin in real life and Nandan was played by Dhandapani Desikar who belonged to a lower caste.[23] In Subrahmnayam's Seva Sadanam, one of the actors Natesa Iyer drew flak from the Brahmin orthodoxy for acting in a controversial scene wherein he throws away his sacred thread.[24]
When C. N. Annadurai and a few top leaders of the Dravidar Kazhagam left the organisation and formed a new political party called Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam and decided to contest elections,[25] they viewed mass media as the most important tool to carry the ideology and principles of their new party to the masses.[26] As a result, a number of films were made condemning what they regarded as "Brahmin oppression" and advocating social reform and atheism. The first important film attacking the Brahmin orthodoxy was Parasakthi which was a resounding hit and launched the career of Tamil actor Sivaji Ganesan. The film featured a controversial scene wherein a temple priest tries to rape a woman and was considered for a ban.[27] However, the film became popular with the masses and triggered an era wherein many more films supporting the Dravidian ideology were made. Vedham Pudhidhu[28] by Bharathiraja was one of the biggest hits of the 1980s. The story revolved around a non-Brahmin boy who learns music from a respected Brahmin . In the process, he falls in love with the priest's daughter and the duo prepare to elope when confronted by opposition from the society. In recent times, Iyers have been portrayed as conservative and narrow-minded in films as Avvai Shanmugi, Panchathanthiram, Dasavatharam and Seval.
There have also been a few non-Tamil films in which Iyers have been portrayed in a negative way. The portrayal of Iyers in Aparna Sen's Mr and Mrs Iyer can be viewed as negative, but it also shows a positive change in one's outlook due to the dramatic events that occurred.
1 2 3 Guy, Randor (8 February 2008). "Nandanar – 1935". The Hindu: Cinema Plus/ Columns. Chennai, India. Archived from the original on 23 May 2008. Retrieved 20 July 2008.
↑ Guy, Randor (1 February 2008). "Seva Sadanam – 1938". The Hindu: Cinema Plus/ Columns. Chennai, India. Archived from the original on 23 May 2008. Retrieved 20 July 2008.
Iyers are an ethnoreligious community of Tamil-speaking Brahmins. Most Iyers are followers of the Advaita philosophy propounded by Adi Shankara and adhere to the Smarta tradition. This is in contrast to the Iyengar community, who are adherents of Sri Vaishnavism. The Iyers and the Iyengars are together referred to as Tamil Brahmins. The majority of Iyers reside in Tamil Nadu, India.
The Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam is an Indian political party based in the state of Tamil Nadu, where it is currently the ruling party, and the union territory of Puducherry, where it is currently the main opposition.
Iyengars are an ethnoreligious community of Tamil-speaking Hindu Brahmins, whose members follow Sri Vaishnavism and the Visishtadvaita philosophy propounded by Ramanuja. Found mostly in the Southern Indian states of Tamil Nadu, Karnataka, and Andhra Pradesh, Iyengars are divided into two denominations, the Vadakalai and the Tenkalai. The community belongs to the Pancha Dravida Brahmana classification of Brahmins in India.
The Justice Party, officially the South Indian Liberal Federation, was a political party in the Madras Presidency of British India. It was established on 20 November 1916 in Victoria Public Hall in Madras by Dr C. Natesa Mudaliar and co-founded by T. M. Nair, P. Theagaraya Chetty and Alamelu Mangai Thayarammal as a result of a series of non-Brahmin conferences and meetings in the presidency. Communal division between Brahmins and non-Brahmins began in the presidency during the late-19th and early-20th century, mainly due to caste prejudices and disproportionate Brahminical representation in government jobs. The Justice Party's foundation marked the culmination of several efforts to establish an organisation to represent the non-Brahmins in Madras and is seen as the start of the Dravidian Movement.
Dravidar Kazhagam is a social movement founded by "Thanthai Periyar" E. V. Ramasamy. Its original goals were to eradicate the ills of the existing caste system including untouchability and on a grander scale to obtain a "Dravida Nadu" from the Madras Presidency. Dravidar Kazhagam would in turn give birth to many other political parties, including Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam and later the All India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam.
Conjeevaram Natarajan Annadurai, popularly known as Anna, also known as Perarignar Anna, was an Indian politician who served as the fourth and last Chief Minister of Madras State from 1967 until 1969 and first Chief Minister of Tamil Nadu for 20 days before his death. He was the first member of a Dravidian party to hold either post.
Anti-Brahminism is a term used in opposition to caste based hierarchal social order which places Brahmins at its highest position. Initial expressions of Anti-Brahminism emerged from instances of pre-colonial opposition to the caste system in India, ideological influences during the colonial period, and from a colonialist Protestant Christian understanding of religion in the 19th century, which viewed "Brahminism" as a corrupted religion imposed on the Indian population.
Sir Ponnambala Thiaga Rajan was the First Minister of Madras Presidency from 4 April 1936, to 24 August 1936. He was also the last President of the Justice Party. P. T. Rajan was born in a Thondaimandala mudaliar family in Uthamapalayam. His ancestors were from Kanchipuram. He attended The Leys School, Cambridge and later, Jesus College, Oxford. He graduated in history and law, and practiced as an advocate for some time before joining the Justice Party.
Dravidian nationalism, or Dravidianism, developed in Madras Presidency which comprises the four major ethno-linguistic groups in South India. This idea was popularized during the 1930s to 1950s by a series of widespread and popular movements and organizations that contended that the South Indians formed a racial and a cultural entity that was different from the North Indians. Dravidianists argue that the Brahmins and other upper castes were originally Aryan migrants from outside of India, and that they imposed their language, Sanskrit, religion and heritage on the Dravidian people. The claim is based on widespread evidence of the genetic differences between North and South Indians, the linguistic differences between the two regions, and the fact that Indo Aryan Languages share a common ancestor with European languages such as English and likely originated outside of India. The hypothesis has ancient origins based on Sangam literature and the concept of Tamilakam but was codified in its modern form by E. V. Ramasami Periyar. The theory is contested by supporters of Hindutva who see it as a threat to Hindu essentialism.
Brahmin Tamil is the name of a dialect of Tamil traditionally spoken by Tamil Brahmins. The dialect, largely, uses Classical Tamil along with a heavy proportion of Sanskrit derivatives.
Dravida Nadu is the name of a proposed sovereign state demanded by the Justice Party led by the founder of the self-respect movement, E.V. Ramasamy Periyar, and the Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (DMK) led by C. N. Annadurai for the speakers of the Dravidian languages in South India.
Nandanar, also known as Thirunaallaippovaar and Tirunallaipovar Nayanar, was a Nayanar saint, who is venerated in the Hindu sect of Shaivism. He is the only Dalit saint in the Nayanars. He is generally counted as the eighteenth in the list of 63 Nayanars. Like the other Nayanars, he was a devout devotee of the god Shiva.
Dravidian parties include an array of regional political parties in the state of Tamil Nadu, India, which trace their origins and ideologies either directly or indirectly to the Justice Party and the Dravidian movement of C. Natesanar and Periyar E. V. Ramasamy. The Dravidian movement was based on the linguistic divide in India, where most of the Northern Indian, Eastern Indian and Western Indian languages are classified as Indo-Aryan, whereas the South Indian languages are classified as Dravidian. Dravidian politics has developed by associating itself to the Dravidian community. The original goal of Dravidian politics was to achieve social equality, but it later championed the cause of ending the domination of North India over the politics and economy of the South Indian province known as Madras Presidency.
Erode Venkatappa Ramasamy, revered by his followers as Periyar or Thanthai Periyar, was an Indian social activist and politician who started the Self-Respect Movement and Dravidar Kazhagam. He is known as the 'Father of the Dravidian movement'. He rebelled against Brahmin dominance and gender and caste inequality in Tamil Nadu. Since 2021, the Indian state of Tamil Nadu celebrates his birth anniversary as 'Social Justice Day'.
C. Iyothee Thass was an Indian anti-caste activist and a practitioner of Siddha medicine. He famously converted to Buddhism and called upon the Paraiyars to do the same, arguing that this was their original religion. He also founded the Panchamar Mahajana Sabha in 1891 along with Rettamalai Srinivasan. Panchamas are the ones who are outcastes.
Dravidian parties rose to power and prominence in the political stage of Tamil Nadu, a state in India, in the 1960s. The rise in power and political support was gradual until Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (DMK), a Dravidian party, formed the government in the state in 1967. Although since the 1970s the Dravidian parties have met with many break-aways and have taken rival stances against each other, the seat of power in Tamil Nadu has been with one or another Dravidian party. The increase in popularity of the Dravidian parties in the 1960s is attributed to several factors, including the fall of popularity of the Congress Government in the centre and the north–south disparity, as claimed by the Dravidian politics. The series of events climaxed with anti-Hindi agitation which led to the downfall of popularity of the then Indian National Congress government in the state and the eventual rise of Dravidian parties to power.
Periyar E. V. Ramasamy, also known as Ramaswami, EVR, Thanthai Periyar, or Periyar, was a Dravidian social reformer and politician from India, who founded the Self-Respect Movement and Dravidar Kazhagam. In 1919 Periyar Ramaswamy joined the Indian National Congress after quitting his business and resigning from public posts. He was the chairman of Erode Municipality and undertook Constructive Programs spreading the use of Khadi, picketing toddy shops, boycotting shops selling foreign cloth, and eradicating untouchability. In 1921, Periyar was imprisoned for picketing toddy shops in Erode. When his wife as well as his sister joined the agitation, it gained momentum, and the administration was forced to come to a compromise. He was again arrested during the Non-Cooperation movement and the Temperance movement. In 1922, Periyar was elected the President of the Madras Presidency Congress Committee during the Tirupur session where he advocated strongly for reservation in government jobs and education. His attempts were defeated in the Congress party due to a strong presence of discrimination and indifference. He later quit the party on those grounds in 1925.
Bhakta Nandanar is a 1935 Tamil-language film directed by Manik Lal Tandon. It marked the cinematic debut of the Carnatic singer and stage artist K. B. Sundarambal. She was paid a then unprecedented ₹100,000 as salary for this film. This was also the first film for Ellis R. Dungan. No print of the film is known to survive, making it a lost film.
Tamil Renaissance refers to the literary, cultural, social reform and political movements that took place in the Tamil-speaking districts of Southern India starting in the second half of the 19th century and lasting to the culmination of the anti-Hindi agitations of the 1960s.
The Self-Respect Movement is a popular human rights movement originating in South India aimed at achieving social equality for those oppressed by the Indian caste system, advocating for lower castes to develop self-respect. It was founded in 1925 by S. Ramanathan who invited E. V. Ramasamy to head the movement in Tamil Nadu, India against Brahminism. The movement was extremely influential not just in Tamil Nadu, but also overseas in countries with large Tamil populations, such as Sri Lanka, Burma, Malaysia and Singapore. Among Singapore Indians, groups like the Tamil Reform Association, and leaders such as Thamizhavel G. Sarangapani were prominent in promoting the principles of the Self-Respect Movement among the local Tamil population through schools and publications.
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