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The Tamil Nadu culture minister, Mr M. Tamizhkudimagan, last week
inaugurated a laksharchana (a lakh prayers) at the Madurai Meenakshi
temple. This week, he will participate in a kodiarchana (a crore prayers)
at the Kapileshewar temple here.
There is an unusual aspect to the rituals - they are not being conducted in
the time-honoured Sanskrit, but in chaste Tamil.
The DMK government is determined top ensure that Tamil replaces Sanskrit as
the deivabhasha (language of the gods) in the 3,700 temples statewide.
Archanas (prayers) are henceforth to be conducted in Tamil.
In the Seventies, when the chief minister, Mr M. Karunanidhi, pressed for
Tamil in temples, his proposal had been shot down by various bastions of
the pro-Sanskrit Brahmin orthodoxy.
"Unlike the last time, we will ensure that the orders are implemented
fully, effectively and enthusiastically by the priests," Mr Tamizhkudimagan
said.
Since temples here are administered by the state under the Hindu Religious
and Charitable Endowments Act, officers in charge of various shrines will
be asked to make the drive a success.
However, the minister pointed out that for those who want it, particularly
non-Tamilians, archanas will also be made available in Sanskrit, Palani,
for instance draws pilgrims from Kerala, and Rameshwaram, worshippers from
the North.
That Tamil be accepted as the language of temples has long been the demand
of the leaders of the Dravidian movement.
Curiously, this coexists with the anti-religion anti-God stance of the
movement. Dravidian leaders have always seen the monopoly of Sanskrit in
temples as a continuation of the Brahminical hegemony.
"Brahmins have traditionally used Sanskrit as a marker of their status in
society," said Mr M.S.S. Pandian, reader at the Madras Institute of
Development Studies and specialists in Dravidian politics. "So the
Dravidian movement's anti-God stance and its call for democratisation of
temples by using Tamil are not necessarily conflicting points of view," he
said.
Cho Ramaswamy, editor of Tughlaq, said the drive need not offend anyone if
Sanskrit is not totally banned in temples.
The bid to replace Sanskrit with people-friendly Tamil in temple rituals
dates back to the 19th century. The first wave of opposition to Sanskrit's
temple hegemony had come from the non-Brahmin, high caste Shaivaites.
The demand was raised by Mr Karunanidhi during his second tenure as chief
minister. But various agama schools (training institutions for priests),
like the Kancheepura Mutt, and other religious bodies opposed it. The DMK
leader had been angered enough to threaten that he would "drive out"
Sanskrit, God and religion from Tamil Nadu to North India, if Tamil was not
given a place in temples.
This time round, he intends not to give in to his opponents. According to
Mr Tamizhkudimagan, "Why should anyone object to Tamil in temples? It is
not a new idea - we have Shaivaite and Vaisnavite texts in Tamil dating
back to several centuries. These are known to all and will easily replace
Sanskrit."
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