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.