Tamil Nadu Governor RN Ravi has got himself into a controversy yet again by presiding over a ‘sacred thread’ ceremony for 100 Dalit persons in M Adhanur village of the Cuddalore district. He was attending the Guru Pooja of Nandanar (Thirunalaipovar) –a Dalit Tamil Nayanar saint – on Wednesday, October 4, organised by the Tamil Seva Sangam and Sivakulathor shivite trust. Several leaders including Viduthalai Chiruthaigal Katchi (VCK) MP Thol Thirumavalavan have now slammed the Governor for participating in the event.
Reportedly, 501 devotees from different non ‘upper caste’ communities, including nearly 100 Dalits were present at the event and were made to undergo ‘upanayanam’ – the Poonul-wearing ceremony. Poonul is a ‘sacred thread’ worn by privileged caste men, especially Brahmins. RN Ravi gave a speech at the event in which he said that there were no inequalities in the Vedas, and that “we are equal”. “People who came later made such divisions and ostracised a group of us calling them ‘Shudras’, which is an insulting act,” he said.
Further, referring to Vengavayal and Nanguneri caste crimes, he said that there was an increase in caste atrocities in the state, in which even school students have been involved. Stating that while such crimes were reported across India, he pointed out how Tamil Nadu has been witnessing more such cases. He also raised concern about school students identifying as caste groups by wearing coloured threads on their hands.
Speaking about other caste-based crimes, Ravi said, “We don’t know what sort of social justice this is. It has been continuing for 75 years and we have to stop this with iron fists.”
The event has triggered a strong backlash, especially from the VCK, whose leader Thol Thirumanavalan said that this was an ‘affront to the working class people’, and called it an example of ‘Sanatana Dharma’. “This is insulting the people of the working class in the name of their upliftment. Does the Governor say that others who do not wear Poonul are inferior? Will the Governor make the Adi Dravidars who are dressed in Poonul as temple priests?” he asked. He also referred to the folklore of Nandanar, according to which he was degraded as an ‘untouchable’, and said that such stories should be dispelled.
The Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam also criticised the event, and the party’s IT wing posted on social media platform X: “Poonul is a symbol of holiness? Will the governor and his group agree to make Adi Dravidars, the original inhabitants of this land, as temple priests? Will all Hindus dare to declare themselves casteless?”
According to legends, Adhanur is the native place of Saint Nandanar who belonged to the Pulaiyar community, who were considered ‘untouchables’. He was one among the 63 Nayanars who sang the Panniru Thirumurai (12 volumes of hymns) in praise of lord Shiva and contributed to the growth of the Shaivite movement in Tamil Nadu. Nandanar - who worked as a landless Dalit labourer in the field owned by a Brahmin man - wanted to pay his tribute to the presiding deity Shiva in the Tirupunkur temple. However, he was denied entry by his landlord, and one day as he managed to go near the temple, legend says that the Nandhi that was installed between the Shiva idol and the gate that barred his view, moved from its place to let him pray.
The folk tale further says that lord Shiva appeared in Nandanar’s dream and asked him to visit the Chidambaram Natarajar temple. He faced resistance there as well from the Brahmins, who urged him to prove his devotion to lord Shiva by walking on the holy fire. According to the myth, he came out of the fire ‘reborn’ with a ‘poonul’ and entered the temple.
It is to be noted that the gates of the Thillai Natarajar temple remain closed to date after the Dalit saint Nandanar entered it in the past, as a symbol of caste discrimination in Tamil Nadu.