Hindu Gods and the Brahmin community in particular, have been favourite punching bag for many Dravidian politicians ever since the rationalist ideology took root in Tamil Nadu fifty years ago. While the moderates in these parties played along by not objecting & other Hindus remained indifferent, the Brahmins suffered in silence stomaching one humiliation after another churned out at regular intervals either as a political rhetoric or as creative freedom. But there has been method to this madness, these rationalists pick & choose a select few Hindu gods and never ever attack beliefs & faith of other religions not even the Village gods like Ayyanar, Muniyappan, Ellaiamman or Madurai Veeran who are predominantly worshipped by non-Brahmin in Rural Tamil Nadu. While I am happy that at least these Gods were spared from abuse, this perhaps explains why the larger Hindu community don’t come out in support of Brahmins whenever they or their faith is attacked with no provocation.     

While Lord Ram & Hanuman have been favourite target of these so-called rationalist, this time the God under attack was a reincarnation of Sri Mahalakshmi who was found by Periazhwar, an ardent devotee of Lord Vishnu as a baby near the Tulasi plant in the temple in response to his prayers. He named her Kodai, who grew up to become Aandal & the only female Alwar among the 12 Alwar saints of South India. Growing up in Srirangam & Mylapore, the TamBrahm heartland, I remember my blood boiling seeing these crass innuendos & insults only to be told by the elders that God is great & will give these sinners the punishments that they deserve.

Having learnt to live with the humiliation in our land, it was heartening to see the Brahmins spontaneously coming out of their comfort zone in large numbers across Tamil Nadu and voice their protest demanding an unconditional written apology from the repeat offender & famous song writer Vairamuthu. What was even more encouraging was women folk coming out in large numbers along with men and defend their favourite goddess Aandal, who through her sheer devotion, love & persistence ended up marrying Lord Ranganathar of Srirangam.

Given the track record of the TamBrahms in standing up to these bullies, national award-winning poet & a DMK sympathiser, Vairamuthu might not have expected this kind of reaction to the speech he delivered in the first week of January at the Srivilliputhur Aandal Temple on the topic “Tamilisai Aandal”. What’s even more painful is that he was invited there to mark the celebration of the pious month of Margazhi & he ended up offending the very same constituency that was celebrating this. During his controversial speech, he quoted an Indian American scholar who apparently said that Aandal was a “devadasi” who lived & died in the temples of Srirangam in the 7th Century.  In ancient Southern India, Devadasis were the female servant of god "dedicated" to worship and service of a deity or a temple for the rest of her life. Traditionally devadasis had a high status in society but when the Kings, who were their patrons, lost their power during British rule, they were left without support & struggled to continue their traditional profession. Unfortunately, the term Devadasi acquired disputable connotation over the years & completely disappeared after the government outlawed it completely in 1988 & today many take offense if referred to as a Dasi.  

While his ridiculous & attention seeking fake reference has been countered with facts by spiritual leaders & intellectuals, Police complaints were filed in many police stations & demonstrations held in many places across the state. Notable protest was held in Srivilliputhur, the home base of Aandal and at Srirangam, the place where Aandal is believed to have married Lord Ranganathar. Peaceful demonstrations were also held in many places in Chennai including Mylapore, Triplicane, Nanganallur & Chepauk. In the temple town of Kumbakonam, devotees staged a novel protest in a unique manner - taking out a procession singing Aandal’s sacred hymns and pasurams to drive home the message. Almost all of the leading Tamil Spiritual leaders from Tamil Nadu, who have been totally apolitical, including Sriperumbadur Sri Appan Jeeyar, Ramanuja Jeeyar, Emperumanar Jeeyar & Velukudi Krishnan & many others participated to voice their protest against Vairamuthu & demanding his apology.

Not to be left behind, the ever vocal Twitterati’s complemented the real-world protestors on streets of TN by venting out their anger and amplifying the protests held on the ground by sharing Pictures & Video clippings of the same. Like it happens often, tweeples also dug out many old video’s & transcripts of Vairamuthu resorting to such cheap tactics in the past to garner attention. An online petition by Sri Aandal Trust was also raised calling for an unconditional apology from Vairamuthu for hurting the sentiments of devotees.

While many rationalist, politicians, intellectuals & left liberal journos came in support of Vairamuthu, the poet rattled by the protests & reactions issued a statement, claiming that his reference was being incorrectly perceived and that Tamilisai Aandal was a tribute to Poetess Aandal celebrating her contribution to Tamil. Appealing to the intellect setting aside raw emotions, he concludes his wishy-washy statement by saying that his purpose of his speech was to spread love & joy!  While the notorious “The Hindu” considers the above statement as an apology & want the Brahmins to put this issue to rest, the protestors & Twitterati are in no mood to relent and keeping up the protest against Vairamuthu as we publish this article & hope that this is the beginning of the much-awaited awakening of the Hindu community in Tamil Nadu.

Notes for the Title: While I have literally translated the title, there is a fascinating legend behind that title. Andal is believed to have worn the garland every day before dedicating it to the presiding deity of the temple. Her father, who later found it, was highly upset and remonstrated her. Maha Vishnu appeared in his dream and demanded that henceforth he should dedicate only the garland worn by Aandal to him. The girl Kothai was thus named Aandal and was referred as Chudikodutha Sudarkodi (lady who gave her garland to Vishnu).