THE NEW IDEOLOGICAL DIVIDES WE MUST CHOOSE BETWEEN NOW

THE NEW IDEOLOGICAL DIVIDES WE MUST CHOOSE BETWEEN NOW. HERE IS A TYPICAL ONE

Two groups of Iyengars clashed on the streets of Chinna Kanchipuram over the chanting of hymns at the Varadaraja Perumal  temple. The long festering ideological clleavage between the Thankalai and Vadakalai Iyengars spilled over from the temple courtyards to the courts and now to the streets. Commenting on the intractabiity of the dispute , Justice Vaidyanathan of the Madras High Court istated:,“Temple is a place of worship where anybody can pray. Unfortunately, as there is difference between Vadakalai and Thenkalai of Iyengar community, the issue is yet to attain finality. As long as this globe exists in the orbit, their differences would not be resolved. Instead terming themselves as ‘human being’, they should first know how to be ‘being human’.”

Iyengars are a sub-sect of the Hindu Brahmin community and are worshippers of Lord Vishnu. The main difference between Vadakalai and Thenkalai sects of the Iyengar community is the language in which their prayer books are written.

While the Vadakalai sect focuses more on Sanskrit-based traditions, the Thenkalai sect focuses on Tamil-based traditions.

Vadakalai Vaishnavism originally flourished around Kanchipuram, which was a popular centre for Sanskrit learning, Thenkalai Vaishnavism centred on Srirangam.

Vadakalai sect focused on Vedic literature which is written in Sanskrit and the Thenkalai sect stressed the importance of Divya Prabandhams, written by the 12 Alwars in Tamil.

The Vadakalai Iyengars’ faith stems from the Vedas and the Thenkalai sect of Vaishnavites base their rituals on verses recited in Tamil language.

In the past, the two sects have sparred over how the namam (caste-mark) on the forehead of Lord Venkateshwara’s idol in Tirumala should look like – ‘U’ shaped namam for Vadakalais and ‘Y’ shamed namam for Thenkalais. Differences have also emerged between the followers of the two sects over the interpretation of the ancient epics (Ramayana) and the ideas of soul, happiness, liberation, suffering and God.

The most fascinating story among the skirmishes between the two groups is the one fought at Kanchipuram spanning over several centuries. It was over which namam should adorn the sacred elephant at the Sri Devarajaswami temple in Kanchipuram near Chennai.

According to a Madras High Court judgment delivered in 1976 over this case, the dispute goes back all the way to the year 1792. Yes, you read that right. The two sects actually went to court over which type of namam should be painted on the elephant, and the trouble started more than 220 years ago.

The internecine battle went on for decades and reached a flashpoint in the year 1853 when the colonial government was dragged in to sort-out the issue. In the year 1854, on the basis of an investigation by the Collector, a civil judge ordered that the Thengalai style forehead-marking will adorn on the temple’s elephant.

The Vadakalais refused to comply. The fights continued between the two sects, with the Vadakalai sect refusing to obey the court’s orders. More cases and appeals were filed, and each side accused the other of either disobeying the court's orders or not following established practice.

In 1858, following a strict censure from the court, the Thenkalai namam was painted on the elephant, much to the disappointment of the Vadakalais. In response, the Vadakalai trustees then paraded the elephant with a cloth on top of the Thengalai namam. That cloth had a Vadagalai namam painted on it. Thenkalais complained to the court again, and a fine of Rs 50 was imposed on the Vadagalais for contempt of court. An appellate court later set aside the fine, but reaffirmed that Thenkalai namam must be painted on the elephant. The last elephant of this era died in 1894.

Between 1894 and 1940, there is no clarity over whether the temple owned an elephant, and if it did then what marking was on its forehead. Not wanting to get into the issue, the Madras High Court judge simply accepted that there was no elephant owned by the temple in those years.

In 1942, things blew up again. The Maharaja of Travancore gifted an elephant to the temple on the condition that it must adorn the Vadakalai namam. Thengalais, again, went to court over it. This time however, the courts ruled in favour of the Vadakalais since the elephant was given on the specific condition that it carry their namam. Another round of litigation and counter-litigation followed. By March 1965, that elephant died, but the case went on.

The case went on because on November 17, 1965, Vadakalais got another elephant to the temple with their namam. Six days later, Thengalais went to court against it. This time, the trial court decreed that the Thengalais had the original right to paint the elephant with their namam. The case then went all the way up to the Madras High Court, which admonished the Vadakalai’s for their intolerant attitude towards the court, and ordered that the Thenkalais be given the right. This was the judgment which was delivered in 1976.

It was a landmark judgment, but the quarrel expectedly did not end there. Several rounds of litigation followed. Finally in 1997, the courts came up with a startlingly simple solution to the 200-year old problem: both the sects were asked to have an elephant each adorning the respective namams. The two groups were to maintain the elephants at their own cost and an appointed caretaker at the temple would treat both the elephants equally during rituals and religious events. This practice is reportedly still being followed.

https://www.thehindu.com/news/cities/chennai/row-over-chanting-of-hymns-at-chinna-kanchipuram/article27250310.ece

https://www.thenewsminute.com/article/cats-monkeys-and-elephants-internecine-battles-iyengar-brahmins