From: sp2@cec1.wustl.edu (Sundara Pandian)
Newsgroups: soc.culture.tamil
Subject: Raja raja chozhan, Sambandhar, Jain monks ( was Re: KANCHI ACHARYA SATI ETC.
Date: 26 Aug 1992 12:02:28 -0500
Organization: UTexas Mail-to-News Gateway
NNTP-Posting-Host: cs.utexas.edu

Meenan Vishnu writes :

In article <1992Aug23.214504.1683@ucbeh.san.uc.edu> siva@ucbeh.san.uc.edu writes:
>>> I am not denying that there are/were valuable contribution to the Tamil
>>> language by Bramin folks.  However, there are/were SOME Bramins 
>>> who in their selfish interest tried very hard to destroy Tamil works.
>>> (My favorite example again is the 'locking up of thEvaarams' by the Bramin
>>> high priests for 3 centuries, see my earlier postings for details)
>>> Meenan Vishnu
>>
>>Dear Meenan Vishnu;  Your comment on "locking up of thEvaarams"
>>is very interesting; obviously, I missed your earlier postings.
>>If I remember correctly, some thEvaarams were actually lost (?)
>>in the process. Adding to my curiosity is that nowhere have I 
>>heared any criticism of the "locking up act", may be there have
>>been(?). Can you please send copies of your earlier postings, if

>My earlier postings (pre-SCT)  were to SCI.  The thEvaarams are 
>Tamil saivaite hymns sung by naayanmaars as part of the Bhakthi
>revivalism in Tamil Nadu.   These thEvaarams were locked by the 
>Bramin high-priests for three centuires.  Later Raja raja cOzan
>managed to convice the high-priests to open these manuscripts 
>for public use.

>(Aside: This scene is portrayed in an old Tamil
>movie called 'Raja raja chOzhan'.  The high-priests say to the king
              ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
>that they have a tradition that the thEvaraam manuscripts would 
>be released olny if their singers came in person. (Remember they
>are saying this 3 centuries after the death of naayanmar!  In other 
>words they are saying 'get lost man we ain't gonna give to you'). 
>Raja raja cOzan agreed and came the following day with three bronze
>statues of Sambandar, Appar and Sundarar.  The priests hesitated and said
>they were just images.  The king restorted and said that even the Siva
>they are worshipping is also an image...  The Kings role was played
                                            ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
>by Sivaji Ganesan and he did his role quite well) 
 ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
   I was very moved by Sivaji Ganesan's performance as Samraat
 Asokan. It was a short play in one of his old movies and the
 play talks about how Samraat Asokan came to embrace Buddhism
 after winning a war. ( It is historically true also. ) In the
 movie Samraat Asokan visits the battlefield after his victory
 and he is pained to see mulilated bodies of soldiers and others
 in despair. Saamraat Asokan is very sad about what he had done
 and a Buddhist monk teaches the king the principles of Buddha
 and the king embraces Buddhism. The play ends with Sivaji 
 chanting                              
  ` Buddham charaNam gachchaami
    Dharmam charaNam gachchaami
    Sangam  charaNam gachchaami'  
   That Rajaraja chozhan recovered thEvaaram manuscripts is
 historically true. ( I am not sure whether he achieved it by
 winning the opposing Brahmins by a clever play as shown in the
 movie. This may be a movie gimmick. ) Though Sivaji Ganesan
 played the Raja raja chozhan very well as in the movie script,
 whether the real king was really as good as he was shown in the 
 movie is a big question. Kuppuswamy Ravindran once posted a good
 criticism of Kalki's historical novels and I remember reading
 some of his criticisms on Kalki's portayal of Chozha history
 in the days of Raja raja chozhan ( or Ponniyin Selvan .) 

>The king found that most of the palm leaf manuscripts were damaged
>by insects.  Only about 10% survived and he employed Nambi aaNdar
>nambi to publish them in Tamil Nadu and arrange that these hymns 
>be sung in Siva temples all over Tamil Nadu.  They are still sung 
>by 'Othuvaar' families in TN.  Sambandar is said to have
                                ^^^^^^^^^
>composed 65000 hymns (this he says in one of his hymn !) only about
>600 were recovered by Raja raja cOzan!

>It is my feeling that the Bramin high-priests felt that the use of
>Tamil hymns by the populace in temple worship would endanger their
>Sanskrit-based gimmicks that they employ to exploit the masses.  I am 
>sure that 'intelligent' netters can come up with other reasons
>for the 'locking up of thEvarams'.

> Regards,
> Meenan Vishnu

    I like to point out that the Saivist movement in the days of
 Sambandhar, Appar and Sundarar considered the Jains as their
 opponents and the mass murder of Jains was glorified by the     
 Saivas in their days.
    The Sambandhar that you quote in your article is said to have
 murdered 8000 Jain monks in one day in Madurai. [ Refer to the
 `chamaNargaLaik kazhuvil ERRiya padalam' in ThiruviLaiyaadaR
 puraaNam ] This day is still celebrated by Saivists by their
 tradition as a day of victory for them. 
     One might ask, `What is `kazhuvil ERRudhal' ? Is it like
 hanging ? To describe what it is, I suggest you to recollect
 the days when you had taked food at hotels in Tamilnadu. In
 some hotels, you are asked to pay the bill for your meals by
 yourself. You take the bill to the manager's table to pay for it.
 You might have noticed the manager piercing your bill in an erect
 pin along with other bills. `kazhu' is very much like that, but
 it is big in size. The Jain monks were killed pretty much like
 the hotel manager piercing the food bills in an erect pin on
 his table. It is a very horrible murder.  
                                                      S.PaaNdian
                                               sp2@cec1.WUSTL.edu
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