S P Rajendran
THE bicentenary of “Thol Seelai Porattam” (in Tamil) or “Maaru Marakkal Samaram” (in Malayalam) – the struggle by women of oppressed castes in the erstwhile Travancore to cover their upper bodies – was observed in Nagercoil, the headquarters of Kanniyakumari district in Tamil Nadu, on March 6. Tamil Nadu and Kerala Chief Ministers M K Stalin and Pinarayi Vijayan attended the event, joined by thousands of people.
The erstwhile Travancore kingdom comprised parts of present-day southern Kerala and southern Tamil Nadu. Wearing clothes to cover breasts was at the time – early 19th century – deemed a right only enjoyed by women of caste Hindus. Led by social reformers of the time, a number of women belonging to the 18 oppressed castes, including Nadar and Ezhava communities, agitated several times and were physically abused in retaliation by dominant caste men, before being legally allowed to cover their upper bodies in 1859. Both Stalin and Vijayan said they were honoured to be part of the 200th anniversary of the courageous revolt.
The ‘Thol Seelai Porattam’ opposed the sanatana dharma which is the root cause of the caste-based discrimination, and paved the path for social justice, Stalin said. “Today, Tamil Nadu has reached the highest place in terms of education, employment, economy, and civilisation. We weren’t in this status 50 years ago, or 100 years ago. In the past, all of us could not go to all the restaurants. Some eateries installed boards of ‘no entry’ to the panchamars and people with leprosy. There was a ban in theatres. Even in the trains, separate places were allocated for oppressed castes to eat. After the commencement of train services in India, there were demands from people to designate separate compartments for each varna,” Stalin said.
Recalling further instances of oppression which, he said, were higher in this part of the state, Stalin spoke of people not being allowed to carry umbrellas, wear slippers, or even cover their roofs with tiles. The discrimination against women of the oppressed castes and practices like disallowing upper garments were also not found in other parts of the state, he said.
He also referred to the historical story of the valiant fight of Nangeli, a lower caste woman, against the state of Travancore for imposing tax on covering women’s breasts. “In Thiruvithamkoor (Travancore), lower caste women were not allowed to cover their breasts. Those who dared were tortured. A breast tax was imposed on them. Can there be any worst form of injustice?” Stalin asked. He paid tribute to Nangeli, without naming her. “There was a woman who chopped off her breasts protesting the taxation.” The history books say that Nangeli’s protest that claimed her life sparked an uprising in Travancore leading to the Channar Revolt that ended with King Uthram Thirunal Marthanda Varma’s 1859 proclamation allowing lower caste women to cover their breasts.
THE FORGOTTEN LEGEND
Nangeli lived in Cherthala in Alappuzha district. Back then, women of lower castes in Travancore were prohibited from covering their breasts. The authorities extracted a “breast tax” from women according to the size of their breasts. According to the legend, Nangeli dared to oppose the tax and wore a “melmundu” (upper cloth) that angered the upper-caste men. One day the tax collectors knocked on her door. Freshly-cut plantain leaves had been laid out in front of the house for the tax to be placed upon as an offering. But Nangeli confronted them with a sickle. To the horror of the authorities, she chopped off her breasts and they fell on the plantain leaves. She bled to death, but her sacrifice infuriated the lower-caste women who rose in protest.
Stalin said that the place the incident is said to have happened, Mulachiparambu, is now a place of worship. “The protest against the breast tax started in 1822. For the next 50 years, this land witnessed the bravest protests,” he said.
A POLITICAL FIGHT
Kerala’s Maaru Marakkal Samaram and Tamil Nadu’s Thol Seelai Porattam are one and the same, said Kerala Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan. He linked the 19th-century ban on covering upper bodies to the “reformations” brought in by the then king of Travancore, Marthanda Varma, in his attempts to create a sanatana dharma rashtram. “Many inhuman systems were introduced, one of the most heinous acts being the taxation on parts of the human body. They used the law to stop women of the oppressed castes from covering their bodies. The Thol Seelai Porattam was one of the struggles against it. The contemporary and political significance of the struggle is made clear by the presence of M K Stalin. The Thol Seelai Porattam was not just against caste discrimination, it was also a political fight,” Vijayan said.
He said the sanatana Hindutva projected of the Sangh Parivar in India today has the same flavour of the sanatana dharma brought in by Marthanda Varma. “They are trying to establish brahmanical supremacy and bring back the dictatorial rule of the old days. That is proved by the continuing attacks on dalits and Muslims. Communalism by anyone is the enemy of humanity. A few states now exist without communalism. Tamil Nadu and Kerala are two of them,” the Kerala chief minister added. He said a united fight will politically confront forces like the RSS and the BJP.
ROLE OF AYYA VAIKUNDAR
Both the leaders paid tributes to Ayya Vaikundar in their speeches. Ayya Vaikundar Swami (a social reformer) began a struggle bringing together women and holding meetings with them. He had described the Travancore king as “Devil in Ananthapuri” and the British rule as “rule of white devils”. Against the background of growing popularity of Ayya Vaikundar and the convergence of people in his struggles in multitudes, a complaint was lodged against him with the king of Travancore Swathi Thirunal Rama Varma. The king arrested Ayya Vaikundar in 1838 and imprisoned him at Singarathoppe jail. After 110 days of imprisonment, on March 26, 1839 he was released. These types of agitations continued till July 26, 1859, when the governor of the then Madras, Charles Trevelyan, persuaded the king of Travancore to issue a proclamation allowing all women to wear upper-body clothes of their choice.
Remembering the reformists like Ayya Vaikundar and Periyar, Stalin said, “While the Keeladi civilisation showcases the regal living of the Tamils, the sanatana dharma divided people based on caste and treated the ‘oppressed castes’ like slaves and animals. We are indebted to the social reformists who ensured equality in the society. The 200-year-old struggle for the upper garment, which is one of the most valiant protests that Tamil Nadu has ever witnessed for social justice, must be remembered.” He appealed to Pinarayi Vijayan to jointly hold the centenary of the Vaikkom struggle which was led by Periyar. The Kerala chief minister accepted it.
CPI(M) Tamil Nadu state secretary K Balakrishnan appealed to the chief minister to include the stories of those who laid down their lives for winning the rights to wear upper garments in the curricula of schools and colleges in order to create awareness among the younger generations.
Chairman of the Tamil Nadu Minorities Commission S Peter Alphonse said the successful struggle for upper garment sowed the seeds for social justice and declared a war against caste discrimination. “Hence, the Tamil Nadu government must create a fitting monument in Nagercoil to tell the future generations about the valiant women’s struggle for wearing upper garment,” he said.
Tamil Nadu minister for information technology, T Mano Thangaraj, VCK leader Thol. Thirumavalavan, Ayya Vaikundar mutt head Bala Prajapathi Adikalar, Nagercoil MP Vijay Vasanth and many other dignitaries attended the event.
