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Showing posts from August, 2013

Chola Warlords: Who Were the Paluvettaraiyars?

Ponniyin Selvan I movie poster showing actor Sarathkumar as Periya Paluvettaraiyar and actor Parthiban as Chinna Paluvettaraiyar. In 2024, Oxford University Press published  Minor Majesties: The Paluvēṭṭaraiyars and Their South Indian Kingdom of Paluvūr, 9th–11th Centuries A.D ., a groundbreaking study by historian Valerie Gillet. In the book’s opening chapter, A Tentative Biography of the Paluvettaraiyars , Gillet delves into the lineage and origins of this influential fami ly.  These Chola warlords traced their lineage to the formidable Maravars, an ancient warrior tribe renowned for their valor. However, I believe that while the Paluvettaraiyars were indeed of Maravar descent, they likely forged alliances through intermarriage with those of the Kallar and Agambadiyar clans, further solidifying their power and influence. Prominent figures in the medieval Chola era, the Paluvettaraiyars played a pivotal role in shaping the empire’s political and military landscape. Through st...
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The Malaysian Mukkulathor Story

Janaki Thevar was a freedom fighter who was among the first women to join the INA. The Tamils have several social groups which we call as caste. Each caste is made of clans with common origin. These clans are known as Jati in Sanskrit and Kulam in Tamil.  Unlike many people would want to believe, the Tamil ethnic is not a single clan or single tribe ethnic. It is actually a collection of social groups which shares a common mother tongue, Tamil.  Each of these social group or caste has its own culture and tradition. The Tamil castes also originated from different region of ancient Tamilakam. In the olden days, the castes were seen as separate ethnics and they do not intermarry with each other. Tun.V.T.Sambanthan Thevar. One of the prominent leaders who played a crucial role in gaining citizenship for the Malaysian Indians. Tun Sambanthan and his wife Toh Puan Uma Sundari used to travel to various estates to ensure that the Indians are registered as both citizens an...
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Malaysian Heroes in Facebook

Today I would like to highlight a few Facebook pages in my blog. These pages were started by concerned Malaysians. They can be individuals, a group of friends or even NGO. I consider these pages as a MUST FOLLOW for the betterment of the Malaysian public. I do not admire certain pages that used to be very popular especially among the Malaysian Indian FB users. There were many pages and bloggers who used to run their show under the pretext of educating the Indian community. Although they started out well, they end up deviating from the original motive. Their pages became a platform for rampant cyber bullying among the Malaysian Indian community. In a Malaysian layman terms, it functioned more as a portal for 'kutuking' among the Indians rather than providing solutions to the existing issues faced by the community. These pages come and go. Many such pages have been removed. To me, they are just passing clouds.   The ones which I am going to highlight are the real uns...
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Caste Surnames Among Malaysia FB Users

The previous post on Dravidian Politics & Surnames have raised many questions regarding the surnames of the Tamils or Indians in general. This time the focus is on Indians who live in Malaysia. "Do they use caste surnames?" The answer is Yes and No. Many Indians may not have their caste surname on official records such as birth certs. But the use of caste surnames is quite popular in business cards, wedding invitation and lately social media such as Facebook. I decided to do a small study on the popularity of caste surnames among Malaysian residents who use Facebook.  Lately, Facebook introduced a new tool called the Graph Search. It gives better search results than the classic interface. The Graph Search allows us to be more specific in our search. We can filter it according to what we want to look for. My search was limited to certain surnames used by the South Indian castes in Malaysia. The North Indians use surnames too. The surnames usually re...
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The Indian confusion - Race, Caste, Clan & Surnames

Before you read, keep in mind that this was not written with the intention to divide the people. It was written with the intention to explain the meaning of each group. The write up on my journey in Bali is still in progress. I have to transfer some image files in order to upload them. So I thought of writing about the biggest confusion in the Indian Malaysian community. It is a sensitive one too. But clarification should be given. Else, when are we going to understand it? To my friends of other races who happened to read my blog, this will probably be enlightening as many may not be aware of our demographics. First of all, there are two main classification for us in Malaysia. Indian & Ceylonese. Many assume it to be a homogenous race like Chinese, but it isn't. The Chinese have many languages but they have a common language called Mandarin. They also have one writing script. This is what makes the over 1 billion Chinese worldwide as a homogenous race. Ancient Chinese ...
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Dogs of Tamil Nadu

Pictures taken from Google. Credit goes to the various people who uploaded them. I apologise for not being able to identify the original owner of the pics. Whenever we speak of dogs, we tend to focus on the European breeds.  This is due to their popularity and demand. Unknown to many, India has about 88 native dog breeds. Six of these breeds are from the southern state of Tamil Nadu. Most of these dogs from Tamil Nadu evolved naturally. That makes them more suitable to the hot climate in the south. Furthermore, these dogs require less medical attention as their immune system is stronger, making them less prone to disease which are common among the European breeds. In Tamil Nadu, we can find breeds like the famous Rajapalayam, Kombai, Alangu Mastiff, Chippiparai, Kanni and Malayeri. Both the Alangu Mastiff and Malayeri are now extinct. Malayeri The Malayeri (hill climber) was a shepherd dog used by the tribals to herd sheeps. It was commonly found in the hills of Tamil Na...
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Muniswaran Worship

(Pictures taken from Google except for the Banyan tree) Hinduism is a world of its own. It is not a single book religion like the Abrahamic religions. It is actually a collection of various religions, philosophies, doctrines, rituals and practices. In Hinduism, worship of minor deities is also practiced. Although it is not part of mainstream Hinduism, it still plays an important part in the daily lives of many individuals and families. The worship of minor deities is much more common in rural areas. It is often more of a clan or family affair. The minor deities fall into different categories. One of it is a class of powerful spirits known as Muni. My family use to offer worship under this tree in Klang. My interest in Muni worship started at a very young age. I have always been a curious kid. I ask alot of questions.. I still am a curious person. Always looking for more clues and hopefully some answers. It is perhaps my late paternal grandmother, Letchumy, who ign...
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