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Showing posts from 2017

Manabharana Is Not Malay (Manabharana Bukan Melayu)

In recent times, an alarming narrative has emerged within the Malaysian blogosphere, suggesting a historical event that appears to be a misinterpretation or perhaps a deliberate misinformation campaign. The claim revolves around a so called Malay prince named Manabharana from Srivijaya, purportedly attacking and conquering the Chola kingdom. This misleading story has gained traction and is spreading like wildfire across various social media platforms. The need to address and rectify such inaccuracies is crucial not only for the sake of historical accuracy but also for fostering a responsible and informed online community. To delve into the matter, it is essential to clarify that historical records reveal the existence of multiple individuals named Manabharana throughout history. However, a nuanced understanding reveals that all these figures were Tamils (Damila) hailing from the Pandya kingdom, with references to their exploits documented in Tamil inscriptions and Sri Lankan chronicles
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The Concept of Avatara Purusha

Vishnu in the form of Venkateswara or Balaji in Tirupathi. Picture source unknown. The Samkhya philosophy speaks about the duality of reality. Samkhya is one of the 6 valid philosophies of Hinduism. Buddhism was influenced by Samkhya. It contains humanistic and practical values. The cosmos is known as Purusha and the energy or nature that sustains it is called Prakriti. If Purusha is Static, Prakriti is Dynamic. The Chinese call it Yin and Yang. For the Saivites, Siva is Purusha and Sakthi is Prakriti. In the Vaishnava religion, Narayana or Vishnu takes up the role of Purusha. His energy is called Vaishnavi. Vishnu is also the Preserver and Protector of Dharma. As we all know, Vishnu has many Avatars or incarnations. In the Bhagavat Gita, Krishna mentioned that whenever there is a decline in Dharma, he will be reborn again and again to uphold Dharma. This brings us back to the concept of Purusha or the cosmos itself.  The cosmos repairs itself. It does not have an external
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Tamil and The Sanskrit Aindra Grammar School

The oldest available Tamil book known as Tolkappiyam written by Tolkappiyan is dated to be from 300-400bc. In this book, Tolkappiyan has mentioned that the natural languages spoken by the people in the region between Venkatam and Kumari (Indian Ocean) was formalised into Tamil. This process was done based on the Aindra grammar system which happened to be a Sanskrit grammar system. Tolkappiyan was well versed in the Aindra system. On other words, formal Tamil which we consider as the Classical Tamil was influenced by Sanskrit grammar school. Aindra is called as Aindiram in Tamil and the word Aindra simply means from Indra as he was considered to be the founder of this system. Tolkappiyan's teacher was a person who was well versed in the 4 Vedas. This was mentioned by Tolkappiyan himself in Tolkappiyam. It also explains why Tamil starts with syllable "ka" like most of other Indian languages. For reference, I am attaching the prologue taken from Tolkappiyam. It is in
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Sauram & NavaGraha

Picture Credit: Amar D.Gupta The Hinduism which we practice today is a consolidation of various matham (religion). Each matham has one primary God and it can be considered as monotheistic.  The traditional 6 religion which were said to be grouped together by Adi Sankara are known as Shaivam, Shaktam, Vaishnavam, Ganapatyam, Kaumaram and Sauram.  The primary God of Shaivam is Shiva, for Shaktam it is Shakti, for Vaishnavam it is Vishnu, for Ganapatyam it is Ganapathi, for Kaumaram it is Kumara (Muruga) and for Sauram it is Surya (Sun).  These 6 religions are collectively called as ShanMatham.  Shan is the Sanskrit word for the number 6.  There is also a tradition known as Smartham. The Smarthas worship God as ParaBrahma and accept the forms of God in the other mathams. Smarthas can worship any one of the primary God from ShanMatham as their favourite deity or IsthaDeivam. The present form of mainstream Hinduism is influenced by the Smartham tradition. There is a phras
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Jallikattu Is India's National Heritage

Jallikattu is a bull-taming or bull-embracing sport practised in the southern districts of Tamil Nadu. Although this sport is practiced mainly by people from the Mukkulathor community, it is participated by everyone irrespective of communal or religious background in Tamil Nadu. Jallikattu is the pride of the Tamil people. It has now become the symbol of Tamil unity. This sport originated in the Indus Valley civilisation about 4,000 years ago. According to the famous ephigraphist, Iravatham Mahadevan, a well preserved seal was found at Mohenjodaro in the 1930s. This seal shows a Jallikattu scene with a charging bull and several men thrown in the air as they try to control it. Even in Hindu scriptures, there has been mentions of Krishna taming bulls. Most of these bull tamers or as we call today, Jallikattu players, come from martial communities in southern Tamil Nadu.  In ancient times, those who were capable of being bull tamers were selected in the army of the kings. This
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Does God Only Understand Sanskrit?

Picture credit :mariaparaffina I had an interesting discussion with a few people this week. One of the question which I came across was if God only understands Sanskrit. You can actually pray in any language including English. You can even pray by heart without any sound. How do you think the deaf and mute pray? God is beyond linguistic boundaries. Sanskrit is a formulated language used mainly for mantric purpose. Although it can also be structured for daily conversation, it is not used as a mother tongue even by the Tamil Brahmins at home. They speak Tamil at home and many Brahmins can speak better Tamil than most of us. Because of its mantric values, Sanskrit is considered as a more suitable language for chanting. Tamil prayers are poetic and not mantric. You can sing Tamil prayers but you can't chant Tamil prayers. Tirumurai is sung in Pann Isai and not chanted in metres unlike the Sanskrit mantras from Vedas or Agamas. Singing prayers creates devotional attachment whi
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Popular posts from this blog

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 Nadu-K
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How To Find Your Kula Deivam?

*DISCLAIMER-Article written from a believer's perspective.  One of the most common questions I get from my readers is  "How do I find my Kula Deivam?" Kula Deivam is the patron deity of your lineage. Some families have more than 1 deity.  The easiest way to know your Kula Deivam is of course by knowing the ancestral village of your patrilineal lineage (father's side).  Usually the Kula Deivam shrines will be in the ancestral village. If the family has migrated to several villages, then the shrine will usually be in the main village where the family originated from. Knowing your caste or clan background is also helpful in finding out more about your Kula Deivam. For females, they have an advantage. They also inherit the Kula Deivam from their matrilineal lineage (mother's side). So if you are a woman, your mother's Kula Deivam (from her mother) will continue to be present throughout your life. If you are married, your husband's Kula Deivam (from
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