The Perak Coronation Address

Whispering the royal secret into the ears of the ruler. 

Collecting water from 7 tributaries of Perak river in 7 pots. It will be used for the bathing ritual of the ruler. According to Hinduism, river water from 7 tributaries in 7 pots represents the holy rivers of Ganga, Yamuna, Godavari, Saraswati, Narmada, Sindhu and Kaveri.

Many people in Malaysia are now talking about the  Perak coronation. The Perak royal family still follows an ancient legacy. There are many elements of Hinduism and Animism in it.

Back in January 1881, W.E Maxwell of the Colonial Civil Service (British Malaya) published a journal about the Perak coronation. It is called as a Chiri. A Chiri is actually a coronation address and it contains Sanskrit words.

R.O. Winstedt and R.J. Wilkinson have also written about the Perak coronation and its Hindu influence in their book A History of Perak which was first published in June 1934.

The following is taken from The Straits Times, 2 March 1939, Page 4

I have included pages from W.E Maxwell's journal, An Account of The Malay Chiri, A Sanskrit Formula, at the end of this article. 

It will be best to read it with an open mind. Keep in mind that although there could be elements of Hinduism, the Perak royal family of today have embraced Islam. They are no longer Hindus.

As a Hindu Malaysian, I pray that the Almighty Mahadeva Shiva bless the new ruler of Perak and his loyal subjects.

DAULAT TUANKU!!!

The Science Behind Tamil Calendar

This article is written in such way so that those with no prior knowledge in astronomy understands it. There are actually more information which have been left out as it could confuse the readers.

Click the link below to read the previous article relevant to this topic:
http://sharmalanthevar.blogspot.com/2013/03/tamil-new-year-date.html

The Tamil people follow the Sidereal Solar Calendar. A sidereal year is the time it takes for Earth to orbit the Sun with respect to Zodiacs and also the time the Sun takes to return to the same position with respect to these Zodiacs. The Zodiacs are actually a set of fixed stars in the sky. 

The imaginary black circle around the Sun is known as the Ecliptic. Although Earth orbits the Sun in red circle, it does not follow a horizontal line. The Earth is actually tilted by 23.5 degrees. 

The points where the Earth's orbit touches the Ecliptic is known as Equinox. There are two Equinox. 

The first Equinox is known as the Spring Equinox. The last Equinox is known as the Autumnal Equinox. 

Presently, Spring Equinox happens around 20 March each year. This is the moment which the Telugu people celebrate as Ugadhi festival as per their Tropical Solar Calendar. 

Since the Earth rotates while orbiting the Sun and there is also its own wobbling, there will be a slow down. Because of this, there will be a slight shift in the Spring Equinox each year. This causes the arrival of seasons to fall back by 1 day once every 71.6 years. 

The position of the Zodiacs are permanent and this is an important reason to follow the Sidereal Solar Calendar. The first Zodiac is Aries and this Zodiac is located after the first equinox.

The entry of Earth into Aries is what we Tamils celebrate as Puthandu (New Year). It usually happens around April 14. 

There are some Tamil scholars who claim that Nacchinaarkiniyar, in his commentary to Tholkaappiyam says that Tamil New Year started in mid August (Aavani) and ended in mid July (Aadi). So they disagree with it starting in mid April (Chithirai).

What they don't realise is, there are many calendar cycles in India and each has a difference purpose. 

The year mentioned by Nacchinaarkiniyar actually refers to a spiritual year meant for the learning of Vedas. It is not the same as the ordinary material year which we follow.

This is the same concept which we can see in modern day companies having a separate financial year which does not begin on January 1. Some companies start their financial year in March instead of January 1. That does not mean the actual year begins in March.

Our Tamil ancestors did not blindly invent the Sidereal Solar Calendar. This is actually a very accurate calendar. It is not based on the birth of any religious Prophet. It is not based on any historical event. It is not a mere coincidence. 

It is based on the science of astronomy. This is the truth behind our calendar system which we have been following for many centuries. 

Movie Review - Komban (2015)

(SPOILER ALERT!)

I watched the much anticipated "controversial" Tamil movie, Komban, few hours ago.  Unlike what some caste based group like Puthiya Tamilagam  tried portraying, there is actually nothing controversial about this movie.

Prior to its release in Tamil Nadu, Dr.Krishnasamy of the Pallar caste dominated Puthiya Tamilagam, filed a petition in the court seeking to ban this movie. Dr.Krishnasamy claimed that this movie will cause caste clashes to happen. 

However, after watching this movie, I can boldly say that the protest is not based on any truth. It is clear that the protest was probably motivated by personal hatred. It was the same Dr.Krishnasamy who protested more than a decade ago and caused Kamal Hassan's Sandiyar to be renamed as Virumandi.

There was also a protest by a lawyer named Mr.J.Anthony Livingston. He claimed that the movie insults the Nadar community. However, this is not true as there is no reference to the Nadars in the movie. Furthermore, actor Sarathkumar who is also the president of the Nadigar Sangam, has spoken against the protest. Sarathkumar is also from the Nadar community.

For a start, let me just frankly clarify to all that Komban is about the Mukkulathor community of Ramanathapuram (Ramnad) district. It has the similar social atmosphere of Thevar Magan and Paruthi Veeran. This can be easily understood when one watches the movie although there is no mention of any caste name in their script. 

Furthermore, the names of the regions mentioned as Vellanadu, Semmanadu and Aappanadu; the kinship terminologies  such as Aiyah, Chinnaiyah, Mathani; names like Muthaiyah, Niraikulathan, Kombayyan, Doraipandi; worship of Karupusamy; use of weapons like Valari; phrases like "Vecha kudumi, adicha mottai" and "Kadichittu vaadanu sonna, kavvittu varanom, athanda unmaiyana Mara-payyen"; blowing of the conch and absence of Brahmin priest in the wedding scene just adds to the Mukkulathor-ism in the movie.

So it is not a secret that Komban has a caste flavor in it. Should this be a movie shot in Coimbatore and emphasizes on local culture, then it will be based on the local Vellala  Gounder caste. Karthi's other recent movie, Madras, is based on the political aspirations of the Parayar community.

This is not something bad at all as the movie makers only intend to create the right social atmosphere for their story line. Most importantly, it did not insult any particular caste. 

There may be caste flavor in such movies, but there is no casteism in a bad light. So why should we even protest about it? As viewers, we should have the maturity to accept it. This is not a culture shock for us Tamils.

Komban is based on the life of the people in three divisions of Ramnad named Vellanadu, Semmanadu and Aappanadu. These Nadus are usually old divisions of the kingdom which once existed. There are several Nadus like this in Tamil Nadu especially in the south.

Karthi plays the role of Kombayya Pandian. A no-nonsense, carefree butcher from Aappanadu. Tambi Ramiah acts as his maternal uncle, Rajakili. Kovai Sarala as Karthi's mother. Rajkiran as his father in law, Muthaiah, from Semmanadu. Lakshmi Menon as Pazhani, his wife; Karunas as Muniandi, his elder cousin; and Veluchamy Ramamoorthy (Mathayanaikootam) as his Chinnaiah named Doraipandi.

There is a power struggle in the local panchayat of these three Nadus. This is where the villain Kundan plays an important role. He, his sons, son-in-law and henchmen are the local mafia. They decide on the entire panchayat system and kills anyone who questions their authority.

Our hero Komban has a rough start with Muthaiah. He disrespects his father in law and during an argument, even hits him. Komban then realizes his mistake, promises his wife that he will tone down his temperament and work for the better. Things then get better between Komban and Muthaiah.

Fate some how adds a twist and causes Komban to cross swords with Kundan and his gang. The movie is then all about how Komban overcomes Kundan and saves his family especially his father in law from being killed by Kundan.

Like all other good Tamil movies, the hero defeats the villain and saves his family.

Komban is basically the more decent version of Paruthi Veeran with a happy ending. 

The presence of Thambi Ramaiah and Kovai Sarala in the movie brings in humor. Karunas, though a comedian, played a serious role. Rajkiran was as usual superb in his fatherly role. Lakshmi Menon too did well as a typical yet confident village girl. Can't think of anyone else to act in her role. Veluchamy who acted as Veera Thevar in Mathayanaikootam did well in this movie. However, he played a lesser serious and more joyful role.

If you are someone who does not like excessive fight scenes, then this movie is not for you. There will be a fight scene probably once almost every 15 minutes right from the start till the end of the movie. However, this is something which I expected.

As what one of my friends said "Namba padam, appadithaan irukom"

Other than that, the movie also emphasized on the importance of clan ties, family responsibilities, the importance of patience, and putting aside ego to seek forgiveness. The last reminded me of Kamal's message in Virumandi.

The entire movie was shot in villages in Ramanathapuram district except for one song which was shot in a village nearby Chennai. Sceneries were fine and suited the village theme.

I will say that GV Prakash did fairly good for the music and songs. My favourite is Kambikara Vetti.

Overall, I was entertained by this movie and will surely recommend others to watch it. I will give it a 3.7 out of 5.

Earlobe Stretching - Forgotten Culture of Tamil People

My father's eldest sister, Pichaiammal of Sivagangai district, Tamil Nadu. She was born in the 1930s and is probably among the last of the few Tamil women (Maravar) who have stretched earlobes. 

Culture changes according to time. Up to the previous generation, it was normal for Tamil women to practice earlobe stretching. 

Usually, a girl will be given a pair of heavy pair of earrings by her parents just before her wedding. The heavy pair of earrings displays their wealth. 

Some of these earrings weighs around 16 gram. These earrings are quite heavy and over the time, the weight stretches the earlobes. It is considered as a mark of beauty. Some also believe that the longer it stretches, the longer her life will be.

A scene from Angkor Wat that shows two group of people involved in cock fighting. The ones on the left have stretched earlobes. 
Source: http://www.oldworldwandering.com/

The earrings used by the Tamil women to stretch their earlobes are known as Thandatti and Pambadam. The word Pambadam comes from the Tamil word for serpent, Pambu. The Pambadam is shaped like a Cobra's hood.

Cobra is known as Naga in India. The Naga worship was very popular in ancient Tamil Nadu and also in other parts of ancient India. Today, Naga worship has been absorbed into mainstream Hinduism. 

Naga worship as part of Hinduism
Source: www.hinduwebsite.com

The ancient Naga worshippers were known as Nagar in Tamil language. Usually in English, we just call them as the Nagas. The Nagas were once spread all over the Indian subcontinent. 

Pambadam is probably a leftover of this ancient Naga culture. 

Apart from the Tamil people, earlobe stretching was also practised by other communities such as the Kenyah tribe of Borneo and the Masai tribe of Africa. 

We are not sure if they were part of the ancient Naga culture. Like the Tamils, these tribes also stretch their earlobes for the same purpose of beautifying themselves. 

Please take a look at the pictures below which I found in the internet. 

Reference:
Earring: Ornamental Identity and Beauty in India
by Waltraud Ganguly

Snake Earrings of India: Their social, religious and sumbolical context
by Waltraud Ganguly

A pair of Thandatti
http://www.saffronart.com/

A pair of  Pambadam
Source: http://www.saffronart.com/

Tamil woman with stretched earlobes
Source: http://m5.i.pbase.com/o2/75/648575/1/140360075.ss6OnPZc.Pambadam.jpg

Tamil woman with stretched earlobes
Source: http://m9.i.pbase.com/o1/75/648575/1/139707189.U9CcoU22.5xPambadamSnakeearringsinTamilNadu.JPG

Masai woman with stretched earlobes
Source: lavera-photo-stories.com

Masai woman with stretched earlobes
Source: dpreview.com

Kenyah woman with stretched earlobes
Source: Ardi Sayuti @ https://www.flickr.com/photos/adventure-borneo/3662246879/

Chetti vs Chettiar - Are Those in Malacca Confused?

There has been a lot of argument lately from the Malacca Chetti community in Facebook. They claim that Chetti and Chettiar are not the same. What they probably meant was the Peranakan Indian community and the Nattukottai community are not the same although both calls themselves as Chetti.

What is a Chetti?

Chetti is a titular surname used by the merchant castes of South India. When we say merchant castes, we are referring to a class of people categorised as Vaisyas in the Hindu Varna system. They can even be bankers, money lenders, businessmen, traders. 

Their surname is spelled as Chettu, Chetti, Chetty, Chitty, Setti, Setty, Shetty, Seth. Although the spelling and pronunciation may differ from one region to another, it carries the same meaning. North Indians from Rajasthan who came to do business in Tamil Nadu are generally called as Seth-ji.

The Chetty mentioned here is a Telugu Chetty. It does not refer to the Malacca Chetti.
PICTURE CREDIT: chennaidailyfoto.wordpress.com

The word Chetti in the Chettinad cuisine usually refers to the Nattukottai Chetti community of Karaikudi. It does not refer to the Malacca Chettis.
PICTURE CREDIT: http://www.tripadvisor.com.my/Restaurant_Review-g186338-d737343-Reviews-Chettinad_Restaurant-London_England.html

There are many castes in South India which use Chetti as their titular surname. Here are the list of examples:

24 Manai Telugu Chetti
Balija Chetti
Devangar Chetti
Elur Chetti
Kottar Chetti
Kuruhini Chetti
Moundadan Chetti
Nattukottai Chetti
Pathira Chetti
Pudukadai Chetti
Sadhu Chetti
Sozhia Chetti
Sundaram Chetti
Telugupatty Chetti
Valayal Chetti
Wynad Chetti

The word Chetti has been in existence in South India even before any Chetti men migrated to Malacca in 15th century AD. The Malacca Chetti have their roots in India. Because this is where their male ancestors came from.

We are unsure of which Chetti group migrated to Malacca. It must have been a few men from one of the Tamil speaking Chetti group. This is because the influence of Tamil in their religious practice can still be seen.

These Chetti men then married the local Malay women of Malacca, producing offspring of mixed races. This is why many of our Malacca Chetti friends don't look like South Indians. Some look like Chindians.

Recently, there were some individuals in Facebook who claim that Chetti and Chettiar are not the same. I believe this confusion happened because they don't understand Tamil language.

The word Chettiar is nothing but a more respectful version of the word Chetti. It is customary for Tamils to include the suffix "ar" behind the surnames so that when mentioned, it will sound more respectful.

This is how Chetti became Chettiar, Mudali became Mudaliar, Reddi became Reddiar and Nayak became Nayakar (Naicker).

When we say Chetti, it can refer to any South Indian merchant caste, not necessarily Malacca Chettis alone.  The word Chetti is still popular as a surname in South India and Sri Lanka. It is not exclusively a product of Malacca.

The Malacca Chetti community are under the false impression that the word Chettiar only refers to the other Chetti castes such as the Nattukottai Chetti who arrived in then Malaya during the British period.

Some of them get angry with us Indians in Malaysia when we use the word Chettiar on them.

What the Malacca Chetti community does not realize is, when we call them Chettiar, we are only using the more respectful version of the word Chetti. Furthermore, when speaking in Tamil, certain words has extension for the sake of better conversation.

In Tamil, we usually say "Chettia-re, nalla irukinggala?"
We don't say "Chetti, nalla irukinggala?"

Similarly, we usually say "Reddia-re, saptacha?"
We don't say "Reddi, saptacha?"

Perhaps the Malacca Chetti community will stop getting angry with us Indians if they understood Tamil language better. 

If you noticed something in the beginning of this article, I referred to the entire community as Peranakan Indians. This is actually the correct term for the community instead of Malacca Chetti.

Why so?

Peranakan Indians are descendants of Indians who left India, settled down in the Straits, intermarried with local Malay women, speak Malay language instead of their native Indian language, follow Malay customs and even wear Malay traditional attires but remained as Hindus.

The Malay word Peranakan is from the Tamil word "pira naakan" which means "he who speaks foreign tongue". 

The Peranakan Indian community are divided into several families, each with its own surname. These surnames were actually the caste titles of their Indian ancestors. Here are the list of surnames in their community:

Chitty
Pillay
Naiker
Rajah
Padayachi
Mudaliar
Pathar
Konar
Kullen
Pandaram

Of these 10 surnames, Chitty is the only surname of Vaisya origin. The others are non-merchant surnames. Let's take a look at the other surnames:

Pillay - Also spelled as Pillai. Used by people of the Vellalar castes. The Vellalars are traditionally agriculturist.

Naiker - Also spelled as Naicker or Nayakkar. Used by people of Telugu and Kannada origin. The surname came into existence after the formation of the Vijayanagra empire in the 14th century AD. A Naicker is a military commander.

Rajah - May not refer to any castes. Could be a common Indian name. 

Padayachi - Also spelled as Padayatchi. Used by people of the Palli(Vanniya) and Paravar(Parathavar) castes. The surname is used by soldiers.

Mudaliar - Also spelled as Mudali, Moodley, Muthaliar. Used by people of the Vellalar and Kaikolar castes. Traditionally agriculturist, government officers and ministers.

Pathar - Also spelled as Bathar or Pattar. Used by goldsmiths.

Konar - Also spelled as Kon or Kone. Used by people of the Idaiyar (Yadava) caste. The Yadavas are shepherds and cowherds. 

Kullen - Also spelled as Kollan. Used by the blacksmiths.

Pandaram - Used by non-Brahmin village priest.

This shows that 9/10 surnames in the Peranakan Indian community are not of Chetti origin. They originated from other castes. The original Vaisyas do not use these surnames.

An important leader of the Malacca Chetti community

These castes would have arrived in Malacca along with the merchant Chettis. Since there were no other Hindu Tamil community in Malacca at that time, they would have intermarried with the Chettis or even Malays and merged as a single community centuries later.

The other Tamil community that lived in Malacca during that time were Muslims. They are largely from the Marakayar caste. Tun Ali is from this community.

The Malays would have then just called all these Hindu Tamils collectively as Chetti for ease of identification. This is because of all Hindu Tamils in Malacca, the Chettis were the most dominant ones.

This is just like how they used to call every Indian as Keling although most of us are not from Kalinga.  

Similarly, we call Sikhs as Banggalis (Vanggalis) although they are actually Punjabis and not Bengalis. This is because they all arrived from Bengal port.

So locals who do not understand the origin of foreigners often use terms which they are comfortable with. This is just a misconception of identity created by them.

The word Chetti then got stuck with the entire community because they all adopted the same Malay custom and intermarried with each other. But in reality, 9/10 of these families are not of real Chetti origin. They would have had male ancestors from other castes. 

This is the only possible way for non-merchant caste titles to exist as surnames in a merchant Peranakan community.

Research proves that the correct term to address this community is Peranakan Indians. Of the 50 families, only 6 are Chitty. They are the original Malacca Chetti who are descendants of Chetti (Chettiar) men from India. Somehow, the word Chetti was wrongly applied to the rest of Peranakan Indians. It is a misnomer. Image taken from the book Peranakan Indians of Singapore and Melaka by  By Samuel S. Dhoraisingam

I hope the Peranakan Indians or as they prefer to be called, the Malacca Chettis, understand this aspect of their history instead of getting upset with the other Tamil speaking Indians in Malaysia for calling them as Chettiars.

Whether we call them as Chetti or Chettiar, it has the same meaning in Tamil language. It is just that the later sounds more respectful. 

The Hero and His Divine Spear

Thaipusam has just ended. The festival at Batu Caves was well managed especially when compared with the previous years. So I will say that this year's Thaipusam festival is something I enjoyed.

One of my blog reader, Ganesh Reddy, requested me to write something for Thaipusam. Since I was quite busy during the last few days, I could not do it. I took a break from writing.

There is something in my mind which I want to share with others. It is about the hero of Thaipusam, Muruga himself and his divine spear.

Like the other Devas in Hinduism, Muruga has many names. He is also known as Skanda. There was a time when people even considered Muruga as Alexander The Great. 

This is because Alexander was also known as Sikandar in Persian and Urdu. The Arabs and Malays call him Iskandar Zulkarnain. But Muruga or Skanda worship started even before Alexander's time.

The cult of Muruga is known as Kaumaram. One of the important aspects of Kaumaram is the Vel worship. The Vel is the divine spear which Muruga used to kill the Asura named Surapadman. 

Murugan receiving the Vel from his mother Sakthi.
PICTURE CREDIT murugan.org

Vel worship is an ancient form of worship. The Veddah tribe of Sri Lanka also have a form of Vel worship.

Muruga is considered by the Tamils as their God of War. He is the commander of the heavenly army. His mother Sakthi in the form of Durga is the Goddess of Victory. She is also associated with war. Durga has 9 main forms called NavaDurga. The 5th form is called SkandaMata, Mother of Skanda.

Tuesday is both Durga and Muruga's day. Tuesday is the day of the planet Mars and like the Romans believed, Mars is the planet that represents war. 

Mars is a red planet. Muruga is known as Seyyon or Senthil. The word Se (Che) here means Red and Muruga was portrayed as a red god on a blue peacock during ancient times. These are all somehow connected to astronomy.

Muruga received the Vel from Sakthi in the Tamil month of Thaai during the Poosam (Pusya) nakshatra. In Indian astronomy and astrology, a nakshatra is one of the 27 sectors on the path of the Sun on the celestial sphere. To make it sound simple, we can consider it as a form of astronomical coordinate system.

So our astrologers will calculate the coordinates each year and decide when exactly the event happens. For the year 2015, the month of Thai started on 15 January 2015. Poosam of Thai began on the night of 2 February 2015 up to the evening of 3 February 2015. There are more calculation involved to determine the exact moment. 
(I am not an expert in this so I cannot elaborate further.)

The Poosam nakshatra is in the Cancer constellation.

Indian zodiac: 3°20' -16°40' Karka

Western zodiac: 29°20' Cancer - 12°40' Leo

PICTURE CREDIT: Wikipedia

This is the moment Muruga received the Vel which he later used to kill Surapadman. So we celebrate it grandly each year as Thaipusam. 

Prior to this event, his father Siva destroyed the three Asura cities of Tripura during one of the Poosam nakshatra. So that event was celebrated as Tripura Samharam.

Eventually the son's event became more popular than the father's event. 

After receiving the Vel, Muruga goes to war with Surapadman. He camped in 6 different places. The 6 battle camps of Murugan are Tiruthani, Swamimalai, Palani, Palamuthircholai, Tiruparankunram and Tiruchendur. These 6 places are known as Aaru Padai Veedu.

There are actually many types of Vel. Devaraya Swamigal mentioned several different Vels in his Kandha Shasti Kavacham. Each of these Vels have its own meaning. It is invoked for different purposes.

AlahuVel
AnaiyaVel
ArulVel
AyilVel
ChaturVel
IniyaVel
KanagaVel
KarunaiVel
KathirVel
MunaiVel
MuranVel
MurugaVel
NalVel
ParuVel
PeruVel
PunithaVel
SevVel
ThiruVel
VadiVel
VajraVel
ValVel
VetriVel
YethirVel

Muruga was actually born from Siva's third eye. Therefore he is the wisdom of Siva. Even till today, Muruga devotees chant AroHara. Hara means Siva.

His Vel which was given by his mother Sakthi, is actually made from her own power. Therefore, the Vel also called as SakthiVel is an embodiment of Sakthi herself. 

When we worship Muruga and his Vel, we are actually worshiping both Siva and Sakthi. 

According to our sacred geometry, the upward triangle represents Siva. The downward triangle represents Sakthi. The union of the upward triangle with the downward triangle forms the hexagram.

The hexagram is the symbol of Muruga. Therefore, Muruga is none other than the representation of SivaSakthi.