The Transformation of Tamil Religion

Rāmaliṅga Vaḷḷalār (1823-74) is a non-Brahmin saint-poet, popular even now among the Tamils, especially for his simple poetry, his notion of universal compassion, and his aspiration to achieve immortality (while keeping the physical body), with accounts of the miracles he performed becoming part of the lore of the land. And yet, neither he nor his work has been studied in any significant way from an academic perspective until recently. So, Srilata Raman’s book The Transformation of Tamil Religion: Ramalinga Swamigal (1823–1874) and Modern Dravidian Sainthood is a welcome addition, as she analyzes both the intellectual genealogy of Ramalingar through several texts, the reception of his ideas, and through this, the evolution of Tamil Śaivism between the end of the 19^th and the mid-20^th centuries, a period marked by colonialism, Dravidianism, and reactions to them.

The book is divided into two parts: the first focuses on Ramalingar, his life story, his religious views based on his own and others’ writings, his intellectual genealogy, and how he was perceived in his own time; and the second discusses his many afterlives, viewed through the eyes of 20^th century people with different social, religious, and political views, and the evolution of Śaivism during that period.

By drawing a comprehensive portrait of Ramalingar, focusing on each stage of his life, Raman maps the evolution of his religious views “from traditional Śaiva devotionalism to a more universalistic and activist religion of his own making” (26). And a crucial part of it was feeding the hungry, a predominant feature of his larger cīvakāruṇyam (“compassion to [all] living beings”) doctrine. Raman also narrates how his popular religious views, expressed during the very tense colonial times, triggered hostile reactions, such as a lawsuit by Āṟumuka Nāvalar, another Tamil Śaiva scholar and religious reformer. This deeply changed Ramalingar, as he began to proclaim himself the prophet of a new, messianic religion, with a different concept of God and one which believed in achieving superhuman powers such as transcending death. It is worth mentioning here that this legal controversy is not commonly known: as of March 2024, the Wikipedia pages dedicated to the two figures do not mention any link between them, let alone the lawsuit.

In the second chapter, Raman turns her attention to early hagiographical accounts of Ramalingar (and later, to his own words), including those of the miracles he performed, for example his disappearance. Interestingly, he was compared to other Śaiva saints such as Tiruñāṉacampantar, considered as a Cittar (Siddha), and even as a re-incarnation of the saint-poet Tāyumāṉavar. In the third and fourth chapters, Raman focuses on the theme of compassion, discussing the doctrine of cīvakāruṇyam (which can be translated as “compassion”), open to people of all castes, essential to his soteriology, which derives from the Tamil Śaivasiddhānta. To understand this intellectual genealogy of Ramalingar’s, Raman explores the Uraiyāṭal (“conversation”) literature composed from the 15^th century onwards. Furthermore, Raman delves into the saint-poet’s key, the Cīvakāruṇya Oḻukkam, as she also traces back the history of writings on hunger in pre-modern Tamil literature. Following this, she examines Nāvalar’s ‘anti-hagiographic’ text Pōliyaruṭpā maṟuppu, which she inspects closely in the fifth chapter, discussing polemics in the colonial period, the role that the printed materials played increasingly, and so forth.

In the second part of the book, Raman turns her attention on how Ramalingar and his teachings were received during the crucial period marked by the Dravidian movement. Texts such as Ma. Po. Civañāṉam’s book project him as a modern-day socio-religious reformer who represents a new type of Śaivism. While discussing this, Raman also provides the reader with complete background information on the evolution of Tamil Śaivism during the colonial period and later, describing the buzzing activities and functioning of Śaiva (non-monastic, non-elitist) associations, which made deep, manifold impacts on individuals and society alike. The following chapter focuses precisely on such a relatively unknown person of non-elite origin, Ñāṉiyār Aṭikaḷ; understanding his views will enable a better understanding of how Ramalingar’s teachings were received in the 20^th century. After analyzing Aṭikaḷ’s brand of Śaivism, the Tamil Śaivasiddhānta, Raman shows that the latter was pushed to the margins by Dravidian nationalism and the Self-Respect movement, which frowned upon Sanskrit, the caste system, texts such as the Purāṇas, and traditional rituals. And to them, Ramalingar’s religion appeared as a more acceptable alternative due to its rejection of caste and its universalistic ethics. So, in the two following chapters (8 and 9), Raman seeks to contextualize all this and make sense of how Ramalingar and his thoughts were received and reinterpreted as the times changed.

The final chapters thus make use of the writings of two other prominent figures in the Tamil land, namely, Thiru.V. Kaliyāṇacuntara Mutaliyār—who was more interested in the universality of Ramalingar’s religion—and Ma.Po. Civañāṉam, who, focusing on his non-Brahmin origins, lauds the modern, reformist ideas of the “Dravidian, . . . the national saint” (294), placing him on par with the likes of Ramakrishna Paramahamsa, even identifying him as Gandhi’s incarnation! Later, in the conclusion, Raman examines how the self-respect movement stripped Ramalingar of all religiosity, projecting him as a secular saint. While reading about all these afterlives, one cannot but notice that generations of people saw in Ramalingar what they wanted to see. For example, it is hard to miss the irony when Civañāṉam claims that Ramalingar and the like “fought for equal rights for women” (268), which is in sharp contrast with the religious misogyny expressed in his poems, discussed in the first chapter. 

In the conclusion, the most mysterious part of Ramalingar’s life-story—namely, his disappearance—is dealt with. While the early texts claim that he vanished, later (astounding) theories, notably Maraimalai Adigal’s, suggest that Ramalingar died and was cremated and that the whole episode was kept a secret so as not to discredit the saint who had proclaimed the obtaining of an immortal body. This is something that is still not widely known. Raman wraps up the book on an emotional note by pointing out Ramalingar’s lasting legacy, represented by the feeding of the poor and the hungry that is still done in the alms-house that he founded.

The Transformation of Tamil Religion is a well-researched book rich with contextual information and detailed analyses of various primary sources, undoubtedly making it the most authoritative book to date on Ramalingar and his doctrine, and their reception by the later generations. Since it is also very accessible, this appealing book will be most useful to anyone interested in Tamil Śaiva religion, subaltern religions, pre-modern Hinduism, South Asian philosophical systems, as well as those interested in South Asian history with a focus on colonialism and the Dravidian movement.

Suganya Anandakichenin is a research scholar affiliated with the Hamburg University, Germany. 

Suganya Anandakichenin

Date Of Review:

April 16, 2024