I am giving the profile of EVR,the so-called atheist and stauch opposer of Brahmins.
EVR's given name was Ramaswami. He was from a prominent Naicker caste, a community that descended from the Nayak rulers of Mysore. Hence he is called E. V. Ramaswami Naicker. "Periyar" means 'respected one' or an 'elder' in Tamil. His mother tongue is Kannada.
EVR was an atheist, noted for his antitheistic statement, "He who created god was a fool, he who spreads his name is a scoundrel, and he who worships him is a barbarian." His atheistic attacks and blasphemous acts, however, were directed at Hinduism alone. In 1956, he took a procession of Rama's picture garlanded with slippers near Dharmapuri and destroyed the portrait in public, drawing widespread protests from Indians whose religious sentiments were hurt. EVR's most popular writing is The Ramayana: A True Reading (1959), on the Ramayana, a Hindu epic.
Though he was born in an affluent Kannada origin Naidu family, he fought against the untouchability practiced by upper castes, specifically targeting Brahmins, the rituals of Hinduism, and the caste system.
His Early Life
Periyar was the son of a merchant Venkata, who was a devout Hindu of the Vaishnavite school of thought. His mother was Chinna Thayammal alais Muthammal; he had one elder brother named Krishnaswamy and two sisters named Kannamma and Ponnuthoy. Periyar studied for 5 years and joined his father's trade at the age of 12. He used to listen to Tamil Vaishnavite gurus who gave discourses in his house enjoying his father's hospitality. Periyar was married to Nagammal a girl of just 13 in 1898. He became the father of a female child which soon died and he had no more children. After being reprimanded by his father, Periyar left his house for Kasi.[2]
Pilgrimage to Kaasi
He went on a pilgrimage to Varanasi to worship in the famous Siva temple Kashi Vishwanath in 1904. He wanted to enter a Free-lunch place but finding that it was meant only for Brahmins he disguised himself as a one. But it was discovered that he was not a Brahmin and he was removed from the place.Later he learnt that the Free-lunch place was built with the donation of a Dravidian merchant.[3] He saw the discrimination against non brahmins. He had pictured Kasi as a place where all Hindus would be treated equally. This humililation was the turning point in Periyar's life and after that made a deep wound in the heart of Periyar and it inflamed intense hatred towards the caste system and Hindu religion itself[4] On returning to Erode - his father delegated all his trade rights to this second son and renamed his major commercial concern under the title: "E.V. Ramasamy Mandi"
EVR, the freedom fighter fought for India's freedom till 1930 and after that he fought against India's freedom. On 15-8-1947, when India became free of British domination, grieved the coming of Indian Independence by wearing black armband and waving black flag.
A Committed Rationalist and Rebel
Self-Respect Movement: 1925-39
Even though Periyar opposed some Hindu activities, his opposition gave hinduism a new form in Tamilnadu and further shaped hinduism as it will fit modern ages and not to hurt anybody.Thoughts to use sixth sense created awareness among tamil people.
Periyar and his followers campaigned constantly to influence and pressurise the government to take measures to remove social inequality even while other nationalist leaders focussed on the struggle for political independence.
Anti-Hindi
Hindi imposition in Tamil Nadu started in 1937 when the Congress Government of the Madras Presidency under (Rajaji) made Hindi a compulsory subject in schools. Tamils opposed Hindi imposition immediately and the Justice Party under Sir A. D. Panneerselvam and Periyar organized anti-Hindi imposition protests in 1938 and were arrested and jailed by the Rajaji government. More than 1200 people, including women and children, were imprisoned in 1938, of which two, Thalamuthu and Natarasan, lost their lives. In 1939 the Rajaji government quit and it was withdrawn in 1940 by the British governor.
EVR and Kula Kalvi Thittam/Hereditary Education Policy
Rajaji introduced a new education policy based on family vocation which its opponents dubbed Kula Kalvi Thittam (Hereditary Education Policy).As per this policy schools will work in the morning and students had to compulsorily learn the family vocation in the afternoon . A Carpenter’s son would learn Carpentry ,a priest's son chanting hymns and a barber’s son hair cutting and shaving after school in the afternoon.[9]EVR felt that the scheme was a clever device against Dalits and Other Backward Classes as there first generation was getting educated only then[10]EVR demanded its withdrawal and launched protests against the Kula Kalvi Thittam (Hereditary Education Policy) which he felt was caste based was aimed at maintaining caste hegemony. Rajaji quit in 1954 and Kamaraj scrapped it after becoming chief minister[11] [12]
EVR's ideas on Modern Tamil Alphabet
He instituted Tamil alphabet reforms and his reasons are as follows[13] In writings and publications of 70 or 80 years ago, the vowel 'ee' (i, indicated today as ' ¼ ', was a cursive and looped representation of the short form, ' ¬ ' (i) In stone inscriptions of 400 or 500 years ago, many Tamil letters are found in other shapes. The older and the more divine a language and its letters are said to be, they, in truth, need reform. He instituted Tamil alphabet reforms and his reasons are as follows:
In writings and publications of 70 or 80 years ago, the vowel 'ee' (i, indicated today as ' ¼ ', was a cursive and looped representation of the short form, ' ¬ ' (i) In stone inscriptions of 400 or 500 years ago, many Tamil letters are found in other shapes. The older and the more divine a language and its letters are said to be, they, in truth, need reform
Just as some compound characters have separate signs to indicate their length as in ' æè ' , ' îæ ' (ka: , ke, why should not other compound characters like ' æ¨ ' , ' æ© ' , ' Æ ' , ' Ô ' (ki,ki:,ku,ku (indicated integrally as of now), also have separate signs? This indeed requires consideration.
Changing the shape of letters, creating new symbols and adding new letters and similarly, dropping those that are redundant, are quite essential.
The glory and excellence of a language and its script depend on how easily they can be understood or learnt and on nothing else.
Tamil Alphabet looks primitive! How many loops! How many dashes! How many upward turns! How many downward turns! Such cumbersome orthography in the present day! Do we need so many letters today? Why do we need 216 letters? The Englishman does wonders and has only 26 letters. And he turns the whole world round with just 26 letters
Periyar - The Movie
Sathyaraj and Khushboo are acting in a forthcoming movie on Periyar. Tamil Nadu government announced a grant of Rs 95 lakhs (9.5 million) for the Movie on Periyar.
Criticism
He declared Indian independence as a day of slavery and declared it as a day of mourning. He fought for the separation of Tamil areas of India and Sri Lanka and for the human rights of the oppressed Tamil diaspora.
He was against caste system and waged a cold war against Brahmins. This made all the Brahmins jointedly fight against him on the unreasonable rights of the other castes that he proposed. Even now long after his death Brahmins hate him and condemn him, because of the hypocratic people who proclaim themselves his followers.
EVR has been accused of abusing Brahmins with vulgar language and running a hate campaign against them.
EVR's followers have broken temple idols, cut sacred threads and tufts from brahmin priests, and have often portrayed brahmins in the most derogatory manner in their meetings and magazines (see http://www.viduthalai.com and http://www.unmaionline.com - both in Tamil language.)
Gandhi did not like his views as he wanted to bring in reforms gradually; Periyar bolted away from the freedom movement.
EVR's given name was Ramaswami. He was from a prominent Naicker caste, a community that descended from the Nayak rulers of Mysore. Hence he is called E. V. Ramaswami Naicker. "Periyar" means 'respected one' or an 'elder' in Tamil. His mother tongue is Kannada.
EVR was an atheist, noted for his antitheistic statement, "He who created god was a fool, he who spreads his name is a scoundrel, and he who worships him is a barbarian." His atheistic attacks and blasphemous acts, however, were directed at Hinduism alone. In 1956, he took a procession of Rama's picture garlanded with slippers near Dharmapuri and destroyed the portrait in public, drawing widespread protests from Indians whose religious sentiments were hurt. EVR's most popular writing is The Ramayana: A True Reading (1959), on the Ramayana, a Hindu epic.
Though he was born in an affluent Kannada origin Naidu family, he fought against the untouchability practiced by upper castes, specifically targeting Brahmins, the rituals of Hinduism, and the caste system.
His Early Life
Periyar was the son of a merchant Venkata, who was a devout Hindu of the Vaishnavite school of thought. His mother was Chinna Thayammal alais Muthammal; he had one elder brother named Krishnaswamy and two sisters named Kannamma and Ponnuthoy. Periyar studied for 5 years and joined his father's trade at the age of 12. He used to listen to Tamil Vaishnavite gurus who gave discourses in his house enjoying his father's hospitality. Periyar was married to Nagammal a girl of just 13 in 1898. He became the father of a female child which soon died and he had no more children. After being reprimanded by his father, Periyar left his house for Kasi.[2]
Pilgrimage to Kaasi
He went on a pilgrimage to Varanasi to worship in the famous Siva temple Kashi Vishwanath in 1904. He wanted to enter a Free-lunch place but finding that it was meant only for Brahmins he disguised himself as a one. But it was discovered that he was not a Brahmin and he was removed from the place.Later he learnt that the Free-lunch place was built with the donation of a Dravidian merchant.[3] He saw the discrimination against non brahmins. He had pictured Kasi as a place where all Hindus would be treated equally. This humililation was the turning point in Periyar's life and after that made a deep wound in the heart of Periyar and it inflamed intense hatred towards the caste system and Hindu religion itself[4] On returning to Erode - his father delegated all his trade rights to this second son and renamed his major commercial concern under the title: "E.V. Ramasamy Mandi"
EVR, the freedom fighter fought for India's freedom till 1930 and after that he fought against India's freedom. On 15-8-1947, when India became free of British domination, grieved the coming of Indian Independence by wearing black armband and waving black flag.
A Committed Rationalist and Rebel
Self-Respect Movement: 1925-39
Even though Periyar opposed some Hindu activities, his opposition gave hinduism a new form in Tamilnadu and further shaped hinduism as it will fit modern ages and not to hurt anybody.Thoughts to use sixth sense created awareness among tamil people.
Periyar and his followers campaigned constantly to influence and pressurise the government to take measures to remove social inequality even while other nationalist leaders focussed on the struggle for political independence.
Anti-Hindi
Hindi imposition in Tamil Nadu started in 1937 when the Congress Government of the Madras Presidency under (Rajaji) made Hindi a compulsory subject in schools. Tamils opposed Hindi imposition immediately and the Justice Party under Sir A. D. Panneerselvam and Periyar organized anti-Hindi imposition protests in 1938 and were arrested and jailed by the Rajaji government. More than 1200 people, including women and children, were imprisoned in 1938, of which two, Thalamuthu and Natarasan, lost their lives. In 1939 the Rajaji government quit and it was withdrawn in 1940 by the British governor.
EVR and Kula Kalvi Thittam/Hereditary Education Policy
Rajaji introduced a new education policy based on family vocation which its opponents dubbed Kula Kalvi Thittam (Hereditary Education Policy).As per this policy schools will work in the morning and students had to compulsorily learn the family vocation in the afternoon . A Carpenter’s son would learn Carpentry ,a priest's son chanting hymns and a barber’s son hair cutting and shaving after school in the afternoon.[9]EVR felt that the scheme was a clever device against Dalits and Other Backward Classes as there first generation was getting educated only then[10]EVR demanded its withdrawal and launched protests against the Kula Kalvi Thittam (Hereditary Education Policy) which he felt was caste based was aimed at maintaining caste hegemony. Rajaji quit in 1954 and Kamaraj scrapped it after becoming chief minister[11] [12]
EVR's ideas on Modern Tamil Alphabet
He instituted Tamil alphabet reforms and his reasons are as follows[13] In writings and publications of 70 or 80 years ago, the vowel 'ee' (i, indicated today as ' ¼ ', was a cursive and looped representation of the short form, ' ¬ ' (i) In stone inscriptions of 400 or 500 years ago, many Tamil letters are found in other shapes. The older and the more divine a language and its letters are said to be, they, in truth, need reform. He instituted Tamil alphabet reforms and his reasons are as follows:
In writings and publications of 70 or 80 years ago, the vowel 'ee' (i, indicated today as ' ¼ ', was a cursive and looped representation of the short form, ' ¬ ' (i) In stone inscriptions of 400 or 500 years ago, many Tamil letters are found in other shapes. The older and the more divine a language and its letters are said to be, they, in truth, need reform
Just as some compound characters have separate signs to indicate their length as in ' æè ' , ' îæ ' (ka: , ke, why should not other compound characters like ' æ¨ ' , ' æ© ' , ' Æ ' , ' Ô ' (ki,ki:,ku,ku (indicated integrally as of now), also have separate signs? This indeed requires consideration.
Changing the shape of letters, creating new symbols and adding new letters and similarly, dropping those that are redundant, are quite essential.
The glory and excellence of a language and its script depend on how easily they can be understood or learnt and on nothing else.
Tamil Alphabet looks primitive! How many loops! How many dashes! How many upward turns! How many downward turns! Such cumbersome orthography in the present day! Do we need so many letters today? Why do we need 216 letters? The Englishman does wonders and has only 26 letters. And he turns the whole world round with just 26 letters
Periyar - The Movie
Sathyaraj and Khushboo are acting in a forthcoming movie on Periyar. Tamil Nadu government announced a grant of Rs 95 lakhs (9.5 million) for the Movie on Periyar.
Criticism
He declared Indian independence as a day of slavery and declared it as a day of mourning. He fought for the separation of Tamil areas of India and Sri Lanka and for the human rights of the oppressed Tamil diaspora.
He was against caste system and waged a cold war against Brahmins. This made all the Brahmins jointedly fight against him on the unreasonable rights of the other castes that he proposed. Even now long after his death Brahmins hate him and condemn him, because of the hypocratic people who proclaim themselves his followers.
EVR has been accused of abusing Brahmins with vulgar language and running a hate campaign against them.
EVR's followers have broken temple idols, cut sacred threads and tufts from brahmin priests, and have often portrayed brahmins in the most derogatory manner in their meetings and magazines (see http://www.viduthalai.com and http://www.unmaionline.com - both in Tamil language.)
Gandhi did not like his views as he wanted to bring in reforms gradually; Periyar bolted away from the freedom movement.