How our Hindu society was integrated – a historical reference

http://psenthilraja.wordpress.com/2012/04/07/how-our-hindu-society-was-integrated-a-historical-reference/

How our Hindu society was integrated – a historical reference

Posted on April 7, 2012 by senthil

Hindu Society has been a mystery for most educated indians today. The liberals believe, that india was never united and its only british who created india. The Hindutva people say, that india was united for thousands of ages, but they could not explain how.

The result is that everyone is left in dark, unable to understand what india was.

Recently, I got a copper plate inscription of a Village goddess (Kaani Deivam) called Kariakaliamman, which is even now present in a Alathur, near avinashi of Coimbatore. This was an excellent evidence for us to understand the pre-british society .

Those from tamilnadu can read the entire contents from the Scribd document attached at the end.

Summary of this copper plate inscription:

■The inscription is about the goddess “Karia Kali Amman” , the Kaani Deivam of that village. The goddess had been installed first at Kaliyugam – 2437, at utharayanam purvapaksham – 17th, @ Maga Natshathram, in a full moon day.■The pattayam is a new one for the temple, written by Ettulu Raajulu at Kaliyuga – 4771 , maasi – 5th.
■The roles and rights of different communities in the village had been shared as given below.
■Right to take karagam, and to walk on fire, rests with the viswakarma family (referred as Vangisha Shirpi) .
■“Kolu Vettuvathu” – to be carried over by Kallars.
■“Sacrificing Goat” – to be carried by Vettuvars
■“Ammai Alaippathu” (Calling the goddess) – to be done by Pandarams.
■“Trikala Pooja” – to be done by Ainootru Shetty. They were given maaniyam (Endowment) for carrying over this task.
■“Ratha Utsavam” – to be done by Pala Vellalars
■“Teppa Utsavam” – by Anthiyur Brahmins (Brahmins living in anthiyur area)
■Installing Vanni maram – by “Ganga Boen” community
■“Piercing Vanni maram” – by Karpoora Chettiyar, also called as Uppiliyar
■“Drum Beating” – by Kongu Parayar
■“Thoranam” – by Sakkiliar (Arunthathiar)
All the above duties assigned would be organised and overseen by the ruler of that region, and it is they and their lineages, who would get the first Vibhoothi (Sacred Ash) of the pooja to the goddess.

Those who fail to perform the duties as agreed above (particularly the ruling family), or those who violate or those who ridicule, will inherit the Worst Sins of killing an infant and killing a cow, and also will become an uncurable kushtorohi.

The dharmic model of social integration:


This copper plate inscription was written some 400 years before (Present kaliyuga year is 5111 ) . There are many things to understand from this historical document. Lets discuss the kind of social integration found in it.

The society at village level was integrated at two different planes.

Functional Integration:

Every jathi is a commune entity, where all families in the jathi do the same profession. This gives an occupational & social security. No Status problems. Also Every jathi has exclusive role over their profession within their village. They dont intrude in to other’s profession or capture other’s market. They constitute mutual market for each other. This we can call as verticalisation of the village society. By virtue of this verticalisation, every jathi is dependant on every other jathi in the same village, and hence has a mutual occupational interaction. So there is strong implicit incentive for everyone to co-operate each other. If there is any dispute, everyone suffers.

This economic and occupational interdependance was one key element of bondage among different jathis and integrated the society.

Religious Integration:

Goddess Karia Kali amman, is the protector of alathur village, as seen in the inscription and for conducting the festival, the roles and responsibilities were shared among the different jathis. These were NOT just roles, but a permanent rights of that particular jathi over the temple. The festival can happen, only when all jathis do their assigned jobs. If any one refuses, the festival will not happen. Other jathis will not attempt to do their role.

Such an arrangement was a beautiful setup. If the village has to prosper, the village festival has to be conducted properly to pacify the village goddess. If the festival has to happen, every jathi has to come together and do their roles. And, it can happen, only if all jathis have cordial relationship. With cordial relationship, all jathis mutually recognize each other and hence have mutual occupational interaction.

When there is a dispute, the village chief, will intervene and solve. If he fails to establish peace, the king above will interfere, and maintain order.

Societal Integration beyond Village:

Having seen the Societal Integration at villages, it would be further interesting to see how was people integrated beyond the village.

In our social setup, people married within their jathi. But NOT within their village. Which means, a viswakarma family, will always look an alliance with viswakarma of another village. The primary reason is that in most cases, people within same village will belong to same Gothra, hence become brotherly relations. ( That’s why khaps are even today sensitive about same gothra marriage).

This practice of marrying from another village, has evolved in to horizontal relation network among all jathis. Every jathi has relations across many villages of same jathi, which constitutes the intra-village network. This pattern is still now continuing, but the urban people, disconnected from rural, are ignorant of it.

Our Traditional Social Network is extensive, strong and well structured. I had given a rought pictorial sketch below.



So the unity is like this: Jathis within village are united through, occupational inter-dependance, eventhough they dont inter-marry. People across villages are united through matrimonial relations. When a festival is conducted in every village, people in every jathi invite all their relations, and celebrate.

However, this intra-village network exists only within the dhesam, and NOT beyond it. India had ancient 56 dhesams, and we can see it even today. A choliya vellalar wont marry with pandya vellalar. So, a dhesam constitutes a complete fulfilled entity. This is the secret of india’s diverse cultures.

The Integral Unity vs Synthetic Unity:

Rajeev Malhotra, in his revolutionizing book “Being Different” describes about the “Integral Unity” of Dharmic Civilization, vs the “Synthetic Unity” of Western Civilization. He says, the we are decentralised society, with diverse cultures. Yet we are united at different planes. The unity is inherent, and inbuilt and implicit.

On the other hand, the western society is individualised, and hence the unity in their society has to be enforced by a centralised system, through external force. Beyond ethnic unity, the europe has little in common, other than the christian religion.

( PS: i differ from his view that our society is comfortable with chaos. The chaos he mentions is about Present Urban Systems, which is an western model imposed on us, by breaking villages. As i explained earlier, our society is highly structured, beautifully organised, but in a different way.)

How and when was our society Broken down:

If Hindu Society was so strongly united, then why it was in so much dis-array? This question will certainly arise from many people.

Please wait for my next blog post.

Full Content of the Copper Plate Inscription: http://www.scribd.com/doc/87771325/alathur-temple-pattayam