The Influence of Nandanar - Nantanar-Thirunaallaippovaar- AKA Tiru Nalai Povar Nayanar

Sep 12, 2021 - 12:01
Sep 13, 2021 - 20:53
 0

Nandanar's influence was and remains limited primarily to the Tamil-speaking areas. The Christian missionary Rev. A. C. Clayton—who was "sympathetic" to the Dalit cause—used Nandanar's narrative (retold as The Legend of Nandan) to suggest that bhakti (devotion)—which saw no distinction of class or caste—was the superior means to salvation than the jnana-marga (salvation by knowledge) propagated by the Brahmins and also challenged the authority of the Brahmin orthodoxy.

Also Read:- 

How Nandanar is specially worshipped in the Hindu Religion?

The Nandanar Charitam Is So Famous, But Why?

Nandanar and the Periya Puranam Interesting Facts?

You Will Never Believe These Bizarre Truth Behind Nandanar

The Influence of Nandanar - Nantanar-Thirunaallaippovaar- AKA Tiru Nalai Povar Nayanar

Nandanar became "the hero of tales of caste protest". The "Adi Dravida" (Dalit) leaders of the Self-Respect Movement used Nandanar as an exemplar to prove that social superiority originates not from birth, but the qualities and deeds of people.

In 2010, Cadres of the Tamil Nadu Untouchability Eradication Front (TNUEF) and the Communist Party of India (Marxist) under the leadership of P. Samath, protested to bring down the wall on the South Gate of the Chimdabaram temple, which was—as per a tale—built as Nandanar entered from the gate.

The walled gate was the symbol of the oppression of the Dalit caste and caste discrimination, as per the protesters who demanded its demolition. The state government — which governs the temple currently — contented that the veracity of Nandanar's tale and its connection to the walled Gate, can not be ascertained and thus, refused the protesters' demands.

Nandanar "continues to inspire them (Dalits) as a symbol of resistance and a hope of a better future". However, young Dalits identify with recent Dalit leaders like B. R. Ambedkar and are unaware or uninterested in the "obedient Nandanar". Ambedkar, himself had dedicated his book The Untouchables, to three Dalit saints, including Nandanar.

In speech in Chidambaram, Mahatma Gandhi called Nandanar, a true practitioner of Satyagraha, a means of Nonviolent resistance. Gandhi said: "Nanda broke every barrier and won his way to freedom, not by brag, not by bluster, but by the purest form of self-suffering... he shamed them (his persecutors) into doing justice by his lofty prayer, by the purity of his character, ... he compelled God Himself to descend and made Him open the eyes of his persecutors".

Nandanar's tale is retold numerous times through folk tales, plays, literature and art forms like Villu Paatu and "musical discourses".

A number of Tamil films, all titled Nandanar, recall Nandanar's tale following Bharati's version. Besides a silent film in 1923, another silent film Nandanar, subtitled The Elevation of the Downtrodden, directed by P. K. Raja Sandow, in 1930. The first talkie film on Nandanar was made in 1931.

The 1935 film featured K. B. Sundarambal, who also performed on stage as the Nayanar numerous times. The 1942 film, starring Dandapani Desikar in the lead, courted controversy for its overly Brahmin overtones and was banned in Kolar Gold Fields after protests by Dalits, however the ban was lifted after Desikar met and personally apologized to the Dalits for being part of the climax, which featured the fire-purification.

Another film on Nandanar was released in 1943. Sundaram Balachander acted in the 1948 film. N. S. Krishnan presented the story as a "narrative art form", while A. Padmanabhan released a small booklet on the saint's life for children.

C. T. Indra says that Nandanar was made immortal in legend and remembered over the years "as a strategy of public management of anxiety. ... In the Essentialist way, Nandan's devotion was cited down the ages to play down the social inequities and play up his spiritual qualifications."

Note: please Comment Here for UPDATES and CORRECTIONS 

Donate. Buy Us Coffee  

Why news media is in crisis & How you can fix it.

India needs free, fair, non-hyphenated and questioning journalism even more as it faces multiple crises. But the news media is in a crisis of its own. There have been brutal layoffs and pay cuts. The best of journalism is shrinking, yielding to the crude prime-time spectacle. My digital news .in  has very few young reporters, columnists and editors working for it. Sustaining journalism of this quality needs smart and thinking people like you to pay for it. Whether you live in India or overseas, you can do it here

Donate. https://mydigitalnews.in/donate  

NOTE: Please email us for updates and corrections, if you wish to publish articles like this you can send them to info@mydigitalnews.in  or mydigitalnews.in@gmail.com  or you can Directicle write Articles on our Site by registering https://mydigitalnews.in/register  

Disclaimer: Mydigitalnews.in provides the content from various information sources ‘as is and the content to be used only for informational purposes and not responsible for the inaccuracy or deficiency of the provided information. Mydigitalnews. in have the right, at its sole discretion, to make modifications in any aspect of the provided information.

Mydigitalnews. in Internet site may contain links to other Internet sites. While we try to link only to sites that share our high standards and respect for privacy, we are not responsible for the content or the privacy practices employed by other sites.

What's Your Reaction?

like

dislike

love

funny

angry

sad

wow