Please read this mindful of the fact about Christian evangelical efforts to slice TN from India and create a combined CHRISTIAN state of "Ealam" along with Sri Lanka with the connivance of Christian Terrorist organization LTTE. In this effort evangelicals are continuously attacking Hindu institutions in TN and their ways of life, Tamil New Year is one such. "Divide and Convert" policy continues. Most Tamilians still are unaware of the extreme nature of deception here.
B R Haran, 14 April 2009
Today is the Tamil New Year. Millions of Tamil Hindus will be celebrating it worldwide. But in India, Tamil Nadu as a State will not officially celebrate the event as the present DMK government has changed the traditional Tamil New Year from 14 April (Chiththirai-1) to 14 January (Thai-1), against the wishes of Tamil Hindus.
Government’s Declaration
On 10 January 2008, Tamil Nadu Chief Minister M. Karunanidhi suddenly announced that the Tamil New Year would henceforth be celebrated on the first day of Tamil month “Thai” (15 January, “Pongal-Sankranti”) instead of the first day of the Tamil month “Chiththirai” (14 April, “Varusha Pirappu, New Year”) from 2009 onwards.
During the inaugural session to the Assembly on 23 January 2008, Governor Barnala in his customary address said the first day of ‘Thai’ would be celebrated as Tamil New Year Day and that Tamils could celebrate ‘Pongal’ and ‘New Year’ on the same day. Thereafter, on 29 January 2008, Mr. Karunanidhi tabled the “Tamil Nadu Tamil New Year Day Declaration Bill,” and an ordinance to that effect was passed on 1 February 2008 by the Dravidian Assembly.
The Governor’s address alleged that in 1921, over 500 scholars under the leadership of ‘Maraimalai Adigal’ had met in Pachayapas College, Chennai, under the auspices of “Pure Tamil Movement” and decided that Tamils needed a separate calendar and a new era started in the name of Thiruvalluvar; hence, based on this fact, the government had taken this “revolutionary” decision!
No reverence and reference to ancient scholars
A great Hindu religious traditional festival, celebrated on the first day of Chiththirai for thousands of years, was changed just like that by an “atheist” government, on the basis of a ridiculous demand by a group of self-proclaimed scholars allegedly headed by a Christian in 1921!
There is absolutely no reverence for the great Rishis and Munivars like Sage Agasthiyar, Sage Tholkappiyar and ancient Tamil scholars and poets like Kabilar and Kambar, who religiously followed the timeless culture and tradition.
Even Thiruvalluvar, in whose name this preposterous change has been made, was a firm believer in God and a staunch follower of Sanatana Dharma; there is no evidence that he intended to change the system of Hindu calendars.
Thiruvalluvar factor
Speaking of Thiruvalluvar, the state government is under the impression that he was born in 31 BC, whereas there is no evidence to support this view.
Normally, any author would divulge his name and the name of his work, but Thiruvalluvar has not done that. Nor has he spoken about his Guru! He has not mentioned any specific king or ruler of his time, nor any rivers or mountains or even places (cities, towns and villages) of his time in his magnum opus. Hence no one knows for sure the era in which he lived.
Renowned Tamil Scholar Vaiyapuri Pillai opined that Thiruvalluvar lived around 600 AD, on the basis of the internal evidence of his work, and the significant influence of Sanskrit works like Manu Dharma Shastra, Artha Shastra, Bhagvad Gita and Jain Prakrit and Buddhist Pali works in his Thirukkural (“History of Tamil Language and Literature,” 1956, pp. 79-88). Thus, creating an era in the name of Thiruvalluvar is a farce! Indeed, there is nothing ‘Dravidian’ about him. The word ‘Dravidian’ represents the ‘southern’ part of the Vindhya ranges and is known as “Dravida Desam;” the northern ranges being designated as “Gouda Desam.”
Hindu calendar
The Hindu calendar is based on astronomical data and planetary systems and time calculations based on the movements of the Sun and Moon. There are two Hindu calendars, one based on Sun (Saura Maanam – Sun Solstice) and the other based on Moon (Chanthra Maanam – Moon Solstice).
These calendars have been conceived and brought out meticulously by our ancient Rishis and Munivars on solid principles and Hindus world over follow either of the two calendars.
Literary evidences for “Chiththirai New Year”
As the present Tamil Nadu government rests its decision on so-called Tamil scholars of 1921, we must examine if Tamil literature supports this contention.
From ancient times, Tamil New Year has been celebrated as per the solar solstice when Sun enters Mesha/Chiththirai through the 11 successive ‘Raasis’ of the zodiac. Ancient Tamil literary works like Nakkeerar’s “Nedunalvadai”, Koodaloor Kizhar’s “Purananooru” and Ilango Adigal’s “Silappathikaram” and Seethalai Chaattanaar’s “Manimekalai” refer to Mesha Raasi/Chiththirai and refer to the Hindu solar calendar with Chiththirai as the beginning of the New Year.
A Tamil calendar has been in place for centuries by renaming Sanskritised names with Tamil names (with slight changes). Manimekalai speaks of the 27 Nakshatras (stars) as per the Sanskrit reckoning, and as per the Hindu calendar, 12 stars find a place in the names of twelve months; the particular day of the month on which the concerned star descends would be Full Moon (Purnima) Day.
Though the Tamil Nadu government discarded the 60-year cycle with Sanskritised names and replaced it with the so-called Thiruvalluvar Era, the Chief Minister said the government had no intention of changing the names of the ‘months’! The Mesha/Chiththirai New Year celebration, in accordance with the solar solstice, is not confined to Tamil Nadu alone. The Hindu calendar, which commences on 14 April, represents the Hindu equinox and is celebrated in many other places like Assam, Punjab, Bengal, and countries like Myanmar, Cambodia, Laos, Thailand and Sri Lanka.
No evidence for “Thai Pongal”
In fact, there are no references at all regarding the so-called Tamil festival “Pongal” in early Tamil literature.
We can see some references about Thai and the traditional fast (vrat) undertaken by people in that month, which is called Thai Nonbu. Literary works like “Natrinai” (Songs: 22, 80), “Ainkurunooru” (Song: 84) “Kurunthokai” (Song: 196) “Kalithokai” (Song: 59) and “Purananuru” (Song: 70) speak of Thai Nonbu (fasting), which may be attributed to either the completion of Paavai Nonbu (women’s fast during the previous month, Margazhi) and its celebration on Thai-1, or the fast undertaken for Thai Poosam, dedicated to Bhagwan Muruga.
But there was no mention of “Pongal” festival in any ancient literary work as a festival of thanksgiving to the Sun; hence ancient Tamils did not celebrate the festival called Pongal.
Makara Sankranti factor
The Hindu solstice harvest festival, Pongal, celebrated in Tamil Nadu on the first day of Thai is actually Makara Sankranti, which is celebrated in India and Sri Lanka. This is a celebration attributed to the resumption of the Sun’s journey towards the North (Uttarayan).
While Hindus of Tamil Nadu celebrate it as Pongal, Hindus of Sri Lanka celebrate it as Surya Mangalya, dedicating the harvested grains to the Sun.
Actually, Makara Sankranti is a pan-Indian festival celebrated in Andhra Pradesh, Assam, Bengal, Bihar, Gujarat, Himachal Pradesh, Karnataka, Kerala, Orissa, Maharashtra, Punjab, Rajasthan, Uttar Pradesh, Tamil Nadu, besides Nepal and Sri Lanka.
As there is no mention of Pongal in ancient Tamil literature, we may conclude that Makara Sankranti came to Tamil Nadu along with the Telugus and Marathas who ruled Tamil Nadu for quite sometime. Tamils could have adopted Makara Shankranti as Pongal. Makara Sankranti, which falls on 14 January, is also referred to in “Surya Siddhanta.” When there is no credible evidence for Pongal as an ancient “Tamil” festival, the question of celebrating Thai-1 as the Tamil New Year simply does not arise.
Hence, the Tamil Nadu Government’s ordinance changing the Tamil New Year is atrocious and outrageous, and hurts the religious sentiments of millions of Tamil Hindus. It has been done with malicious intent, as we shall discuss later.
In the early 1950s, the Indian Government constituted a committee to formulate an Indic calendar, in which the solstice falls on December 23. This ‘official’ calendar is used for Gazette purposes only, and neither the Central Government nor any other State Government has meddled with the Hindu calendar or interfered with the Hindu religious tradition.
When the Tamil Nadu government passed the “Tamil Nadu Tamil New Year Day Declaration Bill” on 1 February 2008, changing New Year Day from Chiththirai - 1 to Thai -1, there was no mention about the original Tamil New Year day, which fell on 13 April 2008.
Dravidian Felicitations
On 9 February 2008, a motley group of chauvinistic “scholars” under the banner “Sanga Tamizh Peravai” felicitated the Chief Minister for his “revolutionary” move of making the first day of Thai month the Tamil New Year Day.
The ‘scholars’ associated with ‘Sanga Tamizh Peravai’ are all anti-Sanskrit and anti-Hindu; some are atheists. The outrageous part of the felicitations was that artists dressed up as ancient Tamil scholars such as Thiruvalluvar, Tholgaappiyar, Kambar, Avvaiyaar, Ilango Adigal, et al, lined up to praise Karunanidhi! One cannot think of a worse insult to those great scholars.
Accepting the felicitations, the Chief Minister said, “This decision had been made, neither with a view to effacing the existing names of years in Sanskrit, nor out of hatred towards them. The move is to give importance to Mother Tamil while calculating the years and to redeem the honour of the language”. But he neither had the courage to explain how the honour of the language was lost in the first place, nor the know-how of the methodology of the new calculation.
Tamil New Year - 2008
As the original Tamil New Year (13 April 2008) was fast approaching, Jaya TV reported on 11 April 2008 that the HR&CE department had issued a circular to all temples ordering them to prohibit the sacred “Almanac Reading” ritual and other “Varusha Pirappu” celebrations and special poojas on the traditional Tamil New Year Day. Rejecting the government’s unilateral decision with utmost contempt, the people celebrated New Year with gaiety. All private temples organized the usual rituals as per tradition with fanfare.
The shameless government persisted with its decision and waited for the arrival of “Thai” (January 2009). The Chief Minister and other ‘Dravidian-racist” (who claim Dravidians are a separate race, on unknown grounds) leaders including Ramadoss, Tirumavalavan, Veeramani, et al, extended Pongal-New Year greetings to the people, but the people celebrated only Pongal/Sankranti with the usual religious fervour. When the most important need of the New Year is the “Almanac”, the Dravidian government failed to provide one, though the Chief Minister claimed of a “new” calculation a year ago! As most TV channels are owned by Dravidian parties, they all ran special programmes on “Pongal-New Year.” thus, the “Thai-New Year” found place in government records and Dravidian TV channels, but not in the minds and hearts of the Tamil people.
Tamil New Year - 2009
The Tamil Nadu government, in its list of holidays for 2009, identified 14 April only as the birthday of Dr. Ambedkar and marked 15 January as Pongal-New Year. The Central Government played safe by not mentioning Tamil New Year in its list of holidays. But most business establishments, due to fear of the government, refrained from mentioning 14 April as Tamil New Year in their calendars.
Though the government failed to connect with the people and earned their wrath last year, it persisted with its decision. The Dravidian lobby coined a new term, “Chiththirai Thirunal” (Chiththirai Day) and all TV channels telecast “Chiththirai Thirunal Special Programmes” though none could explain what Chiththirai Thirunal is! Last week, these leaders extended “Yugadi” greetings to Telugus and Kannadigas for the sake of their votes. Their core agenda of de-Hinduisation is targetted at Tamils only, ie., alienating Tamils from the Hindu fold is their objective; Telugus, Kannadigas and Malayalis are not on their agenda.
AIADMK supremo Jayalalithaa preferred to play vote-bank politics on the issue and duly greeted the people for Tamil New Year; her ally, MDMK leader Vaiko, followed suit! It is pertinent that both AIADMK and MDMK didn’t oppose the Tamil New Year ordinance last year in the Assembly, thereby helping a unanimous enactment. As people celebrated Tamil New Year with enthusiasm and thronged temples, the government developed cold feet, that too after seeing the greetings issued by Jayalalithaa and Vaiko.
In a last minute decision, the government seems to have given oral instructions to temple authorities through the HR&CE Department to organize the custom of “Almanac Reading.” As per Article 26 of the Freedom of Religion Act enshrined in the Constitution and also as per the HR&CE Act, the government cannot meddle with the rituals and worshipping pattern in a Temple. But when this writer went to a nearby temple, more than 1000 years old, in the morning, there was no talk of Almanac Reading or special poojas. These were taken up suddenly in the evening, and even the reading of the Almanac was conducted after 7 pm.
Malice and the Christian connection
We have seen that the ordinance was based on a decision of so-called scholars belonging to the “Pure Tamil Movement” headed by “Maraimalai Adigal”, a Christian. Christian attempts to hijack the Tamil language for evangelical purposes are at least a few centuries old. It began in the 17th century with French Padire Robert De Nobili, followed by Francis Whyte Ellis, Joseph Besky aka Veeramaamunivar, G U Pope, Seagan Palk, Vincent Smith, Caldwell, Eros Padire, and others.
Another sacred thread-wearing white man “Abraham Pandithar” (Pandit Abraham) gave medicinal treatments to people and converting them; there is a street named after him in Thanjavur. Bishop Caldwell earned the dubious distinction of planting the poisonous tree of Aryan-Dravidian racism in Tamil Nadu. All these men had an evangelical mission and learnt the native language for purely evangelical purposes.
The famous “Maraimalai Adigal” in whose name Kalaignar changed the Tamil New Year was allegedly addressed as “Padhire Magan’ (Priest’s son) in Tamil Nadu. In due course, the Church developed a hidden agenda of forming a Tamil Christian Nation comprising Tamil Nadu and Sri Lanka. The Christian push behind the LTTE and the Dravidian support to it only confirms this theory of Tamil Christian Nation.
Kalaignar expressed a wish that the New Tamil New Year (Thai-1) be celebrated in all cities, towns, villages and hamlets with programmes depicting traditional art forms and portraying the greatness of Tamil culture and richness of its heritage, organized by people themselves according to their means on the lines of the much-hyped “Chennai Sangamam”, which is being held for the last two years. Chennai Sangamam is organized by “Tamil Maiyyam” run by Father Jagat Gasper Raj and the Chief Minister’s daughter and Rajya Sabha MP Kanimozhi is a part of it. Jagat Gasper’s connection with LTTE has been widely reported in the media. The Chennai Sangamam festival opened this year with a western choreography of a Tamil song on the Cauvery; the attempt to Christianize Tamil culture was obvious throughout the festival.
Last year the ruling DMK came out with an amusing Dravidian view on Thiruvalluvar and Tamil New Year as, “Thai is important to Tamils, and Thiruvalluvar is as important to Tamils as Jesus Christ is for the Christians.” Since last year there have been many attempts by the Christian lobby to baptize Thiruvalluvar claiming he was a disciple of St. Thomas and that Thirukkural contains a lot of Biblical teaching. This lobby is also attempting to place Shiva and Vishnu as sub-divisions of Thomas Christianity, with the support of the Dravidian lobby, as seen in the change of New Year.
As the Gregorian calendar starts in January, the DMK move to shift Tamil New Year from April to January seems inspired by the malicious intention of Christianising the traditional Hindu festival. Dravidian leaders who claim Pongal is a Tamil festival, have created a peculiar concept called “Samathuva Pongal” (Egalitarian Pongal) saying the festival can be celebrated by people of all faiths!
This celebration is permitted within church premises, but NOT inside the church, which proves that the farcical nature of ‘Samathuva Pongal.’ But it has become an occasion for photo-ops and Muslim leaders also participate without fail, confirming a Dravidian-Minority nexus.
Conclusion
Nevertheless, the government’s attempt to change the Tamil New Year is a miserable failure. Many genuine scholars, historians, linguists and astrologers are of the view that this naïve move would die a natural death soon! Tamil Hindus have rejected it outright and Tamil-speaking Muslims and Christians are not bothered about it.
The people of Tamil Nadu have been celebrating all Hindu festivals including "Thai Pongal" and "Chiththirai Varusha Pirappu" as per the Tamil Hindu Calendar starting from the first month of Chithirai to the twelfth month of Panguni. More importantly, Tamils knew that ‘Pongal’ falls on “Kari Nal”, which is not auspicious for starting anything new. Hence, Tamil Hindus will never accept a “Kari Nal” as their New Year, for no sane person will commence anything new on that day.