Tamil New Year – “KALAIGNAR” does a “THUGLAK”!

Introduction: –

 

While inaugurating the much hyped cultural festival “Chennai Sangamam” organized by his daughter & Rajya Sabha MP Ms.Kanimozhi on the 10^th
of January 2008, the Chief Minister Mr.Karunanidhi had indicated that
the ‘Tamil New Year’ would be celebrated on the first day of Tamil
Month THAI (Pongal Day) instead of the first day of the month CHITHIRAI
(Varusha Pirappu) from the next year onwards. He had also said that an
official announcement would follow soon. As committed, during the
inaugural session of the assembly on 23^rd January 2008,
Governor Barnala in his customary address had said that, the first day
of Tamil month ‘Thai’ would be celebrated as Tamil New Year Day and
that, the Tamils could celebrate ‘Pongal‘ and ‘New Year’ on the same day. Consequently On January 29, 2008, Mr. Karunanidhi tabled the “Tamil Nadu Tamil New Year Day Declaration Bill” and an ordinance to that effect was also passed on the 1^st of February 2008
by the Dravidian Assembly, which was conducted only for a short period
of ten days. Contrary to the belief of the Dravidian leaders, the
people of the state do not seem to be enthused by this proclamation and
they have simply ignored it as yet another politically motivated
Dravidian stunt enacted in the name of Tamil.

 

Dravidian Movement: –

 

The
Dravidian Movement was started with the sole objective of achieving
“Independent Tamil Nadu” (Thani Thamizh Nadu) separated from the
National Mainstream, which later got diluted to the theme of “Autonomy
Rule in State;


Alliance


Rule in Center” (Maanilathil Suyatchi; Maddhiyil Kootatchi) and finally reached the status of “


Alliance


Rule” in the state itself.


It goes to prove that the so-called Dravidianism is waning. The history
of Dravidian movement shows that many of the policy decisions taken by
the Dravidian governments in the last forty years in the names of
Tamil, social reform, social justice, secularism, etc, have ended up as
mere political stunts. The present decision of the state government to
declare Pongal
Day, the first day of the month ‘THAI’, as Tamil New Year Day is also
likely to fall, not only in the same category of political stunts but
also in the category of political jokes!

 

The
Dravidian Movement’s objective of separating Tamil Nadu from the
National mainstream was approached through the spectrum of the
so-called ‘Aryan Invasion’ theory, with the help of anti-Sanskrit and
anti-Brahminism strategies. The hidden agenda actually was to alienate
the Tamils from the Hindu fold.


The attempts to conduct the consecration of Temples in Tamil instead of
Sanskrit by using “Tamil Hymns” (totally irrelevant to consecration
rituals) in place of “Vedic slokas” (very relevant and meaningfully
connected with the rituals), introduction of Tamil Archanas (utter
failure) and the attempt to train men from all castes for the job of
‘Archagas’ (a colossal failure), were all in tune with those
strategies. The desecration of Lord Ganesh & Lord Ram Deities,
saying that they are Brahmin Gods and garlanding them with ‘foot-wears’
& ‘broomsticks’, were also a part of such strategies. This ugly
strategy gave an exactly opposite impact resulting in the appearance of
numerous small & exclusive Pillayar Koils (Ganesh Temples) in each
and every street of Tamil Nadu, and every function, whether it is
cultural or religious or domestic, commencing with ‘Ganapathi Homam’.
This also resulted in the increase of ‘Rama Nama Sangeerthanam
Satsangs’ (singing of Bajans in the name of Rama) in the state.

 

Festivals and Calendars: –

 

As
every festival celebrated by the Tamil Hindus is culturally &
religiously associated with the Hindu tradition, similar to the other
linguistic Hindu communities, the Dravidian politicians found it very
difficult to separate the people from the Hindu fold.


In the meantime, the Bakthi Movement has increased in manifolds, thanks
to Sabarimala Pilgrimage, Sai Baba foundation, Ramakrishna Mutt
activities, Bangaru Adigal’s Melmaruvathur Adiparasakthi Movement, etc,
and the
Temple


Administrations
through out the state are now unable to cope with the swelling crowds on every festivals and auspicious days.

 

While all the Hindu festivals like Diwali,
Rama Navami, Krishna Jayanthi, Ganesh Chathurthi, Vijaya Dhasami,
Navrathri, etc, are celebrated in the same name through out the country
on the same day, a few festivals like Shankaranthi and New Year are
celebrated in different names based on the regional flavour, but the
timing will be the same all over the country. While Makar Shankaranthi
is celebrated on the first day of Utharayan as Pongal
(Tamil month Thai), the New Year is celebrated as “Varusha Pirappu” on
the first day of the Tamil Month ‘Chithirai’. The same is celebrated as
Yugadhi, Vishu, Baisakhi,
etc in respective states. This is the centuries old Religious /
Cultural Tradition of this Great Hindu Nation faithfully followed by
the people. This “Divine Culture” is the ‘fulcrum’ of the
concept called “Unity in Diversity”, which integrates the people of
this Great Hindu Nation!

 

The
Hindu calendar is based on astronomical data and planetary systems and
time calculations based on the movements of the Sun and the Moon. There
are two Hindu calendars, one based on Sun
(Saura Maanam) and the other based on Moon(Chanthra Maanam). These
calendars have been conceived and brought out meticulously by our
ancient ‘Rishis’ and ‘Munivars’ with solid principles of foundation.
While the Hindus world over, follow either of the two calendars, the
major South Indian states (TN, AP, Kerala & Karnataka) follow the
‘Sun’ based system.

 

A
Tamil calendar has been in place for centuries by renaming the
Sanskritised names in to Tamil names. As per the Hindu calendar, 12
stars find a place in the names of twelve months and the particular day
of the month on which the concerned star descends, would be the Full
Moon (Pournami) day. For example, the Pushya star descending day of
Pushya month is celebrated as Pushya Pournima (Thai Poosam in Tamil)
and Chithrai star descending day in Chithrai month is celebrated as
Chithra Pournami. Interestingly, the Tamil Nadu Chief Minister had said
that the government has no idea of changing the names of the months.

 

Unanswerable Questions: –

 

The present decision of the state government to change the New Year’s Day from ‘Chithrai’ month to ‘Thai’ month inevitably invites a number of questions. Will
the government cancel the holiday for the first day of Chithrai month?
Will the government cancel the holiday for January First as the
Christians are celebrating New Year on that day? Will the government
cancel the holiday for Moharram, which is celebrated by Muslims in the
first month of Arabic Calendar after the Hajiri New Year day?  What
will be the government’s stand on the New Year celebration of Arabic
calendar & English calendar? Will the government say that the
Christians and Muslims of Tamil Nadu celebrating New Year as per the
English & Arabic calendars respectively are NOT Tamils? Will the
government enact another farce called “Samathuva Varusha Pirappu”
(Egalitarian New Year) similar to the previously enacted farce called
“Samathuva Pongal (Egalitarian Pongal)
with two or three Minority, Dravidian and Atheist leaders? The Tamil
New Year is also involved in Temple traditions and it is celebrated as
“Chithirai Thiruvizha” (Chithra Festival) in many parts of the state.
Will the government cancel all those celebrations? What is the
objective of the state government and what is that it is going to
achieve because of this change? What is that the people are going to
benefit because of this change? In what way the language of Tamil is
going to be benefited or glorified by this move?

 

It
was mentioned in the Governor’s address in the last Assembly Session
that, in the year 1921, over 500 Scholars under the leadership of
“Maraimalai Adigal” had met in Pachayapas College in Chennai
on the auspices of “Pure Tamil Movement” and decided that Tamils needed
a separate calendar and wanted a new era started in the name of
Thiruvalluvar and that, based on this fact, the government had made
this “revolutionary” decision! Again, this revolutionary decision
invites some questions. Who are those 500 scholars, who
met under the auspices of “Pure Tamil Movement” and under the
leadership of Maraimalar Adigal in 1921? How qualified are they and do
they have the authority to change the traditions? Why was the state
government sleeping for all these 87 years? Mr.Karunanidhi was the CM
previously for four times and why he didn’t make this change then? Does
the government mean to say that those scholars (the likes of
Agasthiyar, Tholkappiyar, Kambar, Nayanmars, Alwars, et al including
Thiruvalluvar) who celebrated first day of Chithirai as New Year
previously for thousands of years, and those scholars who were there
before the time of Maraimalai Adigal are NOT “True & Pure” Tamil
Scholars? Ironically, Thiruvalluvar, a firm believer in God and a
staunch follower of Sanatana Dharma, was never believed to have had any
intentions of changing the system of Hindu calendars. After all, he was
also and is still acclaimed as a ‘Riashi’ or ‘Siddhar’ by the Tamil
Hindus! As the Chithirai New Year is connected with the

Temple






Traditions


,
how can a ‘secular’ government alter the traditions especially when the
HR & CE rules do not permit such changes and require maintaining
status quo on such matters? What is the necessity for an unwanted &
unnecessary change like this? Are there any vested interests behind
this move? Is there any conflict of interests in this move?  

 

It
is very unfortunate that the Honourable Governor who must be aware of
the fact that the ‘New Year’ is celebrated based on Hindu Calendars
through out the country including Punjab, had to “Read” this naive
point also in his customary address. One wonders whether he is aware of
his “Residual Powers” through which he could have asked the state
government to refrain from this move, or at least, remove this point
from his address!

 

The Felicitation: –

 

On Saturday, the 9^th
of February, a motley group of chauvinistic “scholars”, in the name of
“Sanga Tamizh Peravai” felicitated the Chief Minister for his
“revolutionary” move of making first day of Thai month as the Tamil New
Year Day. It must be noted that some of the modern ‘scholars’
associated with this ‘Sanga Tamizh Peravai’ are overtly anti-Sanskrit
& anti-Brahmin and some of them are covertly anti-Sanskrit &
anti-Brahmin and some of them are even atheists. A few of them, who are
aware of the idiocy of this move, have allegedly attended the function
on political as well as personal compulsions. The height of
the felicitations was, artists dressed up in the guise of
Thiruvalluvar, Tholgaappiyar, Kambar, Avvaiyaar, Ilango Adigal, et al,
lined up praising Karunanidhi for this revolutionary move! Accepting
the felicitations, the Chief Minister had 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 conspicuously, he had not said
anything about the methodology of such a new calculation, if at all
there is one. The Chief Minister had also said, “All Tamils should
celebrate the first day of the month ‘Thai’ not only as ‘Pongal
festival’ but also as ‘Tamil New Year Day’. Besides, they should be
celebrated with all pomp and gaiety attached to the Deepavali
Festival”.

 

The False and The Truth: –

 

The
Chief Minister had said that the government has no intention of
changing the existing names of the Tamil months, as the words used at
present are mostly of Tamil origin, which is a ludicrous statement.
However, the actual truth is that all the names of the months have
originated from Sanskrit. For example, “Chaithra” (star-Chithra) is the
origin for “Chithirai”; “Vaisaka” (star-Visaka) is the origin for
“Vaikaasi” and the same is changed as “Baisaki” in certain languages;
“Jeshta”or “Aanushi” (star-Anusham) is the origin for “Aani”;
“Aashaada” (star-Poorvashaada-Pooradam and Uthirashaada-Uthiradam) is
the origin for “Aadi”; “Sraavana” (star-Sravanam) is the origin for
“Aavani”; “Paathrapatha” or “Proshtapathi” (star-Poorattathi and
Uthirattathi) is the origin for “Purattasi”; “Aasvayujee” or “Aaswini”
(star-Aswini) is the origin for “Aippasi”; “Kaarthikaa”
(star-Karthikai) is the origin for “Kaarthikai”; “Maargasirsha”
(star-Mrigasirham) is the origin for “Maargazhi”; “Thaishya”, which is
otherwise called as “Poushya” due to the connected stars ‘Pushyam’ and
‘Punarvasu’, is the origin for “Thai”; “Maaga” (star-Magam) is the
origin for “Maasi” and “Paalguni” (stars-Pooram-Poorva Palguni and
Uthiram-Uthira Palguni) is the origin for “Panguni”. So, it confirms
the well known fact that Sanskrit is the Mother of all Indian languages
and among them Tamil commands almost equal status and respect as that
of Sanskrit mainly because of the truth that, they originated from Lord Shiva
and got introduced to the world through Sage Paanini for Sanskrit and
Sage Agasthya for Tamil. It is believed for ages and centuries that
Sanskrit and Tamil are the two eyes of Lord Shiva
and it is a disgrace and insult that these divine languages are
deliberately discriminated by “Atheist Dravidians” purely for selfish
interests in the name of Aryan-Dravidian Racism.

 

The ‘latest’ stunt: –

 

A private TV channel reported yesterday (11-04-08)
that the HR&CE department had issued a circular to all the temples
ordering them to prohibit the sacred “Panchangam Reading” ritual and
other “Varusha Pirappu” celebrations on Sunday the 13^th.
Rejecting the unilateral decision of the government to change the New
Year from the first day of ‘Chithirai’ to the first day of ‘Thai’
month, with utmost contempt, the people of the state have already
started their preparations for celebrating the New Year with gaiety
& fanfare. The Priests and Bakthas of all the temples have also
organized the usual rituals as per the tradition in full swing. At this
point of time, the Dravidian government, which always shows scant
regards to the Hindu tradition & culture, has come out with the
said circular, which is outrageous! The reason for this arrogance can
be easily & rightly attributed to the terrible loss of face for the
government and the defeat it got at the hands of the people of the
state, as its ordinance on ‘Thai’ New Year has been totally ignored by
the people.

 

 

Conclusion: –   

 

Many
genuine Scholars, Historians, Linguists and Astrologers are of the firm
opinion that, this naïve move would die a natural death very soon! By
this move, ‘Kalaignar’ has acted a ‘Thuglak’! This move will result
only in the self-satisfaction of Mr.Karunanidhi, Mr.Veeramani,
Mr.Ramadoss and their Dravidian ilk. The people are in no way going to
be benefited by this and in fact the government, which has already
earned the wrath of the people for its stand on Rama Sethu, for making
malicious remarks on Lord Rama
and consistent anti-Hindu stand, comments & actions like the recent
Chidambaram Temple episode, has antagonized the people further by this
stupid move! The Dravidian Leaders & the self-styled Tamil champions will eat humble pies on the 13^th
after realizing that their much touted “New Year Revolution” had no
takers at all. A spokesman of DMK has come out with an amusing
Dravidian view that “Thai is important to Tamils and Thiruvalluvar is
as important to Tamils as Jesus Christ is for the Christians”.
Irrespective of such insipid & idiotic opinions of these Dravidian
leaders, the people of Tamil Nadu have been celebrating all the Hindu
festivals including “Thai Pongal” and “Varusha Pirappu” as per the
Tamil Hindu Calendar starting from Chithirai to Panguni. They also have
great reverence to Thiruvalluvar, Tholgappiyar, Agathiyar and other
Tamil Sages and scholars, who have never deviated from traditions
themselves while celebrating the festivals as per the Hindu culture and
calendars. MORE IMPORTANTLY THE TAMILS KNEW THAT ‘PONGAL’
FALLS ON “KARI NAAL” AND HENCE THEY WOULD NEVER START THEIR NEW YEAR ON
THAT DAY! NO SANE PERSON WILL COMMENCE ANYTHING ‘NEW’ ON A “KARI NAAL”!Even the cadres of the Dravidian parties would be celebrating the new year on Sunday the 13^th as per tradition and let us all be rest assured that most of the Dravidian leaders would do the same albeit secretly!

 

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