Dilemmas of Public Reason: Secularism and Religious Violence in Contemporary India

Author(s): M. S. S. Pandian
Source: Economic and Political Weekly, Vol. 40, No. 22/23 (May 28 - Jun. 10, 2005), pp. 2313-
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 special artcles -__

Dilemmas of Public Reason

Secularism and Religious Violence in India
Contemporary
The opposition between the secular and the religious is a constructfor, in reality,
both often co-produce notions of culture that are intimatelyconnected with violence. To
recognise this intimacy could be the beginning of imagining a new political language which
transcends the secular and religious through a process of creative contamination.The
search for a new political language begins in this paper with two sets of descriptions
of animal sacrifice from the past - one by the Tamil Saivites, who were at the forefront of
campaigning against animal sacrifices in temples during the late 19th and early
20th centuries and the other by the Madras legislative assembly in 1950, when it debated
a bill to abolish animal and bird sacrifices in temple precincts.
M S S PANDIAN

Theconceptof the secularcannotdo withoutthe conceptof the polluted.)4For the secularists,Jayalalithaa'searliersupportto

religious. 'karseva', the CommonCivil Code and ban on cow slaughter
-Talal Asad2003 indexesherrealintentionsin banninganimalsacrificeintemples.5
G Ramakrishnan, the statecommitteememberof theCommu-
I nistPartyof India(Marxist),claimed,"[these]formsof worship
Introduction are practisedby the people for a very long time. None has the
rightto interferein them."6Addinga class dimension,he noted
n August27, 2003, the chief ministerof Tamil Nadu, thatthe deities of popularHinduismare those commonpeople
a well knownproponentof theHinduright who were deified for fighting against injustice in society.
J Jayalalithaa,
ideology,instructedstateofficialsto preventthesacrifice R Nallakannu,the state secretaryof the CommunistPartyof
of animalsandbirdsintemples"inthenameof propitiating gods". India,tooopposedthebanon similargrounds.Interestingly,just a
She also soughtstringentactionagainstthe violatorsof the ban. yearearlier,in August2002, he tooka differentstanceon a local
Theimmediatereasonthatprovokedthechiefministerto enforce ritualin whichchildrenwrappedin yellow cloth were lowered
the ban was the sacrificeof 500 buffaloesin a village temple in shallowmudand retrievedin about30 seconds.Nallakannu
near the town of Tiruchi.1Though the ban appliedto Hindu called it a "barbaricincidentin a society which bannedcruelty
temples,her statementhadhardlyanythingon religion.Instead toanimals."7 Perhapshe neverrealisedthenthatcrueltyto animals
she invokedtheTamilNaduPreventionof Crueltiesto Animals would return in yet another context soon. The response of the
Act, 1950,andits subsequentamendments.Herreasonwas thus members of the People's Art and Literary Association and the
overtlynon-religious.In fact, reportingthe move of the chief Revolutionary Students and Youth Front - both belonging to a
minister,the EnglishnewspaperThe Hindureadit as an act of faction of the Communist Partyof India (Marxist-Leninist)- was
enforcinganimalrights.It wrote,"Inanotherinitiativepleasing dramatic. Protesting the ban, they slaughtered a goat in front of
to animal rights activists, the Tamil Nadu governmenttoday the Sappani Swami temple in Tiruchi.8 A letter in The Hindu
bannedanimalandbirdsacrificein templesthroughout thestate." commented, "It is quite amusing to find the so-called rationalist
It continuedfurther,"Thisis the second time in threedays the parties such as the DMK and the CPI(M), not categorically
chief minister...hasintervenedin the interestof animalsput to opposing the practice of animal sacrifice in temples, saying it
sufferingin temples."2 is an age-old custom."9Another letter summoned up the past of
But it was a section of secularists3who broughtthe issue of the Left to critique its present: "The Left's opposition to the ban
religionmostforcefullyintothedebate.Theyhadenoughreasons is intriguing. I recall how a veteran communist leader used to
to suspectJayalalithaa's move.Theyunderstoodherintervention be at the spot with his comrades before the traditionalritualbegan
as a steptowardshomogenisingexistingHinduismsin theimage in our temples and stridently register his objection..."10
of Brahminism,an agendawhichis centralto the Hinduright's The incongruity of the situation where a Hindu right chief
politics. S Venkatesan,a left activist, succinctlycapturesthis minister espouses secular reason and the secularists defend re-
understandingin the title to his essay on the ban on animal ligiosity, was compounded by the view of a section of the Hindu
sacrifice: 'Punithamana Kadavulkalum Theetuppatta rightwhich defended animal sacrifice. The BharatiyaJanataParty
Theivangalum'(The gods thatare pureand the deities thatare (BJP) indeed supported the ban. In fact, Kottakkudi Saravanan,

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the farmers'wing secretaryof the TamilNaduunitof the BJP, sacrifice.TherewerejointmeetingsorganisedbytheJains,Saivites
losthispartypostforsacrificingtwo goatsatPandiMuneeswarar and the rationalists to campaign against animal sacrifice
templenearMaduraito enableAtal BihariVajpayeeto stage a [Kalyanasundaranar 1982].Thesejointcampaignsbyrationalists
comebackin the Lok Sabha elections of 2004.11There were and religionistsproduceda vast corpus of literatureon why
howeverothersin the Sanghparivarwho opposedthe ban.The animalsacrificehad to be stopped.
mostdetaileddefenceof animalsacrificecamefromS Gurumurthy, In orderto understandhow animalsacrificewas represented
theall-Indiaco-convenorof SwadeshiJagaranMunch.Heclaimed in the Saivitepublicdiscourse,I would turnto the writingsof
thatit was wrongto debatewhetherworshippinggods by sacri- Maraimalai Adigal(1876-1950),a versatilescholarof Tamiland
ficing animalsis rightor wrong.In defenceof his argument,he Saivismandan importantpublicfigurein colonialTamilNadu.
detailedthe Kali temple festival in his native village in which Here I shall primarilyfocus on one of his key texts, Vellalar
the vegetariansincludingthe brahminsworshippedKali before Nagarigam(Vellalarcivilisation),whichwas firstpublishedin
sunset, by breakingcoconuts, burningcamphor,and offering 1923. BeforeI proceedwith this text, we need to bearin mind
'pongal'.Otherswould go to the temple in the nightand offer thatMaraimalaiAdigal,deeply influencedby westernscholar-
worshipby sacrificinganimals.He wrote,"Duringthe day, that ship,believedin historyas progressandtriedto claimthe status
Kaliwasvegetarian;duringnight,[shewas]non-vegetarian. That of science for Saivism.
is worshipbased on the lifestyle of the worshipper..."12 Workingwithina historicistframework,MaraimalaiAdigal
Such a sharedview betweenthe secularistsand a section of developed a particularsequencingof history which linearly
the Hinduright is no doubtbased on differentreasoning.For moved from the state of barbarityto civilisation. Here, he
S Gurumurthy, the defence of diverse forms of being Hindus typologised distinct occupations as markersof progress or
is a way to markout otherreligionsas fanatical:"It is not the otherwise.14 Characterising huntingand nomadicmaterialcul-
cultureof Bharatto assert that this is the [only] way god has tures,he noted,"Beforeknowing[thetechniquesof] cultivation
to be worshipped;or these are gods and othersare satans.This and the ways of using them, people lived in great difficulty
is the traditionof ChristianityandIslam."13He too invokedthe withoutenough food and properclothing...One can directly
'varna'-baseddharmafor differentcaste groups.For the Left, observeeven today the difficultstate in which the hill people
itwasawayof contestingtheHinduright'snotionof ahomogenised and the forest dwellers lead an uncivilisedlife of hunting."15
Hinduism. However,suchan uncivilisedregimefull of scarcity,economic
Despite these criticaldifferences,the untidinessof the ideo- hardshipsandotherdebilitatingqualitiesof life, drewto a close
logicalpositionsseems to me to offer an opportunityto rethink as the Vellalars(uppercaste,non-brahmin Saivites)discovered
theoppositionbetweenthesecularandthereligiousin thecontext modesof settledagriculture:"Onlyafterthe Vellalarshad dis-
of communalviolence. It is my argumentthat this opposition coveredcultivation,the hardshipfor food, clothingandhousing
is a construct;and in reality,both the secularandthe religious came to an end; the murderousact of killing animalsfor food
often co-producenotionsof culture,which are intimatelycon- ceased;compassionandmunificence,basedonsharingthesurplus
nectedwith violence. And to recognisethis intimacybetween harvestof paddy,pulsesandothercropswiththe starvingones,
the secularandthereligiouscould,in my view, be thebeginning thrived;kings... townships,wealth,education,happylife, and
of imagininga new political languagewhich transcendsthe the worshipof god, prospered..."16
secularandthe religiousthrougha processof creativecontami- What is significantin MaraimalaiAdigal's constructionof
nation. And this could be a languagewhich might be more historyis hisclaimthatsettledagriculture pursuedbytheVellalars
productivein addressingthe question of and engaging with notmerelyunfetteredhumanbeingsfrommaterialhardships,but
religiousviolence. it also cultivatedtheirmindsandgave riseto a worldof superior
I would begin this searchfor a new politicallanguagewith culturalvalues. In explaininghow the cultivationof land and
two sets of descriptionsof animalsacrificefromthe past- one cultivationof themindwereintimatelyconnected,Adigalargued,
by the TamilSaiviteswho were in the forefrontof campaigning "Cultivationis an exactingjob... To performit well, one needs
againstanimal sacrificesin temples duringthe late 19th and probingintelligence.That is why, those who do it have high
earlier20th centuries,and the otherby the Madraslegislative intelligenceandknowthewaysof usingit. Onlybecauseof this,
assemblyin 1950, when it debateda bill to abolishanimaland it has been said thatcompassion,intelligenceand munificence
birdsacrificesin templeprecincts.In bringingto lightthesetwo are the age-old traitsof the Vellalars."17This was indeed a
instancesfromthe past,my intentionis to show how the notion criticallyimportantmove for MaraimalaiAdigal.The recently
of culturein differentcontextsand in differenttimes plays out schematisedSaivaSiddhanta(philosophyof Saivism),whichto
an inevitablepolitics of power;and how both the secularand him was the highestachievementof the Tamil mind,18had as
religiousreasoningare complicitin it. one of its centraltenetsnon-killing(readvegetarianism),19 and
hencethe claimto compassionandmunificence.Thus,Adigal's
II sequencingof Tamilhistorydevelopedan identitybetweenthe
A Hierarchy of Beings Vellalars, theirtraditionaloccupationof settledagricultureand
Saivism as the civilisationalapotheosisof history.
Firstto the Saivitesand animalsacrifice.Followingthe for- Fromhere,MaraimalaiAdigalproceeded- now througha set
mation of the South Indian JeevarakshinaSabha, a Jain of comparativestudies of castes - to assess the civilisational
organisation,in Madrasin 1926, there were active campaigns location of the non-Vellalars/Saiviteswithin his teleological
to stopanimalsacrificesin templesin the Tamil-speakingareas. scheme of history. His conclusion was foregone - the non-
The Jainswereactivelysupportedby the Saivites.Forinstance, Vellalarswere way behindthe superiorcivilisationalmoment
Thiru Vi Kalyanasundara Mudaliar,a Saivite and an ardent of theVellalars.Letus firsttakeupthecase of 'Aryanbrahmins'
nationalist, used his journal Navasakthi to oppose animal who wereunquestionably the mostimportanttargetof Adigal's

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historicism.Withinhissequencingof history,theAryanbrahmins Hereis thusa storyof culturegroundedin teleologicalhisto-
hadremainedina stateof barbarism in thepastwhiletheVellalars ricistimagination.BeforeI move on to the secondset of repre-
werebuildinga civilisationbasedon settledagriculture: "Inthe sentationsof animalsacrificeduringthe Madraslegislativeas-
olden days, when the Vellalas were practisingagricultureand semblydebates,let me flag a coupleof pointsaboutMaraimalai
expandingcivilisation,Aryanswere merely leadinga hunting Adigal'shistoricalnarrativeandtheculturalprescriptions which
andpastorallife. Thatis why, cultivationhad been condemned follow from that,to be takenup at the end of the paper.First,
in the books authoredby them and theirfollowers.Moreover, despitethe fact thatMaraimaliAdigal's narrativewas meantto
the impositionthat cultivationshould not be performedby constituteSaivismas theapotheosisof civilisation,it is structured
anyonebelongingto their communitycould also be found in by modesof secularreasoning.Its imaginationof timeas linear,
these books."20In keeping with their uncivilised status, the historyas stages of culturemoving from the lower to higher,
religio-moraluniverseof the Aryanbrahminshadalso remained the possibilityof humanagencyin transforming one's condition
unrefined.Theyworshipped'minor'deitiessuchas Varunaand - areall hallmarksof suchreasoning.The only place wherehis
Indira,offered them inebriatingdrinks,and persistedin "the assertsitselfis whenheequatesnon-killing,civilisation
spirituality
performanceof bloodysacrificesso muchso thatas time went andSaivism.Thenthisunityis achievedthrougha secularmode
on, theirconductbecamemoreandmorerevoltingto thedelicate of reasoning.Second,his mode of representingidentitiesis to
feelingsof thehumanitarian Vellalars."21
Eventheconstantefforts treatthem as singularand bounded,which again is to a great
of the Vellalarsto initiatethe Aryanbrahminsinto civilisation degreea productof moderngovernmentality. Brahmin,Vellalar,
endedinfailure.WhentheVellalarsdisruptedtheritualsof blood non-Vellalar,non-brahmins arediscreetandmarkedby theirown
sacrificesthatwereperiodicallycarriedoutbytheAryanbrahmins, distinct culturalsigns of inferiorityand superiority.Thirdly,
it enragedthemandas a result,they characterised the Vellalars cultureemergesinhisnarrative asthemostimportant anddefining
as rakshashasandasuras.22Blood sacrificeis thusa sign of the trope.
Aryan'scivilisationalinadequacy.
As in the case of early Aryanbrahmins,Adigal argued,the Ill
proofof the uncivilisedstatusof the non-Vellalarnon-brahmin WhatIs To Be a Hindu
castes was theirlack of love and compassion,as evidentfrom
their dietarypracticeof meat-eatingand religiouspracticeof Nowtoanothersetof descriptionsaboutanimalsacrifice.These
animalsacrifices.Referringto theirdeities,he,forinstance,noted descriptionsemergedinanentirelydifferentinstitutional location
in contempt: "What are Pidari, Kurankunni, Isaki, Madurai - a modernlegislature.InSeptember1950,theMadraslegislative
Veeranandthe like?Thesearethe spiritsof thosewho indulged assemblydebateda bill to abolishthe sacrificeof animalsand
in evil deedsduringtheirlifetime,shunnedby kingsandothers, birdsin Hindutemples.The bill was a resultof a long-standing
and died prematurely."23 The TamilJainswho campaignedfor and sustainedcampaignagainstanimalsacrificein templesby
the ban on animalsacrifices in temples, also sharedsuch an the TamilJainsled by T S Sripaland had the open supportof
understanding aboutthe deities of popularHinduism.24 the then chief ministerof the Madrasstate O P Ramaswami
Giventhis reasoning,which is very muchpartof the teleolo- Reddiyar,a followerof VadalurRamalingaAdigalwhopreached
gical schemethatMaraimalaiAdigalhaddeveloped,he did not non-killingas partof his Saivism.29The debatein the assembly
haveanyprobleminclaiming:"itis theVellalarswhodividedthe finally led to the passing of the MadrasAnimals and Birds
otherTamils,whodidnotavoidkilling[animals]andwentlow in SacrificesAbolitionAct, 1950.Oneof the moststrikingfeatures
morals,into 18[occupational] groupsto assistthemin cultivation of the debateis the overwhelmingconsensusthat animaland
and to do otheroccupationsuseful to them."25He proceeded birdsacrificesshouldbe banned.However,a carefullook at the
furtherto affirmtheVellalarmagnanimity. Heclaimed,thelowly debatetells as thatthis consensuswas producedon the basisof
was not eternallycondemnedto be so: "...by avoidingkilling two overlappinggroundsoften employedby the same person.
andnon-vegetarian food andby groundingthemselvesfirmlyin Firstof these groundson which consensuswas sought was
[high] morals one can becomeas elevatedas the Vellalar."26He, religious.It was basedon the questionwhatconstitutestrueor
however,insisted,"Itis essentialthatthosewhofollowtheSaivite authentic Hinduism. The answers often carried traces of
moralof non-meat-eating shouldmix only withotherswho also variousmediationsincludingthatof Christianity.For example,
followthesamemoral.If theyhaveto mixwithmeat-eaters.. .they D V Ramaswamisingularisedthe Hindu gods, and using a
shoulddo so only after convertingthem to Saivism..."27 Christianvocabulary,claimed,"...this kindof sacrificemadein
Adigal'sclaimconnotestwo things:First,historyas a process anypartof thebuildingdedicatedfortheworshipof thecommon
fulfilleditself at thepresenceof the SaiviteVellalarandits only Father,God,is wrong..."(p 122).30SimilarlyL N Gopalaswami
taskfromnow on is to convertothersin his image.Second,the broughtto life duringthe debatethe figureof the heathen:"...A
lower occupational/caste groupscould liberatethemselvesnot man has somehowor otherthis instinctin him that before he
on theirown terms,butonly by castingthemselvesin the mould eats anything,he shouldoffer it to god. Even the worstman-
of theSaiviteVellalar.MaraimalaiAdigal'sculturalprojectwas a Heathen,however savage a life he may lead - believes in
thus one of attuningothersto a putativelyhighermoralorder offeringthe best to God..." (p 640).
of non-killing.28 Projectsof attunement,in enforcingtheground Whateverbe the sourcesof theirdefinitionsof Hinduism,a
for consensus (either through enunciation or violence), cannot section of the legislatorswas categoricalthat animaland bird
escape the network of power. As William Connolly notes, sacrificescould not havebeen or be partof trueHinduism.For
"...whatappearsfromonesideas themeansby whichattunement example,V I MuniswamiPillay claimed,"I do not thinkthat
is fostered often appears from another as the terms accordingto the Hindureligion therecan exist such kinds of
throughwhichpainfulartificesof normalisationare enhanced offeringsfor the worshipwhichinvolvescrueltyto animalsand
and legitimated"[Connolly 1995:14]. birds... I thinkit is high time that these small blemishesthat

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are a blot on Hindu religion should be removed... It will go a case of MaraimalaiAdigal,whatwe get to see hereis a project
long way to show to the world how sacred our religion is and of attunementin the name of culture.
how pure its worship" (p 113). V Lakshmi Ammal went a step Letme flag hereonce againa coupleof briefpointsto be taken
ahead in defining what was authentic Hinduism. For her, the up for discussionlater.First,thoughthe banon animalsacrifice
deities of popular Hinduism such as Kali, Karuppan, was meantto reformreligion,argumentsadvancedin its defence
Madan, Maariyayi, and Kaateri were not or inadequately Hindu. wereoften groundedin secularrationality.Second,the modeof
She referred to them as 'bootha kanangal', i e, inferior beings representation of the animalsacrifice- bothby thosewho spoke
often physically deformed like the attendants of the Hindu the languageof religion and reason- is foundedon a linear
god Shiva. She wanted a ban on the consecration of new temples conceptualisation of timewhichis centralto secularimagination.
for bootha kanangal and argued, "...if we remove deities such Finally, the idea of culturewhich is centralto the projectof
as Madan and Kaateri and enforce that all should worship only attunement,was substantiallyinvoked in the debates in the
in big temples, we can stop this sacrifice in a little time..." Madraslegislativeassembly.
(p 637). The play of culture and power is too evident here to
expand upon. IV
The second ground on which arguments for the ban of animal TheWorldof the Religious
sacrifice was advanced, was secular. K BrahmanandamReddy,
for example, claimed, "...this usage or custom in the country I wouldleave behindthe reformersfor a while andturnto the
is a remnant of barbarism and it is a heinous sin too, but this world of those who are sought to be reformed.The Madras
country is ignorant and superstitious, and as such perhaps be not Animalsand Birds SacrificeProhibitionAct 1950, despite its
a religious thing but a superstitious matter"(pp 124-25). Thus, penalprovisionsandthe euphoricresponsefromthe legislators,
for him, usage and custom, conceptualised as frozen in time, was failed to stop the practiceof sacrifice in temples of popular
not in tune with progress; and superstition was of course the Hinduism.Interestingly, hearinga recentpetitionchallengingthe
opposite of rationality.There were otherways in which the secular legalityof the act, the chiefjustice of MadrasHighCourtasked
ground was brought into play. Civic sensibilities were one of the advocate general who represented the state, "...What is the
them. N S Varadachari defended the ban because "not that urgencyin enforcingtheimpungedAct whenit was notenforced
sacrifice itself is wrong, but that it will avoid all the unseemly, duringthe past 53 years."Practically,the act is a dead letter.
ghastly, and revolting sights that we see in front of temples As a journalist commented, "...if Jayalalithaahad not suddenly
sometimes" (p 126). He wanted the government to tell the people raisedthe issue, people would not even have knownthatsuch
that the ban was "a mark of progress in our state..." Pleading a law existed in [the] Tamil Nadu statutebook."31
against penal action, he offered a linear notion of humanprogress: Let me give two instancesto illustratethe extent to which
"Human history shows that after thousands of years, we are not animalsacrificeis partof popularHinduismonTamilNadutoday.
able to give up a certain type of food. Progress is not measured AtPandiMuneeswarar temple,locatedontheoutskirtsof Madurai
by the progress we have made within the short span of life.. .That townandwherePandiMuneeswarar, SamayaKaruppasamy and
is not the way progress is looked at. It is looked at by making Andisamyareworshipped,on anaverage200 goatsaresacrificed
advance in stages..." (pp 126-27). on FridaysandSundaysandaround100 on Tuesdays.Thereare
The most interesting secular argument for the ban of animal about100 stalls selling 'puja'material.Duringthe ear-piercing
sacrifice came from D S RamachandraRao. He began with an ceremonyor the christeningof a child, communityfeasts pre-
account of the primal condition of human beings: "Cruelty is paredwiththemeatof thesacrificedgoatsandfowls,areorganised.
human prerogative. There is something in human naturethat we Threehundredbutchersskin and debonethe meat for a small
are born in cruelty with tendencies of cruelty. Children are very fee.32AtOtthaipanai Sudalaiaandavartemplein Sirumalanji,near
cruel - it may be unconsciously - and animal life is a species Nanguneri in south Tamil Nadu, over a lakh devotees, mainly
of cruelty..." Then such human nature is amenable to improve- drawnfromthe casteof nadars,congregateduringthe bi-annual
ment. According to him, "To go against the propensity of human festival and offer sacrifices of thousands of goats and pigs. These
nature is not an easy thing. But man is different from animal... are two establishedtemples.But usuallythe dwellingsof these
It is this that encourages the hope that all men and women, when deities,to whomanimalsareoffered,aremostlymodest,found
they reach manhood and womanhood in its perfection, in its in inconspicuouslocationssuch as tankbundsand outsidethe
highest ideals, will be able to exercise control over their lower village boundaries.And regularworshipis not usuallyoffered
nature and begin to see even in mute creatures like animals to these deities.
something of divinity, some expression of the higher and loftier The sacrificeof animalsandfowls is carriedout primarilyas
principle..." (p 135). 'nerthikadan'or the fulfilmentof vows madeto local deities.
Several of the legislators, independent of the ground on which Oftenthe vow is madeseekingdivineinterventionin situations
theyjustified the ban. assumed a pastoralrole towards those lesser of ill health,childlessness,elusivemarriage,etc.Animalsacrifice
beings who sacrificed animals and birds. Assuming a civilising is also offeredduringceremonieslike ear-piercingand naming
role, they discounted penal action but sought education and children.The animalsdedicatedto the deities cannotbe used
propagandaas the means to make the law effective. For instance, for any otherpurposeand the vow has to be fulfilled.This is
D S RamachandraRao argued, "We have to teach our people perhapswhya lawyerfromMaduraiKarupaaurani, KV R Illango
the higher ethics of divinity. We must educate them at home, soughtan interimstay on the ban (so thathis wife could fulfil
educate them at school and lateron we must take up the education hervow).Henotedin hispetition,"WhenI fell ill, mywife vowed
of the masses, and unless we are endowed with much higher to sacrificetwogoatsatthePandiMuneeswarar templeif I recover
qualities than mere vindictiveness, we shall never be able to get fully. When I recovered,we went to the templeon August30
the cooperation of people at large" (p 136). Yet again, as in the to fulfil the vow. Revenueofficials and police stoppedus."33

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The meat of the sacrificed animals and fowls are cooked in the robes and began his journey to the cremation ground, officials
vicinity of the temple and consumed there itself. The priests in and police intercepted him and asked him to appeal to the
these temples are drawn from the local community, often doing devotees not to perform the sacrifice. The samiyadi asked the
regular work for their livelihood, and on occasions, donning the devotees not to offer sacrifices in the temple precinct, but in their
role of ritual specialist. All these point to a certain degree of own places facing the temple. The devotees did carry out
unmediatedintimacy with the divine. It is importantto remember the sacrifices but in the nearby fields.37 On the concluding day
that those who defended animal sacrifice on religious grounds of the festival, the samiyadi was taken to the temple,
always alluded to this intimacy. A letter written wrote in a Tamil under heavy police escort, so that he could distribute
daily stated, "People choose their method of worship from their prasadams to the devotees. Thus, the state's singular language
lived environments. In the Golden Temple, the Sikhs offer wheat was one of enforcing law - a law that reduced the multiple sacral
halwa. In Kashmir, it is the practice to offer apples. This reveal connotations surrounding animal sacrifice to a singular repre-
the fact that people offer to god what they eat."34 sentation of violation of animal rights.
Significantly, animal sacrifice has an importantrole in forging The samiyadi's final declaration at the end of the festival spoke
community links. Though dalits are not allowed to enter a number a different language. He said to his devotees, "Though abstaining
of caste Hindu-controlled temples in southern Tamil Nadu, they from the crematorium visit was painful for me, I did not go there
are allowed to offer sacrifices. The Sudalai temple at Seevalaperi for the welfare of the devotees. I will go to Kailash to solve this
belongs to the yadhava community but the dalits are allowed to problem and once this issue is settled, Sudalai Andavar will go
make sacrifices during temple festivals. The head of every goat to the cremation ground and occupy the paran [alter] to accept
sacrificed goes to the thevar community. This practice is also the animals offered by the devotees."38 Thus he was the devotees'
prevalent in Sudalai Maadasamy temple at Arumugamangalam, protector,their welfare was his concern, and he promised to solve
Saastha Malai temple at Marukaalthalai, Oththappanai Sudalai the problem. His was a language of community and its repro-
Andavar temples at Vijayanarayanam and Sirumalanji, duction. And the very imprecision which marks his statement
Kallaththiyaanand Saasta temples at Naduvakurichi.Though the offers a range of meanings to be accommodated. The devotees
SirumalanjiOththappanaiSudalai Andavar temple is controlled become interpreters.In other words, there is a deep incommen-
by the nadars, the first sacrificial goat is to be offered by a dalit surabilitybetween the languagesof the reformingstateand religion.
and all animals are later sacrificed by a barber. And before the With the impending parliament elections, the chief minister
trancedancer leaves for the cremation ground in traditionalrobes Jayalalithaadid scrap the ban on animal sacrifice by an ordinance
of Sudalai Andavar, members of all communities, including the in February2004. It was claimed by her that the ordinance was
nadars, the dalits, the yadavas and the thevars, would go to his promulgated "in deference to their [ruralpeople] religious belief
house to invite him to start the 'yatra'.35 and in orderto remove their fears of attracting 'divine retribution'
In offering these instances, I am not claiming that these rituals for not following the centuries-old custom". Invocation of reli-
which brought together different castes are not mediated by gious belief, the fear and centuries-old custom, set the devotees
notions of hierarchy and caste power. They indeed are. As S V in a time past. Traces of secular imagination haunt the statement.
Rajadurairightly reminds us, "The village where I was born,there The teleological time marks it with its unmistakable presence.
is a famous Kali temple. Evey year, during the Amman festival, It is exactly these secular traces which were referred to when
caste Hindu men sacrificed goats: women sacrificed fowls and
offered pongal. The next day, the parayarsoffered buffaloes; and
on the last day, kedambarswho used to carry night soil, sacrificed
pigs. For each caste, a different animal; and a convention of who
would sacrifice first and who would last."36
My point, however, is thatanimal sacrifice as a mode of worship
is saturatedwith a network of significations ranging from reme- ADVERTISEMENT NO. 1/2005
dying worldly afflictions, to mark life-cycle transitions, to re- We are a premierICSSR institute devoted to research and
producing community links and hierarchies. And the language teaching on socio-economic development, constituent
of reform anchored in notions of culture, is. for most part, so Institute of Allahabad (central) University. The Institute
reductive that it is incapable of comprehending and engaging invites applications for positions of Professor, Reader,
with these web of sacral significations which are important for System Analyst, Lecturer/Research Associate for its
Centres : (a) Development, Planning and Policy; (b)
communities, families and individuals. The narrativeof culture Population, Environment & Health; (c) Rural
as progress cannot but be impatient with such significations. Development and Management; (d) Democratic
Let me give a brief account of the way in which the government Processes and Insititution; (e) Human Development and
of Tamil Nadu tried to stop the sacrifice of animals, following (f) Power, Culture and Change Visiting and contractual
the ban reintroducedby J Jayalalithaa. The instance that I would appointments on deputation may also be considered,
take up here is the bi-annual festival at Sirumalanchi conducted Minimumqualifications & pay scales will be as per UGC
norms. Allowances, and other benefits will be as per the
in September2003. A police force of 500 was deployed to prevent
rules of the Institute.Applicantswith proven research and
sacrifices during the temple festival. Three check-points were
teaching experience may submit applications to the
established on the roads leading to the village so as to filter out Registrarby June 30, 2005 on the proformaobtainablefrom
animals and birds. The house of the 'sammiyadi' (the trance the Registrarby sending a self-addressed envelope of 23x10
dancer) M Muthuraj,a retired village administrative officer, was cm size affixedwith postage stamps of Rs. 22.00. Proforma
surroundedby the police and he was prevented from visiting the and other details are also on the Institute's web site
cremationground, a ritualto be carriedout before the commence- (address : www.qbpssi.nic.in). Those who have applied
ment of animal sacrifice. Finally when he donned the traditional earlier need not apply again. REGISTRAR

Economic and Political Weekly May 28-June 4, 2005 2317

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one of the devotees of Pandi Muneeswaran temple told the press, cannot accept both offering milk, curdand ghee in agamic temples
"There is every reason to attribute a political motive to the and offering of goats and fowls [in non-agamic temples]."41
government decision..."39 (While this is a sign of reluctance among the secularists to adopt
the language of the religion, I do not want to miss out on its
V positive attribute:that is, it is as well a statement that I do not
ToMakea Claimon the Religious believe in what you believe; still I would defend your case.) Such
reluctance is not only a result of non-belief in religion, but also
Using the preceding accounts of the controversies surrounding of the secular agenda of treating religion as properly belonging
animal sacrifice in temples of popular Hinduism in Tamil Nadu, to the private domain. The language of religion cannot, thus,
I wish to begin this concluding section with a plea for a more legitimately be part of the public discourse.
complex understanding and engagement with the languages of The secularists are also faced with an additional disadvantage.
the secular and the religious. The very language of the secular, being grounded in notions of
First and foremost, the language of the secular is footloose. rationality and progress, cannot but privilege itself over other
It comfortably inhabits competing ideological camps. A Saivite forms of languages such as thatof religion. Given this, the secular
hagiographywhich inferiorises non-Vellala castes as well as non- always talks of educating rather than dialoguing. To give an
vegetarianism, a legislation which tries to contain diversities example from the controversy on animal sacrifice in Tamil Nadu,
within what we know today as Hinduism and to recast it in the N Varadarajan,the state secretaryof the CPI(M), claimed, "People
image of brahminism, and the very opposition to the Hindu right can be freed from such practices only by providing basic neces-
from the secular scholars and activists - all can be grounded in sities of life, education and science and rationalistpropaganda."42
notions of progress, imagination of time as linear,civic sensibility In other words, the secular looks for a unified speech or a
and other markersof secular disposition. Similarly, the language discursive consensus that endorses its position. This is a deeply
of the religion too can serve competing ideological projects. As problematic attitude grounded in a sense of moral and intel-
much as it could help to mobilise the Hindus against other lectual superiority. In the context of this self-arrogating superi-
religions (as is being done by the Hindu right in India), it could ority of the secular, we need to keep in mind the perceptive
also shape ethical dispositions of tolerance and dialogue with comment of Talal Asad that "...the ruthlessness of secular
others [Asad 2003]. And as we have seen, it was the partial practice yields nothing to the ferocity of religious" [Asad
abandonment of the language of the secular and acceptance of 1993:236]. Such an attitude blocks the possibility of even
the language of the religious by the Left in Tamil Nadu, that recognising the language of religion as worthy of serious con-
gave them the space to critique the Hindutva agenda of sideration. This is perhaps why, for sections of the believing
Jayalalithaa's ban on animal sacrifices. public, the Hindu right's claim that it alone could speak for the
The contingent natureof these languages in terms of producing Hindus sounds legitimate.
political outcomes makes it necessary to have an ambivalent Given these, I would suggest that unless the secular discourse
stance towards them. What seems to matter is which language reinvents itself by creatively engaging with religion ratherthan
would produce what results in what contexts. Let me here quote keeping away from it, it cannot rise up to the task of confronting
from an article on cow slaughter by Swaminathan S Anklesaria religious violence and speak a truly democratic language of
Aiyar: "I have long opposed a ban on cow slaughter as a dialoguing with the religious and questioning its own normalised
secular liberal. But in the light of Bhavabhuti's narrative, I also beliefs. Here I would speculatively and with a measure of
oppose the ban as a beef-eating Hindu. I am following in the uncertainty,offer three possible moves that may reconstitute the
footsteps of Vasista, no less."40 The narrative in question is language of the secular in a politically enabling direction. In other
Uttara Rama Charitra authored in the 8th century A D, where words, it is more a script for reflection rather.thana statement
it is claimed that the brahmin guest in the hermitage had to be of certitude.
fed with meat along with curds and honey, and so every host First of all, the presence of religion in the public domain of
had to offer a heifer, a big bull or a goat to him. As in the the present and the future India cannot be wished away. This
world of Aiyar, both the language of religion and the language is not merely because of the politics of the religious right, as
of the secular can co-habit to produce a discourse of toleration. has been normally understoodby the secularists. The Constitution
I think, it is critically important, especially in the current of India itself conceptualises a place for debates aroundquestions
context of Hindu right's aggressive politics in India, to recognise of religion in the public domain. As Marc Galanter, in a refresh-
and acknowledge that the language of the secular alone ingly insightful essay published four decades back, puts it, "The
cannot always be the foundation for a politics of toleration and freedom that is a principle of [a] secular state is not freedom
dialogue. for religion as it is (in India) but freedom for religion as it ought
If this is so, the secularists, as they practise their politics today, to be... The ultimate argument for the secular state then is not
are in a position of disadvantage. As we have seen, the Hindu to maximise the presently desired freedoms but to substitute a
communalists are truly comfortable in using the language of the new andmoreappropriateor valuablekindof freedom..." [Galanter
secular to advance their politics of majoritarianism. But the 1998:258]. While Galanter points out that it would be the edu-
secularists are rather reluctant to embrace the language of reli- cated middle classes which would have the power to define what
gion. When opposing the ban on animal sacrifice in Tamil Nadu, religion ought to be, we may have to also remember that it is
the Left. for instance, awkwardly distanced itself from the lan- a more complex affair of contestations involving larger sections
guage of the religion even while employing it. While R Nallakannu of the people who are marginalised within religions - in the name
of the CPI, prefaced his opposition to the ban by noting that of, among other things, caste, gender and language. The con-
"Communists do not have superstitions; do not even have faith temporarydalit critique of Hinduism is a case in point. Equally
in god", G Ramakrishnan of CPI(M) noted, "Scientifically we importantis Galanter's other point: "...the notion of religion as

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essentiallyprivateand separatefrom public life is an... inde- Hindus.Only a recognitionof the languageof religionwould
fensibledogmato those who hold religionto encompassmore validate such communitydomains as legitimatedomains of
than doctrine,worship, and private conduct, but to provide politicsagainstthe singularisedconceptionof religionproposed
obligatoryprinciplesfor the orderingof publiclife. Secularism by communalists.
cannotbe entirelyneutralamongreligionswhen it undertakes The preceding point is one of creating spaces for self-
to confine them to their propersphere"[Galanter1998:259]. representation (whichare usuallynot recognisedby the secular
Ambedkar'sBuddhismis as muchan effortto orderpubliclife in its desireto imposeits own publicreason)andengagingwith
as the Hinduismof the proponentsof Hindutva.In the nameof such self-representations. Space for self-representationsalone
confiningreligionto the privatedomain,we would be stifling cannotbe a resourceagainstreligiousviolence. We also need
theenablingpossibilitieswhichAmbedkar'sBuddhismholdsfor newerstrategiesof representation. Thelanguageof religioncould
the dalits and be left with an impoverishedpoliticallanguage also openup the possibilityof hithertounavailablestrategiesof
to confrontthe Hinduismof the Hinduright. Importantly,to representation whichcouldcapturethe senseof multiplebelong-
recognisethe languageof religion in the public domainis to ings that people entertainin theiractuallives. This possibility
subduesecularism'sdesireto imposepublicreasonas the only is not availableto the secularin its presentformas it shutsout
possiblelanguageof politicsandto openup spacesfor dialogue identitiesfromthe publicdomainin the nameof reason.Simul-
with otherkinds of politicallanguages. taneously,religiouscommunalismtoo does not allow spacefor
Second,such validationof the languageof religionas legiti- multiplebelongingsas its agendais one of singularreligious
matein thepublicdomainwouldexpandthe notionof thepublic identity.It is onlyby recognisingthemultiplicityandinterlocked
andcouldproducea stageto initiatea newandnecessarydialogue natureof identitiesandchangesin themthatone can makeany
with hithertomarginaliseddomainof communitywhereques- move towardsstrategiesof representations which are inclusive
tions of religionandreligiousreformare most often discussed. and contingent.
HereI wish to turnto ParthaChatterjee'smuchdiscussedpaper This means,in a regimewhereinthe languageof religionis
on secularismandtoleration[Chatterjee1998].Referingto the acceptedas legitimate,one needsto thinkof moreinclusiveand
assertionof religiousminoritiesthat"Wehave ourown reason complexmodesof representations. Letmegive, as anillustration,
for doing thingsthe way we do", he comments,"Thisimplies twocompetingapproachesof theIndianlawcourtswhiledealing
the existenceof a field of reason,of processesthroughwhich with people'smultipleaffiliationsto groups.As MarcGalanter
reasonscan be exchangedandvalidated,even if suchprocesses shows us, the "pragmatic or empirical"approachdealswiththe
are open only to those who sharethe viewpointof the group" problemin termsof whethera groupacceptsone as a member
[p 376]. It is only by recognisingthe languageof religion as despiteher belongingto othergroups.This often resultsin the
legitimatethatonecanvalidatesuchfieldof reasonandexchange recognitionof multipleaffiliations.On the weightof case laws,
as importantsites of politics.In otherwords,the secularproject he writes,"It was possible to be simultaneouslya Maharand
could, by acknowledgingthese alternativedomainsof politics a memberof the Mahnubhavapanth;a Samgarand an Arya
as legitimate,movefromtheconceptionof poweras 'powerover' Samajist,a ChristianandanOraon,anAnglo-Indiananda Khasi"
to 'powerto', i e, powerto thosewhoarenotpartof theauthorised [Galanter1997:114].The second approach,which he calls as
publicdomainand who do not speak the authorisedlanguage formalor fictional,triesto decide cases of multipleaffiliations
of politics. Here, I think, one needs to take into accountan with formalcategoriessuch as fourfoldvarna.This approach
argumentmade by Talal Asad about culturalminorities.He never endorsesmultipleaffiliationsbut affirmssingulariden-
writes,"Perhapsthe crucialpointabouta politicallyestablished tities. To me, the story of these competingapproachesof the
culturalminorityis thatconstitutionallyit cannotauthorisenew Indianjudiciaryis ratherinstructive.It shows thatthereexists
culturalarrangements but only requestthem"[Asad 1993:259]. a possiblelanguageof dealingwith identitieswhich belong to
The validationof minorityself-representations in autonomous the lived environmentof communities.In saying so I do not
communitydomainscould be the first step towardsredressing discountfor a moment,the aggressiveenforcementof identities
such constraints. by communitiesas exemplifiedin violence against religious
minorities,dalits and women. Still communitiescan also be a
VI site to locateenablingways of engagingwithidentities.In other
for
Spaces Self-representation words,the secularhasto contaminateits categoriesby searching
out otherlanguages,includingthe languageof religion,which
ThoughParthaChatterjeeendorsessuch autonomouscom- recognisethe life beyondboundedidentities- such as those of
munitydomainsof exchangeand debateas a way of ensuring the deracinatedindividualof secularismandthe singularHindu
a site of politicsto religiousminoritiesin India,I wouldsuggest or Muslimidentityof communalism.
thatit would be equallyvalid for variousmarginalisedgroups All the threemoves- recognisingthe languageof religionas
which constitutewhat we know today as Hinduism.If social valid,the communityas a legitimatesite of politicsandlooking
reformduringthe late 19th and the early 20th centurieswas for new strategiesof representations - cannotbutbe contextual
basically an acrimoniousdialogue and consequent change and shifting.As muchas all threecan be importantresources
amongbrahminsoften throughthe language of religion, the to confrontreligiousviolence,theythemselvescanalso,depend-
proliferationof newer 'Hindu'religiouscults, with newly in- ing on situations,be sourcesof suchviolence.It maynot be out
novatedreligiousconceptionsindicatethe expansivepresence of place hereto emphasisethe cautionwhich YoginderSikand
of such autonomous community domains among various seeks in the contextof religioussyncretism:"Whenassessing
sectionsof Hindusas well. This is perhapsinevitablegiven the thepossiblepotentialof sharedreligioustraditionsin countering
structureof power,basedon caste,gender,regionandlanguage, the politics of communalstrife it is importantto bearin mind
which mediatesthe relationshipbetween differentgroups of thata religioustraditionthatborrowsfreelyfromvarioussources

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neednot necessarilymakethose who claim to follow it tolerant Chennai, 1999, p 65.
of otherreligionsand theirfollowers"[Sikand2003:17].Thus, 20 MaraimalaiAdigal, Vellalar Nagarigam, p 5.
21 Ibid,p 44; see also MaraimalaiAdigal, 'Preface to the Second Edition',
what one needs is a practiceof politics which does not dwell Vellalar Nagarigam, p 13.
in a world of consistency or certainty (as secularism and 22 MaraimalaiAdigal, Vellalar Nagarigam, p 72.
communalismdoes), but in one of contextual and creative 23 MaraimalaiAdigal,ArivuraiKothu.PaariNilayam,Chennai,1979, p 36.
inconsistency with a willingness to partake in different 24 T S Sripal,ShattamPesukirathu,TheninthiyaGeevarakshakaPrachara
politicallanguages.IE3 Sabha, Chennai, 1956, pp 6-10.
25 MaraimalaiAdigal, Vellalar Naagarigam, p 11.
26 Ibid. p 22.
Email:mssp@eth.net 27 MaraimalaiAdigal, Tamilar Matham, p 285.
28 On the notion of attunement,see Connolly (1995). For an excellent
Notes discussion of the relationshipbetween culture,attunementand violence,
see Daniel (1996).
[An earlierversionof this paperwas presentedat a conferenceon 'Violence 29 Fora historyof the campaignby the TamilJains,see T S Sripal,Chattam
and State in South Asia' organisedby the Departmentof Politics, Amherst Pesukirathu,TheninthiyaGeevarakshakaPracharaSabha,Chennai,1956.
College, in April-May2004, at Amherst.I benefiteda lot from the comments 30 All referencesin this section, unless statedotherwise,are from Madras
of the organisersof the conference and the participants.AnandhiS, Vijay Legislative Assembly Debates, Vol IV, Nos 1-8, September 1950.
Baskar,andRajanKrishnanprovidedme with useful commentson an earlier 31 M V Kamath,'ReformingHinduism,'News Today,September29,2003.
version. I also benefited from my conversations on the theme with Itty 32 The Hindu, February22, 2004.
Abraham,Nivedita Menon, Aditya Nigam and PrabhuMahabatra.I am 33 Dinamani, September 13, 2003.
grateful to all of them.] 34 Dinamani, October 10. 2003.
35 The Hindu, September 15, 2003.
1 The Hindu, August 29. 2003. 36 S V Rajadurai, 'Kida Vettu: Villanku Paathukappum Manitha
2 The Hindu, August 28, 2003. Urimaikalum',Vallinam, August 2003-January2004, p 106.
3 The exceptions are the rationalistpolitical groups in Tamil Nadu such 37 The Hindu, September7. 2003.
as the DravidarKazhagam and the Periyar Dravida Kazhagam. 38 The Hindu, September 14, 2003.
4 Vallinam,August 2003, January2004, p 124. 39 The Hindu, February22, 2004.
5 Detailing, J Jayalalithaa'sprevious term in power, C J Fuller notes, 40 SwaminathanS AnklesariaAiyar, 'Serving Beef in Ayodhya and Cow
'Inpractice...Jayalalitha'sregimehasbeenactivelypromotingSanskritic,
SlaughterPolitics', The Economic Times, August 24, 2003.
brahminicalHinduism,almostas if it were the official religion.Dravidian 41 Vallinam, August 2003-January2004. pp 103, 115.
ideology has been effectively reversed in favour of something close to 42 Dinamani, September 3, 2003.
Tamil-style Hindutva'.C J Fuller, 'BrahminTemple Priests and Hindu
Revivalism in ContemporaryTamil Nadu', South Indian Studies.No 1,
January-June1996, p 22.
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6 Vallinam, August 2003-January2004, p 115. Asad, Talal (1993): Genealogies of Religion: Discipline and Reason of
7 The Hindu, August 26, 2002. Powerin ChristianityandIslam.JohnHopkinsUniversityPress,Baltimore
8 The Hindu, September 9, 2003. and London, p 236.
9 The Hindu, September 5, 2003. - (2003): Formationsof the Secular:Christianity,Islam,Modernity,Stanford
10 The Hindu, September 15, 2003. University Press, Stanford, p 200.
11 The Hindu, March 18, 2004. Connolly, William E (1995): The Ethos of Pluralisation, University of
12 S Gurumurthy,'MirugankalPali - Ithu Vazhkai Murai Vazhipaadu', Minnesota Press, Minneapolis.
Thuglak. October 22, 2003. Chatterjee,Partha(1998): 'Secularismand Toleration'in Rajeev Bhargava
13 Ibid. p 39. (ed), Secularism and Its Critics.
14 Argumentsdevelopedin this sectionon how time was usedas a distancing Daniel,ValentineE (1996): CharredLullabies:ChaptersinAnAnthropology
device throughthe 'denial of coevalness' owe a great deal to Johannes of Violence, Princeton University Press, Princeton, chapter 7.
Fabian, Time and the Other: How Anthropology Makes Its Object Galanter, Marc (1997): 'Group Membership and Group Preferences in
(Columbia University Press, New York, 1983). Walter Mignola Indian' in Marc Galanter,Law and Society in Modern India, Oxford
characterisedthe 'denial of coevalness' as "the replacementof 'other' University Press, New Delhi, (1989), p 114.
in spaceby the 'other'in time... andthearticulationof culturaldifferences - (1998): 'SecularismEast and West', Rajeev Bhargava(ed), Secularism
in chronological hierarchies."Walter D Mignola, The Darker Side of and Its Critics, Oxford University Press, New Delhi, (2004), p 258.
Renaissance: Literacy, Territorialityand Colonization(The University Kalyanasundaranar, Thiru Vi (1982): Thiru Vika VazhkkaikKurippukkal,
of Michigan Press Ann Arbor, 1995), p xi. South India Saiva Siddhanta Works Publishing Society, (1944),
15 MaraimalaiAdigal, Vellalar Nagarigam, South India Saiva Siddhanta Tirunelveli,p 647.
Works Publishing Society, 1975, Thirunelveli, p 4. Sikand. Yoginder (2003): Sacred Spaces: Exploring Traditionsof Shared
16 Ibid, p 5. Faith in India, Penguin Books, New Delhi, p 17.
17 Ibid, p 2.
18 Duringthe Pallavaperiod,the landedVellala elite developed an overlap
between Saivism and Tamil. This was achieved through the 'bakthi'
literatureof the Nayanmarsand was meant to constitutea broad-based
historicbloc of differentcastes with the Vellalas at the helm of leadership,
Back Volumes
so as to contest the well entrenchedauthorityof the hegemonic trading
classes. The tradingclasses were mainlyof Jainswho promotedSanskrit Back Volumes of Economic and Political Weekly
and Prakrit.Saivism acquiredthe trappingsof a philosophicalsystem. from 1976 to 2004 are available in unbound form.
i e. Saiva Siddhantam,duringthe Chola period when the Vellalas were Write to:
already a hegemonic landed caste/class. For a lucid analysis, see CirculationDepartment,
K Kailasapathy,Pandai TamizharVazhvumn Vazhipaadum,New Century Economic and Political Weekly
Book House, Madras. 1991.
19 MaraimaliAdigal's defence of vegetarianismwas not merely based on HitkariHouse,
theethics of non-killing.He also invokedscience to buttresshis argument. 284 Shahid Bhagat Singh Road,
Based on evidence from the west, he claimed that non-vegetarianfood Mumbai 400 001.
contained uric acid which was supposed to be bad for human health.
Maraimalai Adigal, Tamilar Matham, Manivasagar Pathippagam,

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