Murugan Devotion among Tamil Diaspora - Murugan Bhakti

Murugan Devotion among Tamil DiasporaMurugan Devotion among Tamil Diasporaby Patrick HarriganMurukan devotion in the Indian Oceanregion is, ina sense, asold as thestory ofMuruganHimself. Asancientlegends tellus, long agoLordMurugandescended toearth in theHimalayasand,impelled forwhateverreason,turned southtowards theDeccan andbeyond toTamilakamLord Murugan and His entourage land in Lanka at Katirkamam after crossing the ocean. Templepainting from Sri Subramanya Swami Devasthanam Kumra Vayalurhttp://murugan.org/research/diaspora.htm (1 of 8) [2/21/2002 9:51:16 PM]

Murugan Devotion among Tamil Diasporawhere,according tolocal and SriLankantradition, atTiruchendurHe crossedthe darkwater.Landing onthe shore ofLanka, Hecrossed thelength of theisland insearch of themaiden ValliAmma andfound her inthe jungle ofKatirkamam,where heeventuallysettled andmarried tobe joinedonly later byhis northernhttp://murugan.org/research/diaspora.htm (2 of 8) [2/21/2002 9:51:16 PM]

Murugan Devotion among Tamil DiasporaspouseDevasena(Tamil:Teyvaynai). [1]Historically,too, Lankaappears tohave beenthe first landoutside ofMother IndiawhereMuruganbhakti tookroot andflourished.Lanka mayhave beenthe firstSydney Murukan Temple gopuram and entranceSee "Murukan worship in Australia" by Dr Arumugam Kandiah .outpost of Murugan devotion in the Indian Ocean, but it was hardly the last. By the eleventh centuryC.E., devotion to Skanda-Murugan had reached Java in the Indonesian archipelago, leaving evidencein the form of sculptural artifacts. [2] Indeed, respect for the deity Skanda-Murugan eventuallyextended even to Buddhist societies far to the north and east, including Tibet [3] , China [4] and Japan. [5]http://murugan.org/research/diaspora.htm (3 of 8) [2/21/2002 9:51:16 PM]

Murugan Devotion among Tamil DiasporaYet, with the exception of Lanka where Tamil community took root long ago and has remained eversince, it was only with the rise of international trade in the 18 th and 19 th centuries that Tamils in searchof a better economic opportunities ventured to cross the Indian Ocean and settle in far-off lands suchas Africa, Mauritius, Seychelles and Reunion Island to the west, or Burma, Malaya, Singapore,Australia and even Fiji to the east. Most were simple rural folk, often landless, who signed on asindentured labourers on the great rubber, coconut and sugar estates that were the mainstay of earlycolonial economies in the region. Others of the Chettiar community set out in search of opportunitiesin the field of trade and commerce. Still others were recruited from India and Sri Lanka for theirexpertise as administrators.Everywhere Tamils were respected and sought out fortheir well-deserved reputation as industrious, enterprisingfolk. But they also were – and remain – very conscious oftheir ancient cultural and religious heritage. So it comes asno surprise that Tamils of every economic stratum werenot content merely to eke out a living and climb theeconomic ladder, but wanted to observe the same festivals,customs and practices that their ancestors had long takenfor granted.However, from the very beginning there have been obstacles to overcome. Those who first crossed theIndian Ocean were relatively few in number, and usually did so out of economic need. Few, if any, ofthem were religious specialists, and most traditional Hindu priests were, until recently, unwilling orextremely reluctant to leave India and cross the waters, which at that time entailed the loss of one'scaste standing in the eyes of many Hindus. In most instances, Tamil diaspora communities couldscarcely afford to import religious specialists or, when they could, only non-agamic pujaris could bepersuaded to resettle abroad. Added to this, the colonial administration, while recognizing Christianholidays and encouraging church attendance, with few exceptions refused to recognize Hinduhttp://murugan.org/research/diaspora.htm (4 of 8) [2/21/2002 9:51:16 PM]

Murugan Devotion among Tamil Diasporafestivals, for the large estates could not afford to suspend operations regularly due to mass absenteeismamong the rank and file Tamil labourers.Despite such obstacles, Tamils --especially womenfolk -- did preservehousehold rituals and much more. Inevery Tamil community, many weredevoted to Amman, Civan, Pillaiyar,Narayanan and, of course, Murugan,whose name has always beensynonymous with Tamil language,culture and religion. The most devotedamong then either appealed to theirbrethren for help to construct a simplekovil or, more often, would proceed tobuild a shrine or kovil themselves,Periya Kovil: Sri Siva Subramaniya Temple - Nadi, Fijihowever rustic at first.Each Tamil diaspora community has hadto wage its own unique struggle overgenerations to achieve economicprosperity while yet preserving its Tamilidentity and ancestral traditions. Hence,each has its own story to tell of how ithas overcome obstacles peculiar to itsadapted homeland. It is fitting, therefore,that members of the respectivecommunities have provided detailedaccounts of their struggle overgenerations to establish themselves ashttp://murugan.org/research/diaspora.htm (5 of 8) [2/21/2002 9:51:16 PM]

Murugan Devotion among Tamil Diasporadistinct and prosperous communities thatcontinue to cultivate Murugan bhakti andreap the Lord’s arul despite their relativeisolation from the Tamil homeland.Philologists have observed that isolateddiaspora communities often preservetheir cultural heritage even morejealously than their brethren of themotherland. For instance, the mostarchaic Scandinavian customs andliterary traditions are preserved not inScandinavia, but in Iceland by Nordicfolk who emigrated there many centuriesago. And it is well known that JaffnaTamils preserve a dialect of Tamil that is,in many respects, closer to classicalAnnual Kavadi procession through Victoria, capital of SeychellesTamil than the Tamil spoken in anydistrict of Tamil Nadu. Likewise, as Heinz Bechert has rightly observed, "Whereas the cult of Ceyonor Murugan was fully integrated into Saivism in South India, the god of Kataragama has retainedmany archaic features…" [6] Hence it is possible that centuries from now diaspora Tamils may preservearchaic elements of Murugan worship, such as kavati, which could pass out of practice in the heartlandof the Murugan cultus where the impulse for mainstream religious innovation tends to be greater.http://murugan.org/research/diaspora.htm (6 of 8) [2/21/2002 9:51:16 PM]

Murugan Devotion among Tamil DiasporaThe Second International Murugan Conference, hosted by theisland nation of Mauritius, is a fitting tribute not only to theTamils of Mauritius who have resolutely answered the call of theheart during long decades of separation from Mother India, but tothe entire Tamil diaspora throughout the Indian Ocean region andbeyond. Quietly and with little fanfare, they have held aloft theflame of devotion not only to their beloved deity Lord Muruganand His traditions, but also kindled within themselves and others apassion for Tamil language, religion and culture in all its myriadaspects and dimensions. Thereby they have not only honored theirancestral traditions and redeemed themselves as authentic TamilHindus, but they have also made it possible for the light of ancientwisdom traditions to shine for future generations as well.End Notes[1] Oral tradition preserved at Tiruchendur as told to the author during Kanta Sasti 1996 by M.S.Muttusubramaniya Deekshitar and correlated to Sri Lankan Tamil traditions of Katirkamam.[2] Hayati Soebadio (ed.) Art of Indonesia: Pusaka from the collections of the National Museum,(Periplus editions, 1992) page 75.[3] Iconographic traditions current among Tibetan Buddhists and shamanic Bön-po alike identify thelance-bearing (Skt. shakti-dhara) divine generalissimo both with Karttikeya and with the legend ofShambhala.[4] B.N. Mukherjee, "An Illustration of Iconographic Contact between Karttikeya and Manjusri inChina" in Buddhist Iconography, pp. 138-141.http://murugan.org/research/diaspora.htm (7 of 8) [2/21/2002 9:51:16 PM]

Murugan Devotion among Tamil Diaspora[5] D.T. Suzuki, Manual of Zen Buddhism[6] Heinz Bechert, "Skandakumara and Kataragama: An Aspect of the Relation of Hinduism andBuddhism in Sri Lanka" in souvenir of the World Hindu Conference, Colombo, April 1982.Related Murugan Bhakti resources:• Skanda-Murukan Conference home page• Program of Speakers and Activities -- Second International Conference• Speakers and Topics -- Second International Conference• Murukan Conferences: Master Index of Topics• Synopses of First Murukan Conference papers• Kataragama.org• Palani.org• Tiruchendur.orghttp://murugan.org/research/diaspora.htm (8 of 8) [2/21/2002 9:51:16 PM]