Portrayal of Tamil Brahmins in popular media

=Positive portrayals =

In literature and print media

There have been references to Brahmins even in the earliest period of Tamil literature. Most of these early books were written by Brahmins.Fact|date=October 2008 A sage named Gautama who served in the court of Senguttuvan's predecessor is praised in the Tamil work "Silappatikaram".Krishnaswami Aiyangar, Pg 47] The "Tolkāppiyam", which belongs to an earlier era, speaks of "the victorious Brahmin". One of the poems in the "Puṟanāṉūṟu" written by one Mulam Kilar of Avur praises the learning and character of a Brahmin Kauniyan Vinnam Tayan of Cholanadu. The poem praises his efforts and those of his ancestors in combating the penetration of Buddhism in the Tamil land.Krishnaswami Aiyangar, Pg 51] Kauniyan Vinnam Tayan is also praised for the faithful performance of sacrifices. Krishnaswami Aiyangar, Pg 52]

The Thirukkural stresses the importance of the Brahmin and his dutiesKrishnaswami Aiyangar, Pg 130] to the welfare of the state.

The Tamil novel had its beginnings in Mayuram Vedanayakam Pillai's "Pratapa Mudaliar Charitram" which appeared in 1879. The second Tamil novel was "Kamalambal Charitram" written by B. R. Rajam Iyer in 1893 and the third was "Padmavathi Charitram" written by A. Madhaviah in 1898. Both these novels portray the lives of Brahmins in rural parts of Madras Presidency.

In R. K. Narayan's famous book "Swami and Friends" he depicts the vagaries in the school-life of a young Iyer boy, Swaminathan, and how he and his family, especially his father, W. S. Srinivasan, deal with them. The book provides an interesting insight into father-son relations in traditional Iyer households in the early twentieth century, besides providing details of day-to-day life. Along with the text of the tale, the sketches to accompany it, by R. K. Laxman, in early editions, provide a wealth of information about the latter.

In films

Iyers have been positively portrayed in Hindi films as Tere Mere Sapne. Malayalam films such as "Iyer the Great" [ [http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0271572 Characters in Malayalam movie 'Iyer the Great' from IMDB] ] and the "Sethurama Iyer" series and the Tamil movie "Iyer IPS" [ [http://www.indiaglitz.com/channels/tamil/review/7425.html 'Iyer IPS' Move Review from "indiaglitz.com"] ] have fictitious Iyer characters in the lead.

There have always been movies in Tamil, Malayalam and Hindi portraying Iyer society and traditional values in a positive manner. The black-and-white era saw Tamil films as "Thyagabhoomi" and "Vietnam Veedu".

Negative Portrayals

In Literature and Print Media

One of the oldest works to pour sharp criticism on Tamil Brahmins was "Tirumanthiram", a treatise on yoga whose author regards Brahmins as "foolish and gluttonous".Zvelebil, pg 226] According to J. H. Hutton, there was opposition to Brahmins from Tamils as early as the 13th century ADG. S. Ghurye, p 360]

During the Raj, anti-Brahminism was actively propagated by both British administrators as well as writers.cite book | title=Encyclpopaedia of Indian Literature | date=1992| pages=3899| publisher=Sahitya akademi| id=ISBN 8126012218, ISBN 9788126012213] J. H. Nelson, a popular administrator and writers, spoke of non-Brahmins as superior and degraded Tamil Iyers and Iyengars.Companion Studies to the History of Tamil Literature,Pg 257] Charles E. Gover's "The Folk Tales of South India" is replete with anti-Brahmin rhetoric. He remarks: cquote|The Brahmans have corrupted what they could not destroyFolk Tales of Southern India, Pg 14]

Bishop Robert Caldwell, regarded as one of the instigators of the Dravidian Movement was vociferous in his attacks on Tamil Brahmins. V. Kanakasabhai Pillai, in his 1904 book, "The Tamils 1800 years ago", holds Brahmins responsible for making a conscious attempt to "foist their system on the Tamils". Hindu savant Maraimalai Adigal who founded the Pure Tamil Movement, in a book called "Vellalar Nagareegam" or "The Civilization of the Vellalars" published in 1923, said that the classification of Vellalars as Sudras were a part of an Aryan-Brahmin conspiracy and launched veiled attack on Brahmin historians and intellectuals.Cite web|url=http://www.tamilnation.org/forum/sivaram/920901lg.htm|title= Part 8: The Twin Narratives of Tamil Nationalism|accessdate=2008-09-03|year=1992|author=Sachi Sri Kantha|work=Selected Writings by Dharmeratnam Sivaram (Taraki)]

From 1930 onwards, with the rise of Periyar and the Justice Party, anti-Brahminism intensified to larger proportions. The periodicals and newspapers of the Justice Party such as "Viduthalai" and "Justice"Revolt, Pg 10] Revolt, Pg 11] Revolt, Pg 12] Revolt, Pg 13] launched scathing attacks on Brahmins.Periyar Speeches and Writings] The works of Periyar as well as C. N. Annadurai's "Aryamayai" ridicules the rituals and practices of Brahmins and accuses them of propagating casteism and superstitions. Periyar's pattern of anti-Brahmin rhetoric was absorbed by his followers and the Dravidar kazhagam, the cultural organization that he established continues to indulge in vehement anti-Brahmin rhetoric in its magazines and periodicals, though popular support and enthusiasm for their anti-Brahmin tirade has died down with the passage of time.cite journal | author=Subramanian Swami| title= Is the Dravidian movement dying?| journal=Frontline| year=2003| volume=20| issue=12| url=http://www.hinduonnet.com/fline/fl2012/stories/20030620003609800.htm]

There have also been novels criticizing the patriarchal nature of Tamil Brahmin society and critically portraying the plight of Brahmin womencite book | title=Fragments of a Life: A Family Archive| last=Sivaraman| first=Mythily| date=2006| publisher=Zubaan| id=ISBN 8189013114] A. Madhaviah, one of the earliest Tamil novelists, launched a sharp criticism of the sexual exploitation of young girls by older men in the 19th century upper caste society.cite journal | author=Viswanathan| authorlink=S.| title=Portrait of a novelist as a social reformer | journal=Frontline| year=2005| volume=22| issue=17| url=http://www.hinduonnet.com/thehindu/fline/fl2217/stories/20050826000807700.htm] His English novel "Clarinda" tells the story of a Brahmin woman who is saved from "sati" by a British soldier. She falls in love with the soldier and converts to Christianity on the death of her lover. In his Tamil novel "Muthumeenakshi" penned in 1903, he describes the plight of a Brahmin child widow. The story ends on a happy note with the remarriage of the widow as per her wishes. Ameen Merchant's "The Silent Raga" depicts the life of women in an "agraharam" as a gruesome endeavour.cite book | title=The Silent Raga| last=Merchant| first=Ameen| date=2007| publisher=Douglas & McIntyre| id=ISBN 978-1553653097]

In recent times, apart from sporadic outbursts of anti-Brahmin sentiment in newspapers and television, anti-Brahminism has largely subsided. Anti-brahmin sentiment reached intense proportions on the occasion of the arrest of the Kanchi Shankaracharyacite news | last= Siddharth| first= Gautam | title= Crisis before Brahminism | date= | url =http://www.dailypioneer.com/columnist1.asp?main_variable=Columnist&file_name=siddharth%2Fsiddharth93.txt&writer=siddharth | work =The Pioneer | accessdate = 2008-09-03] cite news | last= Ravishankar| first= Ra | title= The Brahmanic citadel shaken | date= November 16, 2004| url =http://www.countercurrents.org/comm-ravishankar161104.htm | work =Counter Currents | accessdate = 2008-09-03] and when Periyar's statue in Srirangam was defaced by activists of the Hindu Munnani.cite news | last= Chanda| first=Arup | title= Stir in Tamil Nadu over Periyar’s statue | date=December 8, 2006 | url =http://www.tribuneindia.com/2006/20061209/nation.htm#6 | work =The Tribune | accessdate = 2008-09-07] cite news | last= Marx| first=Rajan | title= Idol-breaking as politics | date=December 12, 2006 | url =http://indiainteracts.com/columnist/2006/12/12/Idolbreaking-as-politics/ | work =India Interacts | accessdate = 2008-09-07]

In Films

There have been an extensively large number of Indian movies in which Brahminical practices and customs have been ridiculed. Some of the early Tamil films ridiculing the Brahminical orthodoxy as "Nandanar" (1935) and "Seva Sadanam" (1938) were by the Tamil Brahmin director K. Subrahmanyam. "Nandanar" was based on the tale of a rich Brahmin landlord called Vedhiyar who illtreated his farm-workers.cite news | last=Guy | first=Randor | title= Nandanar - 1935 | date=February 8, 2008 | url =http://www.hindu.com/fr/2006/07/28/stories/2006072802680100.htm | work =The Hindu: Cinema Plus/ Columns | accessdate = 2008-07-20] The movie ends with Vedhiyar falling on the feet of a farmhand Nandan who worked in his fields on realizing that the latter was blessed by the Hindu god Nataraja. This scene generated a huge controversy as orthodox Brahmins objected to Vedhiyar falling on the feet of Nandan as Vedhiyar was incidentally played by Viswanatha Iyer who was a Brahmin in real life and Nandan was played by K. B. Sundarambal who belonged to a lower caste. In Subrahmnayam's "Seva Sadanam", one of the actors Natesa Iyer drew flak from the Brahmin orthodoxy for acting in a controversial scene wherein he throws away his sacred thread.cite news | last=Guy | first=Randor | title= Seva Sadanam - 1938 | date=February 1, 2008 | url =http://www.hindu.com/fr/2006/07/28/stories/2006072802680100.htm | work =The Hindu: Cinema Plus/ Columns | accessdate = 2008-07-20]

When C. N. Annadurai and a few top leaders of the Dravidar Kazhagam left the organization and formed a new political party called Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam and decided to contest electionscite book | title=Social Change in Modern India| url=http://books.google.co.in/books?id=ZrJB-MsbWvoC&pg=PA111&lpg=PA111&source=web&ots=XMOQgUWEBR&sig=6nZLsjfhVbbXJxB3k34rVfq9P6A&hl=en&sa=X&oi=book_result&resnum=10&ct=result| last=Srinivas| first=M N| year=1995| publisher=Orient Longman| id=ISBN 812500422X] , they viewed mass media as the most important tool to carry the ideology and principles of their new party to the masses.cite book | title=Competitive Elections in Developing Countries| url=http://books.google.co.in/books?id=x6RgvJ1ni3wC&pg=PA62&lpg=PA62&source=web&ots=Q4WcthfrGg&sig=XaQ8tCBrYfsphrJRBw4M50V6m2Q&hl=en&sa=X&oi=book_result&resnum=1&ct=result| last=Özbudun| first=Ergun| coauthors=Myron Weiner| year=1987| pages=62| publisher=Duke University Press| id=ISBN 0822307669] As a result, a number of films were made condemning what they regarded as "Brahmin oppression" and advocating social reform and atheism. The first important film attacking the Brahmin orthodoxy was "Parasakthi" which was a resounding hit and launched the career of Tamil actor Sivaji Ganesan. The film featured a controversial scene wherein a temple priest tries to rape a woman and was considered for a ban.Cite web|url=http://www.hindu.com/2006/06/12/stories/2006061206151100.htm|title=Films and the politics of convenience |accessdate=2008-07-20|publisher=idlebrain.com|author=A. Srivathsan] However, the film became popular with the masses and triggered an era wherein many more films supporting the Dravidian ideology were made. "Vedham Pudhidhu" by Bharathiraja was one of the biggest hits of the 1980s. The story revolved around a non-Brahmin boy who poses as a Brahmin and learns Sanskrit and the Vedas from a respected Brahmin priest. In the process, he falls in love with the priest's daughter and the duo prepare to elope when confronted by opposition from the society. In recent times, Iyers have been portrayed as conservative and narrow-minded in films as "Avvai Shanmugi" and "Kannamoochi Yenada".

There have also been a few non-Tamil films in which Iyers have been portrayed in a negative way. The portrayal of Iyers in Aparna Sen's "Mr and Mrs Iyer" can be viewed as negative, but it also shows a positive change in one's outlook due to the dramatic events that occurred.

Notes