PANNDITHAR .KA. AYOTHIDHASAR

Pandit
Ayothidasar in the last decade of the 19th Century was a Writer,
Journalist, Social reformer, Siddha Physician, Tamil and Buddhist
Scholar. He edited and published THAMIZHAN a journal devoted to social
reform for eight years. He opposed Brahminism Vedic rituals,
untouchability. He championed communal representation, Women’s Rights,
self-respect, Rationalism etc., unfortunately the world of Tamil scholar
purposely ignored contribution to Tamil Life and Thought.

Only
AD suffered this ignoring. Subramania Bharathiyar, V.O.Chimdambaram
Pillai, Singaravelach Chettiar, Pandit U.V. Saminatha Iyer,
Thiru.V.Kalyanasundara Madaliar, Pandithurai Thevar, Mahavidwan Raghava
Iyengar who lived during the same period in the Madras Presidency were
hounoured for theirs scholarship and patriotism. Ayothidasar’s many
field contributions did not receive due recognition because he belonged
to the Paraiyan caste.

The neglect Ayothidasar suffered was worse
than physical violence. The higher-caste intellectuals in Tamil Nadu
were adopt in practicing this variety of concealed violence.

We
are presenting before you the history of Tamil Nadu 100 years ago which
was ignored by this casteist intellectuals of Tamil Nadu.

European
merchants came to India in the later half of the 17th century. They
began as Traders but in course of time conquered and ruled large parts
of the country including Madras State

During 1870’s Englishmen
came to India in large numbers to construct roads and bridges. Railway
lines were laid and new departments like post and telegraph, police,
military etc were created.

They lived in colonies and with their
families they required the services of interpreters, gardeners,
servants, cooks and watchmen. They also required grooms for their
horses. Because the post required physical labour people belonging to
the dominant castes did not offer their services. Englishmen ate beef
and that was an important reason why people from the dominant castes.
Kept away from such services.

The depressed classes of TN the
sons of the soil who were ignored by the caste ridden society were
selected to do these jobs. The men who lived in the slums in and around
Madras were selected to lay railway lines, run postal services and
construct buildings. This resulted in the growth of big slums in Egmore,
Chetput, Teynampet, Althottam etc.

The depressed classes who
lived in these slums organized associations like Panchamar Maha Jana
Sabhas to forge unity among themselves and improve their living
conditions. They demanded facilities for education for their children
and employment for themselves. They also requested the Govt. to allot
lands to the Depressed classes for cultivation.

The British Govt.
accepted their demands and either directly or through Christian
Missionaries implemented them. On behalf of the DC’s many journals were
published in the Madras Presidency.

When Sir Thomsa Munro was
Governor of Madras Mr. george Harrington was led under him as the Heal
of the state Construction Dept. Thiru. Kandappan served under him. He
was a Tamil Scholar and also Siddha Physician. He possessed a plam-leaf
copy of the great Tamil work, TIRUKKURAL. He understood its importance
as a classic of world literature and so he carefully preserved the copy.

Kandappan’s
son Kandasamy who lived in the Thousand Lights area in Madras was also a
Siddha Physician. His wife gave birth to a male child on 20.05.1845 and
the child was named Kathavarayan. He was also initiated into the
hereditary profession Siddha Medicine. Later he joined Ayothidasar
Pandit’s Village School. He developed great respect for his teacher and
adopted his name.

English officials used to go to Nilgiris Hills
during summer George Harrington took his Butler Kaudappan and his family
members with him to Ooty Ayothidasar married Dhanalakshmi sister of
Rettamalai, Srinivasan who was his relation.
Ayothidasar started
Advaita Philosophy during his stay at Ooty and formed the Advaithanandha
Sabha to propogate Advaita Philosophy Col. H.S. Olcott, President of
the International Theosophical society had started 5 free schools for
Panchama children in the centre of Madras. He also became acquainted
with Rev. John Rathinam who started a school for the oppressed in
Madras. He formed Dravidar Kazhagam in 1882 and started the journal
‘Dravida Pandian’ in 1885. Ayothidasar’s friendship with the two persons
mentioned above introduced for reaching changes in his thinking.

Dr. T. DHARMARAJAN
St. Xavier’s College, Palayamkottai

When
the Mahajana Sabha (Madras) conducted its General Body Meeting.
Ayothidasar moved a resolution containing some demands. The opposition
to his demands opened his eyes.
Did he make revolutionary demands?
No, he requested that Pariahs may be allowed entry into Siva and Vishnu
Temples. He also sought facilities for educating pariah children. These
were ordinary demands but a 100 years ago they met with stiff
opposition. Entrenched casteism opposed his very ordinary demands.

“You
may call yourself a HINDU. But Siva and Vishnu are not your deities.
Karuppasamy and Sudalamadan are your deities. Be satisfied with
worshipping them” said caste Hindus. It was a defining moment in his
life.

The palm leaf manuscript Naradiya Sangs Thelivu” narrates
the history of Buddhism and how it was destroyed in the land of its
birth. When he studied of his outlook changed.
In 1890’s he accepted Buddhist teachings. In 1898 July he went to Colombo with company of Col.Olcott and became a Buddhist.
“Buddhism was the religion of my concestors and I here returned to it”, wrote Ayothidasar.
He
returned to Madras and founded the “south Indian Sakkiya Buddhist
Sangh” at Royappettah (Madras). Its branches were started at
Tiruppathur, Thangavayal, Marikuppam, Bangalore, Rangoon (Burma) etc.
Meetings
were held every Sunday. Singaravelar, Prof. Lakshmi Narasu, A.P.
Periyasamy Pulavar, Appaduraiar and Swapna Sundari spoke in these
meetings. They exposed Vedic religion and Brahminism and supported
rationalist ideas. He rewrote the history of the oppressed classes when
Brahminism had subjugated in a stealthy manner.
Dr. RAJ GOWTHAMAN
PUDUCHERRY
Ayothidasar lived a life of struggle with Buddhism as parallel religion he countered Brahminism orthodoky.
When
he said that Brahmin are steeped in casteism and non-Brahmins are
victims of casteism, he was not indulging in speculation – he was
speaking the TRUTH. He said on the basis of strong evidence that the
untouchables were once followers of Buddhism. Brahminism punished
recalcitrant individuals and denounced them as casteless persons and
people of low birth. Thevaram, the Tamil Saivite hymn described fighters
against Brahminism as “people of low birth”.
When one fights
Brahminism he is immediately branded as a person of low birth. When an
army cannot do Brahminism can achieve easily and quickly. Just as a
virus kills a person Brahminism. Annihislates whole society, the sons of
the soil. Ayothidasar understood this and opposed it.
Mr. PA. EZHILARASAN
Editor, Resurgence, Chennai
Ayothidasar
came to the conclusion that Hinduism is the source of casteism and its
attendant evils. He searched for a counter culture and discovered
Buddhism. He para pharased the teachings of Buddhism and wrote
insightful commentaries. He not only pointed out the short comings of
Hindhuism, but also explained how Buddhism was supers on Hinduism .
Prof. T. DHARMARAJAN:
Ayothidasar
did not search for Buddhism in Buddhist Viharas and mutts. He searched
for it among the people. He found out two sources of Buddhism in Tamil
Nadu.
1) The oral traditions, customs and usage prevalent among the Tamils.
2)
The songs and Tales of Buddhism were recorded in palm-leaf manuscripts
and preserved palm-leaf by the lower mungs of the people. He studied the
collections of Tamil ethical poems (THIRUKKURAL) and came to the
conclusion that these represented ‘Tamil Buddhism’. Ancient Siddha texts
proved to be sources of Buddhism.

RAVIKUMAR, M.L.A. VCK

Whenever
Ayothidasar wrote about Buddhism he always referred to it as Tamil
Buddhism because Buddhism is our State has a deep history behind it. Dr.
Romila Thapar who has studied Buddhism in India has said that Tamil
Buddhism is still an open field and it has to be thoroughly studied and
researched.

Buddha’s spoke about Love, Tolerance, Equality,
Rationalism etc which were concepts meant for the liberation of the
oppressed people. He sowed the seeds of liberation theology; but it was
not harvested by the suppressed people.
He founded a journal, oru
paisa Tamilan and the first issued was published on 19.6.1907 from
Royapettah. The journal was expected to provide a link with all the
branches of Sakkya Buddhist Sangh and explain the principles and
practices of Buddhism to its followers.
There are persons who cannot
differentiate among the higher casts, the middle castes and the lower
castes. Some philosophers, mathematicians, scientists and writers joined
together to educate the people about the Right path, Honesty etc and
they co-operated in the publication of oru paisa Tamilan Articles on
Buddhist principles and practices along with news reports on events
effecting the lives of the people were published in the journal. Current
events were analysed and discussed. Articles on Women’s Education
Prices of Essential Commodities and Book Reviews were published.

The
journal worked tirelessly for the empowerment of the DC’s. It was
popular with Tamilians living in the Madras Presidency and also outside
the state.
It was during this period that ideas like Anti-Brahminism,
Dravidian Ideology, Rationalism etc were discussed by all sections of
the people in the Presidency. The Dravidian Movement gathered the stands
and united them into a full fledged political ideology.

THOL. THIRUMAVALAVAN M.P.
Leader, VC, Chennai.

“The
DC’s are the sons of the soil they are the original inhabitants of this
hoary land” declared Pandit Ayothidasar when the British Govt included
DC’s in the religious category of the HINDUS he objected strongly and
declared that they are not Hindus. They are the original inhabitants and
they should be designated as Adhi Tamilan.

Tamils today are
known for their passionate adherence to Tamil (language), Tamil
Nationality and Tamil Nationalism. It will not be an exaggeration to say
that the foundation for the fierce nationalism of the Tamil people was
laid by Pandit Ayothidasar.
V. GEETHA:
Research Worker,
Chennai
I
felt deeply thrilled when I read Ayothidasar’s book Aathivedham. Though
Ayothidasar studied and wrote continuously his book (Aathivedham)
reveals his total personality. He wrote the life of Buddha in a special
manner.

He included Buddha’s teachings and thoughts in his
narrative of Buddha life he maisted the question Why Pariah’s were
suppressed at many places in the book. Who are the true Brahmins and who
are the false Brahmins? Who are the real Brahmins and who act as
Brahmins? Ayothidasar asked these questions frequently and gave the
answers he instructs us as to how to read the Indian History. He writes
about the history and identity of the Parisahs. He explains how the word
Pariah has become a term of abuse in the present day. He writes about
Human Rights. His book AATHIVEDHAM is a stupendous achievements.

Buddhism
belongs to Tamil soil, Tamil Nadu. You cannot write Tamil history
without discussing the part played by Buddhism in the history of the
Tamils. He says Buddha’s Life is Buddhism. Buddha wanted people to live a
life of dignity and honour. For that they should enjoy human mights
which is the same thing as DALIT rights. He also thought about how to
create the environment for the empowerment of the Dalits.

How to
live without caste pride or humiliating the so-called lower castes? How
to create an inclusive society based on Equality, Tolerance and
Humanism? He mentions some incidents from the life of Buddha and exhorts
us to create a Humanistic Society.
Pandit Ayothidasar and Dr.
Ambedkar studied the Life of Buddha written by Aswagosh. Both studied
books written in the Pali language. Ayothidasar’s writings stand
testimony to the fact that he did not base himself on Tamil writings
alone.

Ayothidasar always emphasized labour. It was an integral
part of his campaign to eradicate caste. The so-called higher castes do
not work and do not respect those who do physical work. He has written
in many places that labour created knowledge. In his book Aathivedham he
emphasizes the importance of labour. He associate labour with values.
He asks: Do you work honestly and efficiently? Dr. Ambedkar also
emphasized the importance of labour.
PO VELSAMY:
Scholar and Writes, Erode
Before
Ayothidasar started writing there were not history books. But he wrote
extensively about Aryans and Dravaidians Researches in the Indus Valley
Civilization started only afterwards. He pointed out that Aryans came
from outside and so they are ‘foreigners’. Other scholars who wrote
about Buddhism based themselves on books written in the English
Language. But Ayothidasar who knew Pali and Prakrit languages studied
original Buddhist sources and wrote his books.
DALIT EZHIL MALAI:
CHENNAI
(Ex-Minister, GOI)
“Ayothidasar’s
writings contributed to revival of Buddhism in the Madras Presidency.
Dr. Ambedkar understood this and began from where he left. There are
many instances to prove the above statement. He visited Madras on three
occasions and also visited the Madras Christian College where
Ayothidasar student, Lakshmi Narash taught. Ayothidasar had proved that
the DC’s were originally Buddhists. Dr. Ambedkar accepted it and decided
to embrace Buddhism.
Dr K. THANGAVELU:
Chennai
Ayothidasar
was an outstanding Rationalist Scholar and Writer. He wrote 37 books. He
belonged to the SC and caste it forces in the state suppressed his
books. His name was not mentioned. He quoted from books which were no
longer available to modern scholars. In any case they could not fault
his arguments.
. THOL. THIRUMAVALAVAN :
“Dalits are not HINDUS.
They are Ancient Tamils. They have the ability to rule the country and
they must rule” said Ayothidasar. “Immigrants have seized power and they
should be driven out. Sons of the soil should rule the country” said
Ayothidasar.

He recorded these thoughts before Periyar EVR,
before the great revolutionary leader Dr. Ambedkar. He was a great
pioneering leader”.

. RAVIKUMAR:
Ayothidasar’s importance lies
in the realm of culture. He wrote accurately about the history of the
so called SC’s. He wrote again and again that untouchability came to be
practices only a few centuries ago in Tamilnadu. This has been proved.
Thiru. CHICKANNA :
President,
Adivasigal Seva Sangam, Ootty
These
lands belonged to Ayothidasar. They destroyed his mutt. Two statues of
Buddha were installed there. After Ayothidasar’s death there was nobody
to look after the statues. We removed the statues and kept them in the
Tulsimadam. Even now you can see them in the Tulsimadam.
J. BALAKRISHNAN, Poet, Ootty
Ayothidasar
used the Tulsimadam as a place of meditation. Sometimes he conducted
free Siddha Medical Camps there. Toda hill tribes used to meet him and
get medical treatment.
R.ASOKAN, S/o. K. RAJARAM AYOTHIDASAR
Ayothidasar’s
Tulasimadam has been captured by the followers of HINDUTVA and his name
has been suppressed. A manimandapam should be constructed in his memory
in NILGIRIS – OOTY. His statue should be installed and the Govt.
college in Ooty should be named after him. We appeal to the Hon. Chief
Minister of TN to do the needful.

“We shall revive Tamil Buddhism is the light of Ayothidasar’s Teachings and liberate the suppressed
people of TAMILNADU.

It
is well known that in 1891, Anagarika Dharmapala initiated the first
revival of Buddhism in India, the land of its birth where most of the
people who were attracted to him belonged to the upper strata of
society. What is less known is that Anagarika Dharmapala inspired a mass
movement of South Indian Dalits including Tamils to embrace Buddhism,
half a century before Ambedkar.

Anagarika’s earliest connection with India had been with South India.
In fact, it was to the Theosophical Society in Adyar in Madras that he
made not only his first Indian visit at the age of 20 in the company of
Madame Blavatsky and Col. Olcott, but it was also the place from where
he began his great career of dharmaduta activities.

Dharmapala built on contributions made by Thass. Even before
Dharmapala visited Sarnath, Benares and Buddha Gaya, Pandit Iyothee
Thass (Das) (1845–1914), born to a Dalit “pariah” family in Madras
initiated a social transformation of the down-trodden in South India.

In 1886, Thass had issued a revolutionary declaration that
untouchables were not Hindus. Following this declaration, he established
the Dravida Mahajana Sabha in 1891. During the 1891 census, he urged
Dalits to register themselves as “casteless Dravidians” instead of
identifying themselves as Hindus. Thass argued that Tamil Dalits were
originally Buddhists.

In the meantime, Anagarika Dharmapala had formed the Maha Bodhi
Society on May 31, 1891 first in Colombo, and later established its
headquarters in Calcutta with the intention of restoring Buddhist
shrines in Buddha Gaya. This became the single most important event in
the history of the Buddhist revival in India. Two months later, he took
four Ramanna Nikaya monks to Buddhagaya. They were the first modern
Dharmaduta monks from Sri Lanka to propagate the dhamma in India.

In January 1892, the Maha Bodhi journal was established. Although it
was a demi-quarter size journal of 8 pages, it attracted worldwide
attention. In fact, it was this journal that led to the invitation for
Dharmapala to attend the Parliament of World Religions in Chicago, USA
in 1893.

A hundred years later, this writer got the opportunity to make a 10 minute presentation at the Parliament of World Religions.

In October 1892, a branch of the Maha Bodhi Society was formed in
Akyab (presently known as Sittwe in the island of Arakan (presently
known as Rakhine in Myanmar) when Dharmapala visited Akyab with Col.
Olcott. The donations given by Arakan Buddhists at the Maha Bodhi
Society there helped Dharmapala to hire a house in Calcutta where the
Maha Bodhi Society work was carried out until May 1904 and then closed
for a

Young Dharmapala

time. In February 1894, Dharmapala visited Bangkok as the guest of
Prince Rajaski, and a branch of the Maha Bodhi Society was formed with
the help of Prince Vivit and other Princes.

Iyothee Thass who established several schools for the panchama caste
in Madras came into contact with Col. H.S. Olcott, President of the
International Theosophical Society who had also started free schools for
panchama children in Madras. Thass now requested Olcott’s assistance
for the re-establishment of ‘Tamil Buddhism’. Olcott then wrote to the
Venerable Hikkaduwe Sumangala Nayaka Thera, the Principal of Vidyodaya
Pirivena and a leading figure of the Sri Lanka Buddhist revival. In the
presence of Dharmapala and another Buddhist monk who had arrived from
Sri Lanka, a public meeting to form a Dravidian Buddhist Society for the
‘lower’ castes was held in Madras.

Thass then proceeded to Sri Lanka with a delegation of prominent
Dalits, and met Hikkaduwe Sumangala Nayaka Thera at a large gathering of
Buddhists. The delegates from Madras observed the Five Precepts at the
Vidyodaya Pirivena. With the blessings from Sumangala Nayaka Thera,
Thass returned to Madras and started the “Sakya Buddhist Society” (also
known as the Indian Buddhist Association).

The Sakya Buddhist Society began its activities in 1898 with
religious meetings on Sundays, lectures on religious and social issues
and the members taking the Five Precepts. Dharmapala received in 1898 an
invitation to attend a meeting held on 8th August 1898 in Royapettah in
Madras convened by Col. Olcott and Dr. Ayothee Thass. He attended the
meeting which paved the way for many from South India to turn to
Buddhism.

A year later, Dharmapala received another invitation to come to
Madras to open a branch of the Maha Bodhi Society in South India. A
Buddhist Young Men’s Association was now formed with Anagarika
Dharmapala and Thass as joint secretaries. The Sakya Buddhist Society
monks conducted Buddhist rituals for the large numbers of pilgrims who
visited the Maha Bodhi Society; thus it soon became an international
Buddhist centre.

A small Vihara was built in Perambur in Madras with Rs. 3,000 sent by
Dharmapala out of the funds donated to him by Mrs. Mary Foster. The
Maha Bodi Society office was located there. Earlier, Dharmapala had
encouraged the Sinhalese monk Ven. Nilwakke Somananada Thera to learn

Dharmapala
(seated-centre) with representatives from different countries at a
meeting at the Mahabodhi Society Headquarters in Calcutta. Pix
courtesy– recently launched coffee table book on the life of Anagarika
Dharmapala

Tamil with the intention of bringing him to South India to propagate
the Dhamma. Somananda Thera became the first resident monk of the
Perambur Vihara, and was the first resident dharmaduta monk in Tamil
Nadu. He also excelled as a Buddhist scholar. He translated the
Dhammapada into Tamil which is known to be the first translation of the
Dhammapada into Tamil. He also translated several other Buddhist books
and many pamphlets into Tamil. These books and pamphlets were published
by the Perambur Vihara. Within a short period of time, the Perambur
Vihara became a very active Buddhist centre in Tamil Nadu.

Soon after starting the Perambur Vihara, Vesak was celebrated in 1900
for the first time in South India – just four years after Vesak was
celebrated in Calcutta. A Tamil booklet on the ‘Life and Teaching of
Bhagavan Buddha’ was released on this historic day. By this time, a
large number of Tamils in South India had developed an interest in
Buddhism, so that 2,000 copies of its second edition were printed, soon
after its first release.

Thass established a weekly magazine called Oru Paisa Tamizhan (‘One
Paisa Tamilian’) in Madras in 1907, which served as a newsletter linking
all the new branches of the Sakya Buddhist Society. The magazine
discussed issues relating to his new “Tamil Buddhism”, and Indian
history from a Buddhist point of view. The new Tamil Buddhist community
in South India thus identified themselves as being the original Indian
Buddhists who had been put down by the Brahmin caste and were now only
making a return to their earlier Buddhist heritage. According to Thass,
the pariahs were originally Buddhists and owned the land which had later
been robbed from them by Aryan invaders.

Thass was thus, the pioneer of a new Tamil Buddhist movement in South
India. He gave Buddhism a mass base, not only in Tamil Nadu, but also
in parts of Burma and South Africa where Untouchable migrant labourers
from South India were settled.

An active member of the Mahabodhi Society Prof. P. Lakshmi Narasu, a
Tamil who became a Buddhist founded the Madras Buddhist Association.
Prof. Narasu wrote the book ‘The Essence of Buddhism’ in 1907. The
introduction to the book was written by Anagarika Dharmapala and the
book went into several editions and was also translated into Japanese
and Czechoslovakian.

It was later the basis for a popular Tamil book by Appaduraiyar Putharathu Aru­laram (“Buddha’s Compassionate Reli­gion”).

When the Buddhist delegation from Sri Lanka attended the Annual
Conference of the Indian National Congress in 1923, Appaduraiyar joined
the Sri Lanka delegation to press for a resolution to transfer Bodh Gaya
to the Buddhists. In the 1920s, a “Ceylon Tamil Buddhist Association”
inspired by the South Indian Tamil Buddhist revival and in close
collaboration with Sinhalese Buddhists was sponsoring the propagation of
Tamil Buddhist literature.

It was Dharmapala who ‘kindled the fire’ and attracted at the
beginning, a large number of intellectuals to turn to Buddhism and
inspired the continuation of the mass movement in South India although
Thass pioneered the Tamil Buddhist movement in South India. Activities
initiated by Dharmapala were often carried out even without Dharmapala’s
physical presence while he was engaged in diverse activities and
campaigns in different parts of Asia including Japan, and in Europe and
the US.