Chennai: Fifty-three-year-old Raj Pushpan has been singing the ‘Tamil Thai Vazhthu’ since his childhood. It was the first thing he learned in school. The Tamil anthem has been sung before India’s national anthem in schools, sports events and even in the legislative assembly.
So, Pushpan doesn’t understand why it has suddenly become controversial.
A few weeks ago, Tamil Nadu Governor RN Ravi gave his shortest address to the legislative assembly and walked out abruptly ahead of the national anthem. He said the national anthem wasn’t being respected because the Tamil anthem preceded it.
“My repeated request and advice to show due respect to the national anthem and play it at the beginning and end of the address has been ignored,” Ravi had said in his three-minute speech.
Ravi’s walkout has been widely criticised in Tamil media. News channels such as Puthiyathalaimurai TV hosted at least two debate shows over the incident, under titles like ‘Necessary or Meaningless?.’ Online publication One India conducted brief interviews with people on its YouTube channel. Some interviewees labelled Governor Ravi a “North Indian” who couldn’t understand their sentiments, while others emphasised the “indispensable” and “important” nature of ‘Tamil Thai Vazhthu’.
This anthem is just one of the many flashpoints between the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party at the Centre and the Tamil Nadu government. From the imposition of Hindi to matters concerning Hindutva, allocation of Cauvery River water, the NEET exam, GST, and implementation of central policies, the two governments have disagreed consistently on several fronts. These contentions underscore broader problems between the state’s pursuit of autonomy and the central government’s exercise of power.
“The governor is sent by the BJP. They don’t have any political capital in the state; they are using the governor for [their own] motives, said Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (DMK) spokesperson Saravanan Annadurai. The Centre and Tamil Nadu have disagreed on numerous issues, but the Tamil anthem wasn’t one of them, he said. “It is the tradition to open every ceremony with this anthem. It was the governor who insulted the national anthem. He left the address before the national anthem was played.”
The BJP quickly clapped back, saying that the governor was right in doing what he did. “We are not against the Tamil anthem or culture, but the central government made it clear in 2016 that the national anthem should be played when the governor arrives and leaves in every state,” said Narayanan Thirupathy, Vice President of the Tamil Nadu BJP. “The governor follows the Constitution of India. The DMK is the anti-national party,” Thirupathy added.
Tamil Nadu has two anthems. Every government programme starts with the 54-year-old ‘Tamil Thai Vazhthu’ and ends with the national anthem.
Birth of ‘Tamil Thai Vazhthu’
The Tamil anthem, which is an invocation to Mother Tamil, was written by P Sundaram Pillai, better known as Manonmaniam Sundaram Pillai, and composed by MS Viswanathan. The ‘Manonmaniam’ in Pillai’s name is the title of a play he wrote in 1891, and the ‘Tamil Thai Vazhthu’ was originally written as an invocation to precede this play. It has phrases like ‘Grand Dravida Empire,’ says the language has ‘everlasting and undying youth’, and has been sung since M Karunanidhi adopted it in June 1970. In 2021, Chief Minister MK Stalin declared it the official state song.
“My school prayer used to start with this song and ended with the national anthem. Nobody had any problem. It doesn’t mean that we love Tamil Nadu more than our country but it was more like a cultural thing,” said Pushpam, who works as a translator for a company in Chennai.
It isn’t the first time that Governor Ravi has raised this issue. He walked out during the customary policy address last year too, before the national anthem was played.
“This address has numerous passages with which I convincingly disagree on factual and moral grounds. I lending my voice to them would constitute a constitutional travesty. Hence, concerning the house, I conclude my address. With this house a productive and healthy discussion for the good of the people,” said Ravi this year before walking out yet again.
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Other states have songs, anthems too
Tamil Nadu is not the only state with two anthems or songs. At present, 12 other states have their own songs: Assam, Andhra Pradesh, Bihar, Chhattisgarh, Gujarat, Karnataka, Madhya Pradesh, Manipur, Odisha, Puducherry, Tamil Nadu and Uttarakhand. West Bengal is considering having its own anthem, too.
Before colonial rule, India or Bharat did not have an anthem, said Professor MA Rajendran, former Vice-Chancellor of the Tamil University in Thanjavur. According to him, the concept of anthems is associated with modern statehood. “Modern India has a heterogeneous cultural and linguistic entity, resulting in a federal polity. In a federal polity, the states are constituent states and not mere non-sovereign administrative units,” he added.
The Tamil anthem is an expression of the people’s linguistic and Dravidian pride, he said, and is not meant to undermine the larger national identity. It is an assertion of Tamil identity and self-respect within the Indian Union, he said.
“Tamils are genuinely proud of their language; of the rich literary tradition and the rich inclusive cultural tradition associated with their language. In a modern federal arrangement, which they [Tamils] ardently advocate, they would also assert their distinct linguistic and cultural entity,” added Rajendran.
The ‘Tamil Thai Vazhthu’ extols the glorious Dravida (southern) land as the forehead of the Indian subcontinent or Bharatakandam. It praises the youthful vitality of the ‘Tamil mother’, which endured despite birthing the Kannada, Telugu, Malayalam, and Tulu lands.
“In 1970, then-Chief Minister Kalaignar M. Karunanidhi decided to start government programmes with Tamil Thai Vazhthu to celebrate the Tamil language. All Tamils would sing this regardless of their caste and religion,” said Rajendran.
According to The Hindu, Karunanidhi made this announcement while presenting state awards for the best Tamil films, artistes and technicians in March 1970. MS Swaminathan, who was declared the best music director, sang the song with ‘best female playback singer’ P Susheela at the event.
“From now on in Tamil Nadu, government programmes will begin with a Tamil greeting song instead of a prayer song,” announced Karunanidhi, before officially adopting it as the state anthem in June 1970. “To make those who shunned the Tamil language because it was defiled, stand up,” explained Karunanandham, professor of history at the Vivekananda College in Madurai.
“There is no statutory or executive order requiring the attendees to stand up when ‘Tamil Thai Vaazhthu’ is sung. But highest reverence and respect ought to be shown to ‘Tamil Thai Vaazhthu’,” the Madras High Court had said in its ruling in 2021. But Stalin soon declared it state anthem, making it mandatory for people, except those with disabilities, to stand up when it was sung.
According to Rajendran, this song was intended as a greeting, a replacement for the Hindu religious song sung before 1970. “It was not supposed to be sung in place of the national anthem.”