Chennai: As a picture of PM Narendra Modi with the sengol held between his clasped hands entering the new Parliament went viral, viewers will recall that a row of seers precede him. Many pontiffs in that row as well as next to him are the heads of 20 Adheenams from Tamil Nadu.
These heads of Shaivite mutts from Tamil Nadu were invited especially for the occasion, which the Modi government has sought to portray as a re-enactment of the historic moment when the power was transferred from the Britishers to the Indians.
So, who are the Adheenams and what is the significance of their presence at the event?
Notwithstanding, the BJP’s claim that the 28 May event was the reclaiming of forgotten history, political analysts in Tamil Nadu have debunked the explanation to describe it as ‘soft Hindutva,’ especially given how the Adheenams are seen as the protectors of the Hindu heritage in Tamil Nadu.
These non-Brahmin Shaivite monastic mutts were kept in check historically by Dravidian parties — more importantly, the ruling Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (DMK) in Tamil Nadu — with their atheist ideology, the analysts added.
“The Adheenams are not as powerful as the mutts of Karnataka. They did have influence, but then Tamil Nadu moved away into the Dravidian model of politics where there were movements away from temples. Their relevance was lost for a long time,” political strategist and author of ‘No Reference Point’, J.V.C Sreeram told ThePrint.
Meanwhile, Thiruvavaduthurai Adheenam, Ambalavana Desika Paramacharya Swami has come out to claim that the Adheenam has records to show sengol was indeed used to symbolise transfer of power.
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Adheenams of Tamil Nadu
The Adheenams are non-Brahmin Shaivite monastic mutts who mostly follow the teachings of Sidanta Shaivam laid down by 13th century philosopher and theologian Meykandar in 1229. “There is a reference of the composition ‘Sivajnanabodham’ from the 13th century and an inscription on the same has been found in Tiruvannamalai,” S. Ramachandran, retired epigraphist, Tamil Nadu archeological department, told ThePrint.
In the present day Tamil Nadu, there are 20 main Adheenams, with each having its own distinct caste and regional as per its geographical location. The Adheenams are represented by members of the Saiva Vellalar “who are elite, educated, landowning farmers who are a politically powerful caste,” Ramachandran added.
The Adheenakarthar, or the chief pontiff, belongs to the community which has a dominant presence in the respective regions, he added.
For example, the Saiva Vellalars Pillais and Mudaliars head the Adheenams in the south, the Saiva Vellar Gounder in the western belt, and the Chettiyar community in the Chettinad region of Tamil Nadu.
The Adheenams have properties worth hundreds of crores and are involved in the administration of centuries-old temples across the state. “Unlike the Lingayat, the Kurba, and the Vokkaliga in Karnataka who have influence over the voters, the Adheenams in Tamil Nadu do not wield that kind of an influence among the public,” political researcher Raveenthran Duraisamy told ThePrint.
The analysts highlighted that the prominence of the Adheenams started to diminish with the influence of Dravidianism even as the “ideological base for Dravidam was laid out by Adheenam.”
To propagate Dravidam over the Aryan period, the Adheenams preserved palm leaves with scriptures of Tamil writings and protected Tamil culture and heritage.
In its 2023-2024 policy note on Hindu Religious & Charitable Endowments Department (HR&CE), the Tamil Nadu government credited these Adheenams as well as mutts for its “invaluable” contribution to the development of the Tamil language.
“The mutts have diligently preserved Tamil palm leaf manuscripts enabling generations to read and enjoy Sangam Literature. The Mutts further play an important role in preserving the heritage of the religious community by preserving palm leaves which hold the tenets of the oldest language in the world — Tamil,” the policy note added.
Soft Hindutva being played out in Tamil Nadu?
In 1971, the Karunanidhi government brought about an amendment to the HR&CE legislation. “All the mutts were brought under the auditing of the HR&CE department. If there are discrepancies in the accounting, action to even remove the chief pontiff was made,” Ramachandran said.
The amendment in a way clipped the wings of the Adheenams who understood that they could not cross the DMK government, political strategist Sreeram said. “This is also a reason why some of the Adheenams supported the DMK so as to be in its good books.”
As the Adheenams retained their role of temple administrators, neither All India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (AIADMK) supremo Jayalalithaa nor Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (DMK) president Karunanidhi who were two dominant political players in the state engaged with them, Sreeram said.
Even the new players like Vijayakant of Desiya Murpokku Dravida Kazhagam (DMDK) did not engage with them.
But in the close to two years that K. Annamalai has taken over as the BJP state president, there has been a change in the way the Adheenams are being approached. “For the first time, there is an engagement and a soft Hindutva is being played out by BJP,” Sreeram added.
The BJP had been kept at bay due to three major perceptions, he said, referring to the perception of it being a Hindi party in turn anti-Tamil, a North Indian party and a Brahmanical party.
Despite logging just over 2 percent vote share in the 2021 state polls and having four MLAs only, the BJP is still looking to make inroads in Tamil Nadu.
In May 2022, the M.K. Stalin-led DMK government banned the ‘Pattina Pravesam’ — a ritual where the mutt head is carried by devotees and disciples in a palanquin — of the Dharmapuram Adheenam.
“Annamalai came forward and fought for that, and the ban was eventually lifted. This move had a good resonance among the masses,” Sreeram said.
Bringing the relevance to the sengol and the Adheenams is also a strong message to the people that Tamil tradition is valued by BJP unlike by the Dravidian parties especially the DMK, and, additionally, the BJP’s image of a Brahmanical party will also be shed by its association to the non-Brahmanical mutts, the analysts asserted.
“The BJP will try to win over the support of the Adheenams which can bring it the support of the communities which are associated with the Adheenams,” Duraisamy asserted.
(Edited by Tony Rai)
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