Paraiyar

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

For other usage of this term see the disambiguation page Pariah

Paraiyar also Parayar, Paraya, Pariah, Berava or Sambavas are a social group found in Kerala, Tamil Nadu and in Sri Lanka. See Caste in Sri Lanka. The caste Sambhar

Contents 1 Origin 2 Exclusive Development 3 Current Condition 4 See also 5 References

[edit] Origin

In archaic Tamil, the word "paRai" (பறை) meant "drum", often one used to make announcements. They are attested to in the earliest Tamil literature as bearers and players of the paRai, though it's impossible to tell whether it was an occupational or caste grouping. They are mentioned in late Sangam era literature as a specialized group within the larger depressed social groups associated with paRai (drum) playing for ceremonial and shamanistic purposes. Eventually the term replaced the archaic Tamil term Pulayar, to denote untouchables in Tamil Nadu. In Kerala both the terms are in vogue. The modern Tamil/Malayalee word Parai means to speak or to tell, deriving from the paRai's ancient use as an announcement device. In Sri Lanka, the term Berava denotes a Sinhalese nominally Buddhist caste of drum beaters, and Paraiyar denotes drum beaters as well as general agricultural laborers among Sri Lankan Tamils. At one time they were traded as slaves by the upper castes.

Pariah is the name of a caste in Tamilnadu, India. The people of this caste were treated as Untouchables from 13th Century A.D. until mid 20th Century A.D. in India. In English the word was first recorded in 1613 and means an Outcaste, Untouchable, social outcast and was derived from the caste name Pariah because the people of the caste were treated very low when British came and ruled India.

The Tamil word Paraiyan means a drummer.

The following article discusses the roots of Paraiyan caste and how they became Untouchables and the shocking truth about the origins of Untouchability in India.

Paraiyas were Buddhists and may have Dravidian and Proto-Dravidian blood who are among the original colonisers of India dating back to prehistory.They may be the descendants of Paradas or Mauryas who were Buddhists and came to South India after the collapse of Buddhism and raise of Brahmanism in North India. Owing to their Buddhist allegiance and refusal to adopt Brahmanism they were separately distinguished and later ex-communicated with the raise of Brahmanism.

The DNA Genetic structure of southindia test results the populations from Tamil Nadu; Chakkiliyar, Paraiyar, Tanjore Kallar and from Andhra Pradesh; Brahmin, Raju, Komati, Kamma Chaudhury, Kapu Naidu, Reddy and Lambadi displayed mixed membership to multiple clusters. [1]

There is tamil proverb called pallanum kallanum onnu twins of of single mother the child which fell down in (pallam)and the child which stayed in the stone(kallu) called by the mother as pallathil viluntha pallavada kallil viluntha kalla vada. from pallar the present day vellalar,pillai,vellal gownder,palli(vanniar), comunity came and from kallar the present day maravar,agamudiyar,agamudaia mudaliar,and senguntha mudaliar came.All the communities in present day are made by brahmins only.The predominent vellalar community has a tradition of giving their daughters as devaradiars(thevdias)or (isai vellalars) to Brahmins and respective kings pandya,chola,chera,pallava etc... to get the upliftment and become land lords.

THE SPECIFIC CASE OF PARAIYARS

There is no mention of the name Paraiyan in Sangam literature except at one occasion (crudely translated from Puram 335 below). (This one occasion may be a later insertion to support Brahmanism).

Without the following four - Varagu, Thinai, Koll, Avaarai the Food Categorization is not complete,

Without the following four - Thudian, Panan, Parayan, Kadamban the citizens’ Categorization is not complete.

These 4 types of workers are considered as Music workers, Thudian – player of the instrument by name Thudi, Panan – Singer, Parayan – player of drum, Kadamban - player of the instrument by name Kadambu.

It should be noted that none of these classified workers are categorized under the list of people that lived in the 4 types of lands (Kurinchi, Mullai, Marutham, Neydal).

According to PERUMPANATTUPPADAI – a Tamil work of the 3rd or 4th century A.D, in the description of the city of Kanchipuram the Paracheri was isolated and was far removed from the city.

The Tamil Dictionary of 9th Century A.D, Divagaram, does not have a classification as Paraiyar (Parayar). The stone inscription of the later part of later Cholas have mention two categories of workers in the name of Parayar namely Oolu Parayar (Farming Parayar) and Nesavu Parayar (Cloth making Parayar).

At that time they had separate settlements by the name of Parai Cheyri, they had separate cremation centers, separate weaving centers. Paryars at that time helped to perform (Nanda veelaku) lighting in certain Temples. They paid taxes. They were in the army of Cholas and worked in the Chola Government administrative offices. Also it should be noted that several of them converted to Saivism following Nandanar and several of them converted to Vishnavism following Thirupaanallwaar.

At the Old Pandyan kingdom prior to 880 AD some Pariyars were soldiers and Lords.The socio economic condition of pure Dravidian castes like Paraiyars deteriorated only after the late Lateral Chola dominance.In the earlior periods some Tamil Paraiyan Lords,like Puvan Paraiyan served the MaraPandyan kings as Bodyguards and were incharge of Temple lands during the reign of Sadaiya Maran 880 AD.While the old Pandiyan kingdom was replaced by Cholas at about 1000 AD the power of Pariars waned.

At this time Pariars were citizens of Chola Empire, they owned lands, signed documents, they had right to property. The Pariahs at that time WERE NOT CONSIDERED AS UNTOUCHABLES. (It should also be noted that in ancient Tamil Kingdoms and until 14 century AD, only Pullayar who burnt dead bodies were avoided by public and were treated as Untouchables owing to the nature of their job and not due to any other means. The Untouchability of the Pullayar was much different than the Untouchability practiced by Brahmanism. Pullayar went to public places but blew a horn before they came to public places so that public can avoid contact with them. Also women were prevented from giving food to Pullayars – These were procedures for Biohazard prevention rather than suppression unlike the Untouchability practiced with Brahmanism.)

By the end of later Cholas period some Paraiyan’s were treated low but still were not untouchables. At this time the later Cholas supported Brahmins and partially adopted Brahmanism. There was no mention of Clash between the Parayars and any others until the downfall of Tamil Kings. By the end of 14th century with the downfall of the Pandyas – last of the Tamil Kings to loose power, the descendants of Tamil Kings – the Mallas were renamed as Pallas by Nayak Kings and were ex-communicated. (It should be noted that the Nayaks were great supporters of Brahmins and Brahmanism). As the Mallas were killed, driven out of their Kingdom and were robbed of their possessions, many left for Kerala, Ceylon, Malaysia and their links in the North were cut-off. The remaining Mallas humiliated as Pallas were forced as agricultural labourers in their ancestors land under the new landlords. The Nayaks at this time instigated all others to claim the title and ownership of the Mallas. With this there were numerous fights over claim of title between the Malla turned Pallas and Parayars. Though the Parayars lived in harmony with the Mallas during Chola and Pandya rule and occupied government jobs, owned lands, served the army, they rebelled against the Malla turned Pallas with the motivation from the Nayaks which lead the Mallas / Pallas to distrust the Parayas until today.

As the Nayaks were great supporters of Brahmanism, the Pallas and Parayas were ex-communicated and gradually made Untouchables.

As indicated earlier, anyone that did not support Brahmanism were ex-communicated and later made untouchables. The Mallas did not adopt Brahmanism and were branded by Manu as degraded Kshatriyas. So once they lost power they were ex-communicated.

But then why the Paraiyars were ex-communicated?

The answer to this is the Paraiyars were Buddhists.

What are the evidences that support Paraiyars were Buddhists.

As mentioned earlier, in Tamil Sangam literature there was no mention of Parayars except at one song as cited earlier. The PERUMPANATTUPPADAI – a Tamil work of the 3rd or 4th century A.D, mentions that the Paracheri was isolated and was far removed from the city of Kanchipuram. The Tamil Dictionary of 9th Century A.D, Divagaram, does not have a classification of people as Paraiyar (Parayar). The stone inscription of the later part of later Cholas mention two categories of workers in the name of Parayar namely Oolu Parayar (Farming Parayar) and Nesavu Parayar (Cloth making Parayar). During the period the Paraiyars had separate settlements by the name of Parai Cheyri, they had separate cremation centers, separate weaving centers. Pariahs at that time helped to perform (Nanda veelaku) lighting in certain Temples. They paid taxes. They were in the army of Cholas and worked in the Chola Government administrative offices. Many Paryars also converted to Shivism and Vishanavism at that time. They were citizens of Chola Empire, they owned lands, signed documents, and they had right to property. The Pariars at that time WERE NOT CONSIDERED AS UNTOUCHABLES.

But according to the census of 1891 there were 348 different divisions of Paraiyars and were treated as UNTOUCHABLES.

So how there was no Paraiyan in Sungam Period to several types of Paraiyans during Chola Period, without the stigma of lower class or untouchable, to numerous types of Paraiyans with the stigma as untouchables after 16 century AD?

Now let us check what is the relation between the Paraiyah caste and other castes in Tamilnadu (For details please review: Who are Vellalar? and Tamil Moovendar Marabinarana Devendrar Thaal Nilai Eythal. In Tamil (Translates to: Three Tamil King’s kinsmen - Devendrar become low in society and status) - By Thiru. R. Deva Asirvatham)

From Abbe J.A. Dubois: ‘In very early days how ever the separation between the Parayas and others do not appear to have been so marked as at present. Though relegated to the lower grade in the social scale Parayas were not then placed absolutely outside and beyond the line of demarcation between them and the Sudras being almost imperceptible and they are even today considered to be direct descendants of the better class of agricultural labourers. The Tamil Vellalas and the Vockalikas (Vockaliyar) do not disdain to call them their children’.

Pann Chery –> Pannar->later called themselves as Pandaya Vellalas in cities, in villages they were called themselves as Pannar or Pann Mestri. They do stritching as their Job. The Pannars who were known for their poetic expressions called Pann also coined the tamil word for culture Panpadu. Pannars have marriage with Pariyars.

Seynai Kudaiaar mostly do Weaving job. In Middle ages Pull Porriki Parayar had their living by collecting grass for Horses. They were dependent on Horse solders (cavalry).

Later they called themselves as Kuddirai Sevakar (Care taker of Horse), then to Seynai Kudaiaar, and then to Seynai Talaaivar.

The Pariyar who were in Chola army also called themselves as Seynai Talaaivar. Later the Seynai Talaaivar called themselves as Chettiyar, Muddaliyar, Pillai, Muppan – (From Castes and Tribes of South India Vol VI Page 360 – E. Thurston)

Saaliyar who were Buddhists came from Paraiyars.

KaaiKollar and Sengunthar were from Paraiyars during Vijayanagar rule.

Nessavu Paraiyar in Middle ages. Kolliya Paraiyar do weaving job.

Some of the Nessavu Paraiyar were used for Temple related work during Vijayanagar reign. They later called themselves as KaaiKollar.

Kolliya Paraiyar, Sengunthar and KaaiKollar call themselves as the descendants of Veerabaku – one of the Commanders of Lord Muruga (Karthkeya / Subramaniyan)

Semman, Seyniyar, Sengaar, Ponnaari Vellalar converted themselves from Pariayar during Vijayanagar reign.

Kammalar came from Kolliya Paraiyar. As Otanguthar, a Tamil poet, was a Kolliya Paraiyar and had influence with Cholan Kulothungan. So through the influence of Otanguthar, they got rights to wear sacred thread of Brahmanism and later called themselves as Kammalar.

Weavers from Northern districts of Tamilnadu were called as Sengunthar and from Southern, districts were called as Kaikollar.

The so-called Thevaradiyar that were employed in Temples were from these weaver classes. Later they called themselves as Pillai and Muddai.

So Semman, Seniyar, Kaikollar, Sengundar, Senai Kudaiyan, Senai Talaivar, Present day Vellalar, Pillai, Muddali and many other castes branched off from Pariyars during and after the Vijayanagar rule.

By the census of 1891 there were 348 different divisions of Paraiyars.

Some of the important / majority divisions of the Paraiyars out of the 348 divisions are:

  1. Valluva Paraiyar
  2. Dada Paraiyar
  3. Danda Paraiyar
  4. Tavalai Kaali Paraiyar
  5. Kuudi Paraiyar
  6. Teeya Paraiyar
  7. Murasu Paraiyar
  8. Ambu Paraiyar
  9. Vaduga Paraiyar
 10. Aliya Paraiyar
 11. Vallai Paraiyar
 12. Vetiyaan Paraiyar
 13. Kooliya Paraiyar
 14. Perum Paraiyar
 15. Agaali Paraiyar
 16. Tamil Paraiyar
 17. Pullai Paraiyar

(For details on the work done by each of the Paraiyar given above, please review ‘Tamil Moovendar Marabinarana Devendrar Thaal Nilai Eythal’ - In Tamil - Translates to: Three Tamil King’s kinsmen - Devendrar become low in society and status - By Thiru. R. Deva Asirvatham)

NOTE: The Tamil Kings had 18 classifications of workers to support them:

So why there were several classifications of workers in the name of Paraya after 9th Century AD in Chola Empire apart from the 18 worker categories that already supported the Cholas at that time?

From M.Srinivasan Ayyangar: “The Parayas who constitute nearly one seventh of the Tamil population will here after be shown as Eiynar, dislike to call themselves as Tamils thus suggesting that they belong to a different race altogether”.

From M.Srinivasan Ayyangar:”But by way of introduction, it is highly desirable to present before the readers a description of an ancient town or village in which the regional classification of the tribes explained above is clearly discernible. We shall first take the city of Kanchipuram described in the PERUMPANATTUPPADAI – a Tamil work of the 3rd or 4th century A.D. …Then far removed from these were situated at one extreme of the city the Pallis of Idayars and beyond them lay the isolated Paracheri of the Eyinars and their chiefs. Next to the Mallar street were the temples of Tiruvekka and the palace of king Illanthirayan”

NOTE: Eyinars are Palli class. They are neither Idayars nor Parayas (PERUMPANATTUPPADAI songs 83 to 94. So if Eyinars were not Parayas then why did the Eyinars live with the Parayas and regarded the Parayas as chiefs and respected them? )Eyinars were not Parayars but ancient hunters and Soldiers who were skillful in archery.

So from the above it can be seen that there were no Paraiah in Sangam period. Then during 3rd or 4th Century they were in the outskirts in the city of Kanchipuram then they lived as citizens in the Chola Empire and were in the army and government position. Many of them converted to Shivism and Vishanavism. Then they were treated low by the end of the Chola reign when Cholas adopted Brahmanism. Then they were ex-communicated during Vijayanagar rule (that supported Brahmanism to the core) but the ones that left their names as Paraiyah and adopted the names as Vellala, Pillai, Muddali etc were absorbed as SUDRAS by Brahmins. But the ones that stayed, as Paraiah became UNTOUCHABLES.

Did the Paraiayas become Untouchables because they ate beef?

No. There were so many tribes and ancestors of the many current upper castes that ate Beef. But they did not become Untouchables. Arya Brahmins also ate Beef.

Originally Mallars (Mallas, Mala, Mallicos) did not eat Beef because agriculture was their profession during piece time and were warriors during wartime. As most of the ancient and South Indian Kingdoms until 14th Century A.D. were that of Mallas, Beef eating was not a practice among the citizens of those Kingdom. The Mallas used Ox for ploughing fields and Cow to get Milk and considered the OX and Cow as extension of their family. Hence did not eat it. But they ate meat like Goat and Chicken.

Buddhism prohibited killing any animal. But at the same time did not prevent eating animal that was dead. Hence Buddhists that wanted to eat meat, ate meat after an animal died. So Paraiyas originally being Buddhists did not mind eating dead cow hence ate Beef. But with the raise of Brahmanism, when the non-supporters of Brahmanism were excommunicated, the Paraiyas were also ex-communicated. As their opportunity for work was gone with ex-communication, they had to depend more on dead animals rather than other agricultural products. So when a cow died the Paraiyas were willing to take it to eat it. The dead cow was of no use to the Hindu (coined by British to support Brahmanism) and disposing it became very easy for the Hindus when the Paraiyas took it away. So even though when the Pariayas were ex-communicated and barred from other social interaction with the Hindus, the Hindus let the Parayas know about dead cows in villages to dispose them and the Parayas were happy to take it to eat it. Over a period of several generations the truth was forgotten and the stigma of eating and carring a dead cow was considered as a cause for Untouchability. (Note the Mallas who were branded as Pallas and were made Untouchables do not eat beef but still they were ex-communicated and treated as untouchables. Also there are several other castes that eat beef but are not treated as Untouchables). So with raise in Brahmanism, the criteria for becoming an Untouchable was influential class / Khastriyas that did not support Brahmanism. This may rise the question then why there are many castes, whose ancestors that did not support or adopt Brahmanism did not become untouchables. Though the members of such castes nowadays live in towns and cities at the time of the raise in Brahmanism, the ancestors of these castes were tribes that lived outside ancient cites – especially mountains and forests and hence the supporters of Brahmanism did not bother about these tribes at that time. The British law in 1784 that defined Hindus and Sudras excluded these tribes from the Hindu Corridor. But as the members of these tribes were absorbed into towns and cities, they were gradually merged as Hindus and Sudras.

What other evidence support that the Paraiyas were Buddhists?

Tamil Sangam Literature do not mention about the Paraiyas, as they did not come to Tamilnadu by that time. The Tamil Poem PERUMPANATTUPPADAI, written about the 2nd Century AD describes is the oldest (first) known Tamil work that describes about the Paraiyas settlement (Cheri) in the outskirts of the city of Kanchipuram. This is the period when Buddhism collapsed in North India and Buddhists spread out from North India.

According to PERUMPANATTUPPADAI, the Pariyas lived in the outskirts of the city of Kanchipuram with the Eyinars and Eyinars treated the Pariyas as thier chiefs.

Why would the Eyinars respect the Pariyas? The only possible explanation was Pariyas should have been helpful, useful to the Eyinars. As Buddhists the Pariyas should have been good and helpful people (though the Brahmins did not like them) with many skills as they came from a well-established state but as driven outs.

Paraiyas for a long time did not want to identify themselves as Dravidians or Tamils.

They wanted to separate themselves from others, probably because they were once Buddhists but gradually left their Buddhist habits over a period of time. About 12 Km from Thanjavure, on the way to Mannaarkuddi, in a small place called Prandakottai, the Pariyars of the village worship a 11th Century A.D. Buddha Statue in the name of Sambu Temple. The Paraiyas are also called as Sambavas.

Where the Paraiyas tribes or Eiyners or AdiDravidas?

Had they lived before the Dravidians came to Tamilnadu then the Tamil Sangum Songs would have mentioned about them. They did not. So they could not have come before Dravidians. So they are not Adi Dravadas (Before Dravidians).

Had they been tribes or Eiyners then they could not have been skilled in so many different work divisions in a short period of time. When they came to Tamilnadu, they should have come form a well-established society with skilled workers. This is the reason the Eiyners respected them and lived with harmony. This should have been the reason the Cholas took them in their army, as citizens as Farmers and Weavers etc. Note in ancient Tamil Kingdoms and during later Chola and Pandya Empire, Farmers were the first citizens and the well to do as mentioned in Kural and many ancient Tamil work. The Mallas were the Farmers and Warriors and their leader was the King. The Paraiyahs were also given the privilege of working as Farmers, which means they were well respected. This was possible only if the Paraiyas already had the skills of farming at that time. They could have got these skills only if they had come from an already established society. Also note the numerous Vellala castes came from Paraiyas indicating the diversified work skills they had.

Note: Farmers became poor and were treated as bonded labourers only with the fall of Chola and Pandian Empire, during Naiyak and Marata rule.

Do the Paraiya belong to a single tribe?

They should have come from a single country or dynasty. For example when Burmese left Burma due to war we considered all of them as Burmese refugees, all SriLankan Tamil refugees as SriLankan Tamils etc though they were from different background.

As mentioned earlier the many divisions indicate the wide range of worker division within Parayas indicate they were from different working groups of a nation with a common name as Paraiyas.

How did they get the name Paraiya / Paraiah?

They should have come from a dynasty named or sounds similar to Paraiya or they could have played the drums on a daily basis as a certain Buddhists ritual and got the name Paraiyan.

CONCLUSION

As mentioned earlier, to destroy Buddhism the Mauryan Empire was over throne and Buddhism collapsed and Buddhists were persecuted. There was chaos, and a revolution through out India. Millions of Buddhist were killed, many fled to China and outside India. Many went into hiding in forests and Mountains and many kept a low profile.

In Tamilnadu, when Buddhism was prevailing in the Mauryan Empire, before the chaos started, the Tamil Kings adored Lord Indran, Lord Shivan, Goddess Amman (Goddess Meenakshi), Lord Perumal (Lord Vishnu), Lord Murugan and had secularism, with Buddhist and Jain citizens also. They also had friendly relations with Ashoka and the Mauryan Empire. But the revolution to topple Buddhism collapsed the Mauryan Empire and the Chaos spreading throughout India. In Tamilnadu the supporters of this revolution were called the Kalavars (later called as Kalabras). As the Tamil Kings were secular and had friendly relations with Mauryans and were not against Buddhists, the Kalavars attacked and toppled the ancient Tamil Kings (Cholas, Pandyas and Cheras), destroyed the Buddhist Temples and destroyed the existing civilization to ruins. With this the Tamil Sangam (Champaign to spread Tamil) also came to a halt.

When the Cholas and Pandyas came back to power after driving the Kalabras, their original secularist / democratic society that prevailed in ancient period was not restored.

They adopted a modified King based rule. The Cholas followed Shivaisim but let their citizens to be Secular to a limited extent and gradually adopted Brahmanism toward 12 and 13th Century A.D. The Pandyas adopted Jainism then Shivaism, Vishanvism but let their citizens to be Secular. They did not adopt Brahmanism. Until this time the Pariayas did not have fights with the Mallas (Cholas, Cheras Pandyas).

With the downfall of the Pandyan Empire, the Vijayanagar /Nayak Kings that took control of Tamilnadu adopted Brahmanism to the greatest extent. With this the Mallas and Paraiyas were ex-communicated and gradually became untouchables, as Brahmanism grew stronger with the help of Nayaks, Marathas and British. The Paraiyas that adopted Brahmanism were absorbed as Sudras in the name of Vellalas, Muddali, and Pillai and later became Upper and Backward castes depending on their Economic progress. The Nayak Kings also motivated other communities to take the title, land of the Mallas that lead to several clashes between the Mallas (then Pallas) and Parayas. As a result the misunderstanding and hostility between the Mallas (then Pallas) and Parayas exist to this day.

Based on

1. REVOLUTION AND COUNTER-REVOLUTION IN ANCIENT INDIA– By Dr.B.R.Ambedkar

2. RIDDLE IN HINDUISM – By Dr.B.R.Ambedkar

3. PHILOSOPHY OF HINDUISAM – By Dr.B.R.Ambedkar

4. THE UNTOUCHABLES WHO WERE THEY AND WHY THEY BECAME UNTOUCHABLES? – By Dr.B.R.Ambedkar,

5. Moovendar Yaar? In Tamil (Translates to: Who are the three Kings (Tamil Kings – Chera, Chola and Pandya)? – By Thiru. R. Deva Asirvatham

6. Pallar alla Mallar aam mannar)? – By Thiru. R. Deva Asirvatham

7. Tamil Moovendar Marabinarana Devendrar Thaal Nilai Eythal. In Tamil (Translates to: Three Tamil King’s kinsmen - Devendrar become low in society and status) - By Thiru. R. Deva Asirvatham

8. Who are Vellalar? - By Thiru. R.Dev Asirvatham

[edit] Exclusive Development

Separated from mainstream community, at the bottom of the caste system in Kerala and Tamil Nadu, they maintained many pre-Hindu beliefs unique to that area and era. Sudalai Madan is a deity associated with this community.

Their spiritual life includes the knowledge of what are considered arcane mysteries, magic, rituals and beliefs. In consequence, members of the mainstream community consult Paraya shamans, or Velathans in Kerala, for advice that is not otherwise accessible.

They are noted for their musicianship, craftsmanship and dance. Dances include Kōlam-thullal or mask dance, part of their exorcism rituals, and the fertility dance Mudi-āttam or hair-dance.

[edit] Current Condition

Due to affirmative action in post-independence India and conversion to Christianity, some Paraiyars can be found in all walks of life, but in general they are still day laborers in Kerala, Tamil Nadu and Sri Lanka.

[edit] See also

• Pulayar related group
• Pariah an English term in dictionary denoting marginality
• Mariamma Chedathy A folklorist
• Coolitude

[edit] References

• [2]
• The role of Berava Sorcerer or witchcraft
• A Tamil Parayar village in transition
• Discrimination Against Dalits in Tsunami Relief and Rehabilitation in Kerala
• Dalit struggle and a legend
• Parayan Thullal a Kerala dance form where the dancer is covered in charcoal indicating his black color
• Paraiyar Education Fund
• The Changing Fortunes of the Drummer in Medieval Tamilnadu
• Paraiyars Ellaiyamman as an Iconic Symbol of Collective Resistance and Emancipatory Mythography