Social Reforms

Need of a Social Reform

Casteism was rigidly followed in those days. In the name of casteism, many atrocities were performed on the poor people. Seeing a low caste person was considered a sin, so the low castes were obliged to cry out loudly of their presence so that the higer castes would be saved from the sin of seeing them. The lower castes were called as "avarnas" and the rulers were so favourable to the upper castes that if a hardworking lower caste man came in the way of a caste Hindu they had every right to kill him. These kind of killings were not considered offences.

The Brahmins were considered to be descendants of Lord Bramha and whatever they uttered was the rule of the state. Brahmins were given the topmost priority in the then Travancore society. The Kings built and maintained many feeding centres throughout the state to freely feed the Brahmins daily. Lower caste ladies were not permitted to enter any Brahmins' house. If they were to enter, they were permitted only through the back door and only with bare breasts.

The Brahmins of this state were called Nambudiris and were respected as being next to God. Second ranking citizens of the state were the Nairs and then the Vellalas. Most of the Government posts were occupied by the Nairs and were also the landlords. The lower caste men and women had to stand at least twelve feet away from the Nambudiris. They were not permitted to cover the upper part of the body or to wear a turban.

In summary, the lower caste people were living a very difficult life and were praying to God to end their misery. Their prayers were heard however and Lord Vaikuntar came to the rescue of the poor from the grip of feudalism, superstitions, caste prejudice and religious disregard. Lord Vaikuntar decided to end these evils in His own way...

Eating together (Samapanthi Bhojana)

Lord Vaikuntar organized Samapanthi-bhojana in every place of worship where people irrespective of their castes and creeds could sit together and have food prepared there. He instructed them to go out and collect alms from people of all castes and creeds, cook them and distribute this in the temple. He also asked them to use their own hands to serve and not to use any spoons. This is to make people understand that they are all equal. This practise is followed even today.

Lord Vaikuntar also sent His disciples to visit low caste people and receive food there. Once when Lord Vaikuntar arranged to send some disciples to a washerwoman's house, they did not go and He did not know about it. The poor washerwoman cooked lot of food and was waiting. As nobody arrived, uttering the name of Vaikuntar, she dug a pit in the ground and burried the food. Several days later, when Lord Vaikuntar heard about this, He insisted His disciples go there and have the already prepared food. When the washerwoman opened the pit, the food was steamy and as fresh as first cooked at that time and consequently everybody praised Lord Vaikuntar.

Common well for water (Muthirikinaru)

During those days, the low castes were not allowed to fetch water from any well that was used by high caste Hindus. Even if they could get water from other (mostly unclean) places, they were not allowed to carry the water pot on their hips as the high castes do. Instead, they were supposed to carry it on their head. But, since they were not supposed to use any cloths on the top portion of their body, they had to carry it either on a bare head or using a coil of paddy straws.

Lord Vaikuntar silently started to cleanse this discrimination. He arranged to dig a common well and established it as Muthirikinaru. This was the first well in that part of the country where people from different castes came together and used the water.

Applying sacred clay by touching (Thottu Namam)

In those days, the lower castes were not allowed to enter the temple premises. Later, after the period of Vaikuntar, entry into temples was granted to lower castes. But even today one can see high caste poojaris, with great caution 'throw' the vibhuti and sandal paste at devotees from a distance to avoid touching them.

Thottu Namam means applying the sacred-clay on the forhead of the devotees by touching with fingers. Lord Vaikuntar advised the Gurus to 'touch' with their fingers and apply the namam (sacred-clay) on the forehead of the devotees in the shape of jyothi indicating the attribute of the soul and God. This is the same jyothi form kept inside Ayya-Vazhi temples representing the form of God inside every life.

Clothing rights (Wearing turban)

During those days, wearing a turban was a matter of social respect. As lower castes were not permitted to wear any cloths on the upper part of the body, wearing a turban was out of the question. Even to carry loads on the head, they were not allowed to use any cloth but only paddy straws. They were not allowed to wear any dress extending below their knees. They were also not allowed to wear any towel on their shoulders but could do so around their waist to offer respect.

Lord Vaikuntar asked all the people who came to Him to wear a turban and a dhoti up to the toes. The devotees were happy to wear this and they all dressed as Ayya instructed. This is followed even today by devotees in every Ayya-Vazhi temple.

Also from the later history, when Swami Vivekananda came to Kanyakumari, He visited Swamythoppu temple when he heard about Lord Vaikunta. From that time he started wearing a turban on his head all the time.

Religious training (Thuvayal Panthy)

Most of the poor people were illiterate and non-vegetarians who ate fish and also drank toddy, a kind of alcohol that was locally available. Lord Vaikuntar wanted all His people to be vegetarians and also undergo penances to train and purify to lead a holy life. He devised a training programme called Thuvayal Panthy. Devotees assembled together as groups in places for months at a time and were disciplined. They ate only once a day with raw rice and green gram and cleaned their clothes three times a day. Ayya also advised the Thuvayal Panthy to move to other parts of Tamil Nadu to spread Ayya-Vazhi.

Assembled worship (Nizhal Thangals)

Nizhal Thangals are like temples but built by the people. They are also called Narayana Swamy Temple. Devotees assemble here and worship God. There are assigned devotees to take care of the daily rituals. These temples do not have any Idol or deity. Instead, a saffron cloth is spread over a chair, a rudraksha is placed over it and a mirror is mounted on the wall behind it. The object of worship is Lord Narayana with the trinity (Brahma, Vishnu, Siva) in one. Only the local language is used to worship God. Ayya taught chanting the names of God in the local language (Tamil). Some Nizhal Thangals also have facilities to cook foods for people en mass. In some villages these also serve as basic schools.

United through love

Lord Vaikuntar preached that it is divine love that matters and is required to reach God. He advised one to keep away from the attractions and luxuries of the material world. Intelligence, wealth, caste or fame has no significance with divine love. He advised following ahimsa and doing good even to enemies. Ayya designed a saffron flag with a single namam (Jyothi form) indicating His movement. This flag is called anbukodi in Tamil meaning flag-of-love. These flags are hoisted in every Nizhal Thangals and also at houses. On every 20-th day of the Tamil month of Masi, devotees march toward Swamythoppu from all over the land with these flags.

Educate poor people (Gurukulam)

As the low castes were neglected and kept out of reach, they could not have any education. To educate the people, children and adults, the Nizhal Thangals were used. Ayya asked the devotees to teach and advised them to read and propagate His writings.

Revolt against Government (No 'Pari' tax)

In those days, lower castes were imposed with higher taxes including penalty taxes (called pari) due to the reason that they were born as lower castes. As Christianity was then spreading at that time, a lot of low caste Hindus were converted and escaped from these taxes. Ayya Vaikuntar asked the King to stop collecting these penalty taxes. In addition to the pari tax, the lower castes were also forced to work for the state for a very low wage or sometimes for no wage. Ayya asked the people to keep all the wages they had from their hard work and not to pay any pari tax.

Simple marriage custom (Ayya-Vazhi marriage)

Before and during the period of Ayya Vaikuntar, Hindu religion was in the grip of Brahmins. They conducted poojas and marriages in Sanskrit which no common people understood the meaning of. Ayya introduced a marriage system where the marriage ceremony is performed using the local language (Tamil) and no Brahmin or Sanskrit mantra is involved. In this, Lord Siva is the main Guru and the marriage is conducted in the presence of Lord Vishnu. The local Guru recites slogams in the local language and the bridegroom ties the mangala sutra around bride's neck. These customs are followed even today.

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