‘Aryan’ Rama and ‘Dravidian’ Ravana
Emergence of the Ramayana Criticism in the Self-Respect Movement
Keywords:
Dravidian Movement, Gandhi, RamayanaAbstract
This paper explores the emergence of Ramayana criticism within Periyar’s Self-Respect Movement in the late 1920s. While existing scholarship has emphasised Periyar’s antagonism towards the epic, it often treats his critique as static and focuses narrowly on a few selected texts. By examining Periyar’s early life experiences, the influence of anti-caste thinkers like Phule, the neo-Shaivite reinterpretations of the Ramayana, and his complex relationship with Gandhi, this study argues that Periyar’s engagement with the Ramayana was historically contingent and politically evolving. It shows how the epic, widely re-read in Tamil society as a tale of Aryan domination and Brahminical oppression, became central to the ideological battles of the Self-Respect Movement. The paper highlights three key factors shaping the Ramayana discourse: Periyar’s iconoclastic childhood questioning of religious authority, the diffusion of Aryan invasion theory through non-Brahmin intellectual circles, and the shift in his attitude towards Gandhi from reverence to confrontation. By situating the Ramayana polemics within these contexts, the study demonstrates how Periyar and his movement transformed the epic into a site of resistance, one that linked social reform, anti-caste struggle, and Dravidian identity.
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