Krish Ponnusamy
Former Senior Chief Executive
Gouvernment of Mauritius
The contribution of Mauritius to Tamil language, culture, religion and the global Tamil diaspora
At the start of the 20th century, Thulasinga Navalar, a Tamil soldier from Madurai came to Mauritius. Endowed with great literary talents, he gave lectures in Tamil and was praised as a Navalar (orator). His contribution to Tamil literature is immense. He taught Tamil, started the first Tamil newspaper and published a bilingual magazine in English and Tamil in 1911. He invited the local Tamils to write poems and dramas, and offered training courses to encourage the emergence of the local Tamil literature. Those who benefited from his vast knowledge, e.g Pandit Perumal Soobrayen, Ramathevar Veerabatran, Sentamiz V.Savoondarajan and Vadivel Chellen. They, in turn, shared their passion with so many others. Another frontliner was Arunachala Aranadigal who arrived in Mauritius in 1930 and created a generation of students well versed in Tamil grammar. He too published a number of literary works. It is generally recognized that the period between 1930 and 1950 constitutes the golden age of Tamil literature.
Pandit Perumal Soobrayen and others
Coming from poor parents, Perumal Soobrayen, a bright student of Thulasinga, soon excelled in Tamil grammar and literature and published the first literary work in Tamil ‘Dhiyanabimaana Geethangal’ in Mauritius. Other literary works followed. He was also a talented dramatist. One of his plays “Sadaram” was successfully staged. He had the brilliant idea of putting up a number of private Tamil schools and promoted unity of action to coordinate the work and progress of the schools. His vision was shared with another proponent of Tamil language, Permal Soondron who created a wonderful organization called the “Union Tamoule de Maurice” in 1953 for the transmission of Tamil values. Fortunately, a proper relay was ensured, and the baton was passed to dedicated students like Rajarethnum Sangeelee and Mootoocomaren Sangeelee, commonly known as the Sangeelee brothers, who lifted the Tamil literature to another level. A few other important names to be remembered are: (1) Vadivel Chellen, considered as one of the greatest Mauritian Tamil poets, (2) Soopaya Mudaliar, famous in elocution, poetry and drama. His drama entitled “Tamil Mannan Kumanan’’ got a rousing welcome, (3) Vinayagum Pillay who revived the Tamil drama tradition through the national radio station.
After a lull prior to Independence, the next generation of Tamil teachers and writers decided to strive harder to compensate for the time lost. Some of the most prominent names are: Pushparathnam, Chetty, Pillai, Ganesan, Ponnan, Patten, Mutthusamy, Padayachy, Thancanamootoo, Thiroumalechetty, Chinnapen, Sornum and Kasthuri. They also helped in the translation of Tamil literary works in other languages to make them more accessible to the local Tamils.
The plight of Tamil language – Tamil Education and Government policy
The records show that the first Tamil school started in Souillac in 1852 when the government provided some financial assistance. In 1854, Governor Higginson gave the go ahead for the official introduction of Tamil in the school. Another school was opened in Port Louis in 1855. Tamil was the language of instruction. By 1868 there were 18 schools for all Indian languages and 29 Tamil teachers imparted Tamil literacy and numeracy lessons to the children.
Parallel to the state schools, the Indian community started running evening classes in Ethnic Mother Tongue schools and Pallis which played a vital role in the maintenance of Tamil and other Indian languages. However, Bhojpuri and Creole impacted on the Tamil language and that gave rise to the development of the Mauritian Tamil dialect. Tamil workers in the sugar estates who mastered Tamil were chosen as Vaatiyaars and performed a number of community functions, they even acted as priests in kovils and upheld the tradition of worshipping village deities along with Ganesha, Murugan, Amman, Vishnu and Shiva. The unified contribution of the Vaatiyaars have been warmly acclaimed by the Tamil community. They have left us with a rich legacy.
Under a government plan in 1954 to support oriental languages, some seventy-five Tamil schools were set up in all Tamil conglomerations, attracting boys and girls and created employment opportunities for male and female teachers who had to pass an examination conducted by the “All Mauritius Tamil Examination Syndicate” and the “Tamil Kalvi Manram”. The teachers subsequently upgraded their knowledge and skills by following a one-year Tamil training course at the government Teachers’ Training College. Since Independence, Tamil has been taught in all government primary and secondary schools. The increasing number of Tamil teachers gave rise to the creation of a Tamil Inspectorate Division within the Ministry of Education, resulting in more qualified Tamil personnel. With the setting up of the Mahatma Gandhi Institute (MGI) catering for the needs of the Indian languages and cultures, diploma and degree courses in Tamil were offered, followed by Master degrees. The full-fledged Tamil Department in the MGI has well qualified lecturers holding Master’s degree and Ph.D, awarded by prestigious Tamil Nadu Universities. The institutional links between the MGI Tamil department and other academic organisations in the Tamil diaspora keeps flourishing.
The status of Tamil speaking
Although much progress was made on the teaching side, the spoken Tamil suffered a serious setback along with other oriental languages, mainly because of the growing influence of Creole language which cuts across all communities. Renewed efforts are being made to salvage the situation. The government decided, after we became a Republic, to set up by way of legislation Speaking Unions for all languages and Cultural centres. The Tamil Speaking Union is striving hard to offer courses all over the island and creates conditions for children and adults to learn Tamil through Creole, and French and engages in speaking Tamil. Only time will tell whether we have been successful.
Tamil Culture
Language and Culture are inextricably intertwined. It is generally recognized that language strengthens the civilization it serves and nourishes the culture it is part of. In the case of Mauritius, Tamil language has supported Tamil culture retention and now Tamil culture is reviving the interest in the Tamil language.
Different components of Tamil Culture
The culture and traditions we inherited from our previous generations are omnipresent in the life cycle of all Tamils. From birth, puberty, marriage and death. The rites performed by learned elders and priests provide an excellent opportunity to dwell on the profound meaning of each life cycle. The most glamorous is the wedding ceremony and its elaborate preparation. Wedding invitations printed in Tamil were in the form of Pathirikai. The dress code was sarees and veshtis. Today the invitations are printed on magnificent cards in English, French or Tamil. The rituals have remained more or less unchanged. The first invitation goes to the kovil for divine blessing, then to the future in laws by way of sambandi paaka and subsequently other parents, relatives, close friends and neighbours. The wedding ceremony is preceded by the saffron ceremony and a vegetarian meal of seven curries is served on the eve separately by each party. Originally, the wedding ceremony was performed in the bride’s house, Today, most families opt for large wedding halls, richly decorated in Tamil and western styles, being able to accommodate hundreds of guests, including those from overseas, all elegantly dressed. It looks like a superb beauty contest! While the ladies relish wearing their gorgeous and colourful sarees and Tamil jewelry, the men, even the elderly ones, wear smart suits. The one-and-a-half-hour ceremony, masterly, conducted by a swami, consists of a set of elaborate rituals, interspersed with Morlon music, songs and dances. The climax is reached when the swami hands over the blessed taali, to the bridegroom for tying it around the neck of the bride. The atmosphere is one of immense emotion, joy and good humour. Cakes are distributed to each guest at the end of the ceremony. Selected guests are invited to the traditional virundoo (lunch or dinner) on the wedding day by the bridegroom’s parents and a week later by the bride’s parents. The delicious goat curry is served on a banana leaf. Hats off to the different generations for upholding all our traditions with a few inescapable touches of modernity!
Tamils in Port Louis, the capital
Since the Tamil business centre was situated in Port Louis most Tamils had to travel from different parts to buy their stock of spices, clothing items, jewelry at the Tamil shops. The vibrancy of the contacts led to numerous realisations on the socioeconomic, cultural and political fronts. The Tamil merchants helped to hire special artisans from Tamil Nadu to build the Sockalingum Meenatchee Amen Temple in Port Louis in the magnificent Dravidian style. It started in 1854 and was completed in 1868. The temple, regarded as the main kovil under the responsibility of a Head Swami from Tamil Nadu, is administered by the Hindu Maha Jana Sangham, a prestigious Tamil organisation, recognized by the government. The biggest gathering of devotees carrying the Cavadee and pal kudam, accompanied by prayers and songs on Lord Muruga, occurs on Thaipoosum Cavadee when the street processions from the other kovils in Port Louis, preceded by the Radam and the Hindu Band, converge on the main kovil to receive the blessings of Lord Muruga. The experience gained enabled Tamil kovils in other localities to organize their own processions and thus encourage a wider participation. The Thaipoosum Cavadee is a public holiday in Mauritius, and it is a matter of great pride to see how the government, the municipalities, district councils, private firms help the Tamil community in organizing the Cavadee on a national scale. With the construction of more kovils, the Tamils are able to celebrate other Cavadee ceremonies in a grand way. We can mention the Sittirai, Aadi, Vaigasi, Panguni and Kanda Shasti Cavadees.
Another organisation in Port Louis which has left its indelible mark in the community is the Hindu Hymn Society, later renamed Parama Bhakta Suguna Bhajana Sangham. The Organisation, benefiting from the erudition of Soopaya Mudaliar was the first Tamil body to celebrate the Govinden Thiruvizha in Mauritius. The cult of Krishna became widespread through the one month fasting during Purattaasi. Special prayers were said every Saturday, but the last Saturday was the most eventful. As a child living just opposite the Sangham, I was marvelled at the scale of the ceremony on the last Saturday. After the special prayers and devotional songs lasting the whole morning, annadaanam, consisting of the traditional seven curries was served throughout the afternoon to thousands of devotees, travelling from different towns and villages. The evening programme consisting of prayers, songs, dances, drama plays, religious talks by S.Mudaliar and visiting swamis, speeches by the Mayor of Port Louis, the Indian Commissioner and a few prominent political leaders and a film show started at 7.00pm and ended at 5.00am, culminating with a procession going to the sea front for the last ritual. The Govinden fasting has since developed into one of the most popular and colourful ceremonies, celebrated every Saturday throughout the island among both young and old. While the prayer ceremony is uniform, the cultural component during the whole night has been tremendously enriched with a variety of emerging talents among the male and female artists.