A Rosary Of Rudraksha Beads

Till a loudmouth of the saffron party in Tamil Nadu played it up, a majority in the state didn바카라�t even think about whether their cine hero had a first name. He is Joseph Vijay, specified BJP바카라�s H. Raja about the 43-year-old star, who had rarely proclaimed his Christian identity in public or through his movies. Only his letterhead reveals the full name. In film after film, Vijay has actually loo­ked very comfortable playing the dev­out god-fearing Hindu villager, incl­uding in his latest Mersal.

Like Vijay, thousands of Christians in Tamil Nadu, particularly the Catholics, have no compunction in being associated with Hindu religious practices. Many incorporate them into their own worship of Jesus or Mary. Take, for inst­ance, Sunitha. The young Chennaiite nervously tied the taali (yellow 바카라�mangal­sutra바카라�) around the white grill in front of the statue of Mother Mary in her city바카라�s Velankanni church in Besantnagar. Her fists clasped in a tight grip and eyes closed, she prayed intensely for a couple of minutes before doing the cross sign even as her boyfriend looked on.

바카라�We have been wanting to marry for two years, but there is opposition from both sides even though both of us are Catho­lics,바카라� Sunitha says. It was then that a close relative suggested tying the taali before Annai Maria could fulfil her wish. Just as she and her friend walked into the church, another couple brought a small toy cradle, bought from the shop at the church ent­rance, and tied it to the same white grill. Their prayer: to have a child.

The taali and the cradle have been int­egral to many Hindu temples across the state, but their spread to the church represents a continuing 바카라�Tamilisation바카라� of Christianity. The flag mast in front of churches is another example. The metal-­clad pole is modelled on the dwaja­sthambam바카라�or 바카라�kodimaram바카라�바카라�in Hindu temples of Tamil Nadu and Kerala. However, it is the cross at their base in churches, unlike in temples where it is either a bull (for Shiva temples) or gar­uda (Vishnu temples). 바카라�They may look out of place in front of the tall spires, but even these masts have become a place of worship in the church,바카라� says Chennai historian Vincent D바카라�Souza. 바카라�With many donors keen to erect these masts, even centuries-old churches (in Chennai) like Santhome or Luz have willingly given space for them.바카라�

The kodimarams at temples have to adhere to the shastras: the masts with specified height and circumference have to be placed between the main tower and the courtyard leading to the sanctum sanctorum. At the church, they are mos­tly concrete pillars covered by brass or five-metal panchaloha alloy바카라�and erected right in the front. Not all nationalist out­fits are amused. 바카라�It is a crass attempt to give a Hindu identity to a Christian place of worship,바카라� argues Pa Senthil of the Hindu Makkal Katchi. 바카라�It바카라�s only during festival days when churches used to have a flag mast, that too just temporary and wooden. Making it a permanent fixture is aimed at wooing gullible Hindus.바카라�

Christian leaders disagree. For them, indigenisation is the word for such practices. The flag mast is only the 바카라�latest chapter바카라� in such a 바카라�conscious move by our Church,바카라� says Fr Jag­ath Gaspar, a Catholic priest who founded Tamil Maiyam, a cultural outfit  that promotes Tamil Nadu바카라�s native folk arts. 바카라�Christianity in Tamil Nadu has deliberately inco­rporated local practices associated with the Hindu tradition.바카라�

Instances? Welcoming VIPs with the auspicious 바카라�poorna kumbam바카라� (a water-filled metal pot decorated with mango leaves and a coconut on top), draping the idol (Velankanni) in sarees, pulling chariots during festivals and carrying statues or pictures of saints in palanquins. 바카라�They are so evolved that even 바카라�anga pradakshinam바카라� (where a devotee rolls on the ground as a form of prayer in Hindu temples) is now performed by Christians as 바카라�kumbidu saranam바카라� in some churches,바카라� points out Gaspar.

Other Christian rituals of worship also run closely parallel to Hindu formats. The annual Velankanni festival (near Nagapatti­nam, 350 km south of Chennai) is marked by devotees following a strict diet for set days, wearing light-saffron clothes and beads, making long walks to the church and even tonsuring the heads바카라�all these resemble the temple pilgrimage Hindus undertake to Sabarimala, Tiru­mala or the Sama­yapuram Amman temple.

바카라�None of these has been prescribed by the church or any Christian leader,바카라� says Fr. Joe Vargese of the Besantnagar Vela­nkanni church. 바카라�This has emanated from the popular devotion of the faithful. True, they may resemble Hindu practices but the Church cannot instruct the dev­out to eschew them. If they want to marry the local customs to the Christian faith, the Church cannot be a hindrance.바카라� It is the same intermarriage of faith that brings thousands of Hindus to the Velankanni바카라�s main shrine in the hope of a solution to their problems, he adds.

Christian missionaries have believed that such co-option of local practices, along with subaltern language in the Bible and prayers, has helped the Church integrate the new arrivals into the laity who otherwise could be vulnerable to returning to the mainstream. Veerama­munivar (Constanzo Besci), an 18th-­century Jesuit priest from Italy who was also a Tamil scholar, was the first who attempted this 바카라�inculturation바카라�, says theologian S. Emmanuel. 바카라�That was when he called Our Lady of Assumption at the Kamanayakkanpatti church (in south Tamil Nadu) 바카라�Periyanayaki바카라�, a consort of Lord Shiva,바카라� he recalls. 바카라�Such cultural inclusiveness was further endorsed by the second Vatican council in 1962-65 that urged local churches to encourage 바카라�inculturation바카라� in every possible way,바카라� adds Dr Emmanuel.

Even Hindu festivals like Deepavali, Pongal and Ayudha Pooja are celebrated by many Christians these days, observes Dr Emmanuel, who heads PILLAR, a training centre in Madurai. 바카라�During Ayudha Pooja when Hindus perform poojas to their vehicles, Christians get their priests to bless their cars. A lot also has to do with children compelling their parents to adopt these practices,바카라� he says. 바카라�On Pongal Day, Christian mothers can be seen making the festival sweet dish and even chorusing 바카라�Pongallo, Pongal바카라�. Such multiculturalism has helped democratise Christianity here.바카라�

The cultural crosscurrent has also seen Christians readily adopting art forms normally associated with Hinduism: Carnatic music and Bha­ratanatyam. Alexander Babu, a software engineer-turned-stand-up comedian is also an avid Carnatic music singer and yoga teacher바카라�the last two are rare traits for a Christian. 바카라�My Carnatic guru (late) Suguna Puroshothaman had no hesitation in teaching me classical music once she recognised my singing talent,바카라� he explains. 바카라�Resistance, if any, I faced only from fellow Christians who were not very comfortable with my singing Carnatic kritis that are in praise of Hindu gods. Left to me, I found my Carnatic singing only took me closer to divinity...even when I practised at home.바카라�

Babu recalls fondly how his guru, days before her death in early 2015, had made him sing Yesu Kaaviyam, a rendition on Jesus, during a lecture-demonstration.

A lot of Christian gospels are currently sung to Carnatic ragas and metres, points out D바카라�Souza, who also edits kutcheribuzz.com, a website on south Indian classical music. Christian TV channels like Nam­bikkai and Aaseer­vatham show Christian singers clad in ostentatious Kanjeevaram silk lip-syncing to Carnatic-based gospels in praise of Jesus. Middle-aged Sister Hema John, a Brahmin Carnatic singer who converted to Chri­stianity when she was 24, is virtually a superstar among Christians for her eff­ortless and appealing rendition of Carnatic-based gospel in Tamil.

Fr Paul Poovathingal, a Kerala priest who sings Carnatic-based prayers during the Holy Mass, attests that Indian Chri­stians on listening to them actually sca­led new heights of devotion since their ears were more attuned to Indian music. 바카라�I tell my devotees and the clergy in my state that Carnatic ragas and talas are soaked in devotion compared to choir music. Slowly they have started accepting these raga-based songs in the church.바카라� Poovathingal, a trained classical musician with a PhD in 바카라�Carnatic music and Christianity바카라�, recalls that the Tamil language too had a rich tradition of Carnatic and folk-based Christian music that was rep­laced by Western choir music during British rule. A 56-year-old vocologist from the state바카라�s cultural capital Thrissur, he is confident that the Indian music being heard in Kerala바카라�s churches will soon spread to Tamil Nadu as well.

Compared to the similarity of religious practices, the cultural connection is slow but happening: festivals organised under the aegis of churches are now incomplete without a Bharatanatyam performance. The communication explosion also helps in opening up cultural bottlenecks, feels D바카라�Souza. 바카라�The local language, metre and themes are easier ways of exp­ression compared to an imported style of singing and dancing,바카라� he says. 바카라�Ulti­mately,바카라� adds Dr Emannuel, 바카라�what wins out is the greater comfort level in being a Tamil or Indian Christian than mimicking a European Christian.바카라�

By G.C. Shekhar in Chennai