Globalisation Traumas and New Social Imaginary: Visvakarma Community of Kerala

Author(s): George Varghese K.

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Source: Economic and Political Weekly, Vol. 38, No. 45 (Nov. 8-14, 2003), pp. 4794-4802
Published by: Economic and Political Weekly
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 Traumas
Globalisation
and New Social Imaginary
Visvakarma Community of Kerala
Withoutbeing able to identify with either the upper castes or the lower castes on caste
questions, or with left ideologies or rightistforces on the political front the
visvakarmacommunityof traditional artisans in Kerala aimlessly wandersfrom one shelter to
another. The changes that are taking place in the self-identity of this community
buffetedby new economic forces provide a clue to the process of reformulationof community
identities by middle caste groups in recent times.
GEORGEVARGHESEK

noteworthy for their ineptitude in fetching the communally

brokeredpolitical privileges. According to Sobha Ramakrishnan,
lobalisationin combinationwithmechanisation is wield- an ideologue of the community, "Visvakarma community could
ing a devastatinginfluenceon the traditionalarts and never consolidate itself like other communities either politically
crafts of India at present.The case of the traditional or communally. It failed to organise politically since it never had
artisancommunityof Kerala, otherwise called visvakarmas, a philosophical vision needed for political organisation. On the
becomesa sordidtale of pauperisationanddispossessionin this other hand, it could never organise communally also since it
context.Thepredicamentis pithilyputby one of the community lacked a spirituality that could impart symbolic coherence to the
leaders,Sthanumalayan: "Visvakarma communityis in the grips community's aspirations. We have lost the label of the Hindu
of LPGat present.By LPGI meanliberalisation,pauperisation itself due to the lack of this spirituality and have become outcaste
andglobalisation".This stateof thingsis creatingsubtleshifts Hindus" [Ramakrishnan 2003:5].
in communityidentityand political behaviour. The visvakarmacommunity's identity had always been pivoted
Thevisvakarmacommunityconsistsof five subgroups:black- aroundtheir profession, almost aprioristically. Hence their claim
smiths,carpenters,bell metal workers,stonemasonsand gold- to brahminism,a stridentrefrainin their centuries long struggle,4
smiths.2They are neithertoo high nor too low in the pollution had always been aligned to the theme of the retrieval of the old
basedcasteorderof Keralawhile at the sametime neverfit into glory of their crafts. The craft traditions, it is claimed, go back
the apparelof the grimymanuallabourer.Paritywith brahmins to the ancient Indus Valley civilisation itself. Their work manuals
hadbeen a stridentslogan for long as well as the argumentfor inherited from the early history manifest high influence of
the recognitionof their professionas somethingmore exalted cosmology, geometry, astronomy, physics, meteorology and
thanmanuallabour,which they consideras a combinationof metallurgy [Somanathan 1987, 1989]. The visvakarmas also
scientific,artisticand manualskills rolled into one. The truth strongly hold thatthey were the real architects of the Indus Valley
or force of these argumentsnotwithstanding, the communityis civilisation and not the brahmins of today who were in fact
still in political wilderness and in the brink of professional usurpers of their glory later. So improvements in their
extinction.Globalisationat presenthas addedto theirtraumas. present condition also mean the reinstatement of the dignity of
This has also incitedsubtleshifts in theiridentityprojectionat their crafts.
present.Manufacturing a new communityconsciousnesson the In the pragmatic terms their demand is that they should be
bedrockof primordialglories and its deploymentin the present recognised as the "traditionalor basic labourers"5 and be given
politicsof communalbargainbecomesalientin thisprocess.But the due protection, which even the unskilled labourers enjoy in
we alsonoticethisagendapitiablyflounderingon newerpolitical Kerala [Mathrubhumi, February 27, 2003:14; Malayala
boulderscreatedby the state underthe fiat of globalisation. Manorama, February 27, 2003:11]. Of course there are certain
The communityhas many peculiaritiesthat make theircase sections of labourers who are recognised as traditional labourers
uniqueandprecariousespeciallyin the case of Kerala.Firstof by the Kerala government and they are confined to four sectors
all theartisancommunityis claimedto be thelargestsinglegroup mainly: coir, cashew processing, fishing and hand weaving.
underthe Hindufold in Indiawith a populationof 14 crores.3 According to R S Manian of Pazhayasala from the community,
Similarlythis is one of the very few castes in Keralathat has this is unjustsince these professions arevery recentwhen compared
its representation outside the state also. It is the thirdlargest to the ancient crafts of the artisans. He argues that the traditional
community afterezhavas andnairsintheHindufold[Karmayugam, crafts associated with Visvakarma, the archetypal Creatorof the
November2002:6]. Yet the artisancommunitynever made a Hindu pantheon, bear the stamp of the primordialact.of Creation
decisivesocial or politicalpresencein Indiaor in Kerala.In the itself. Living matter like animals and plants were created only
caseof Keralatheywerealwaysmarginalisedandarespecifically after the creation of the non-living matter like stones and metals.

4794 Economicand PoliticalWeekly November8, 2003

The artisanswork on the non-living matter like stones and metals The visvakarmas occupy an ambivalent position in the caste
(except for wood) that were the first creations of the lord. But order. Distance pollution markedthe early caste system in Kerala,
ironically the government gives protection as 'traditional indus- which was prevalent till the 20th century. Though no more
tries' to professions associated with vegetal and living matters practised, its spatialisation is still the best indicatorof each caste's
like coir, cotton and fish, which were subsequent creations after position within the ideology of caste order. Ayyappan, the ethno-
metals and stones (interview on March 18, 2003). grapherof Kerala, furnishes us with the spatial scale of this system
'Tradition' and 'labour' have other connotations as well in the as practisedin 1937. The namboodiribrahminwas the solar centre
parlance of the brahminic ideology. First of all 'labour' in the of the system. A nairmust keep seven feet away from him, ezhava
political economy sense, which means an intrinsic human act 32 feet, a cheruman 64 feet and a nayadi from 74 to 124 feet.
that adds a definite value and therefore price to a product, had In turn the various distances between the lower castes were
never been presentin the Hindu vision wedded to the caste system. deduced by simple subtraction:the ezhava must keep 25 feet from
Ordinarylabour was always considered polluting and menial. In the nair, and cheruman 32 feet from the ezhava. Castes like
an upturned ideology the brahmin who spurned the physical nayadis were not only untouchables but 'unseeables' also
labourgoverned the Hindu cosmos and the so-called lower castes [Hutton1969:80]. The visvakarma was supposed to stand 24 feet
that toiled for the sustenance of the system existed on its fringes away from the brahminaccordingly [ibid]. So he stood eight feet
or even outside it. The category of labour was seriously distorted ahead of an ezhava and 17 feet behind the nair.
in the Indian ideology and we find only its philosophical hyper- The system was 'audio-visual' with the rules of pollution based
boles like karma, dharma, etc, circulating with currency and on sight, touch and sound. The nair who stood seven feet away
dignity. The rising in the scale of caste order for visvakarmas could not touch the brahmin. The nayadi who was to remain
therefore means reinstating the dignity of their profession on par beyond 74 feet could pollute by sight also. The visible circum-
with that of the ancient crafts in the pre-brahminic and pre-caste ference of this sacred space seems to have the limit point at
period. At present this is possible only through higher economic 64 feet where the cheruman stood. The ezhava who stood at
returnsfor their work and stable working conditions, which can 32 feet away from the namboodiri constituted the middle point
be guaranteed only through the protective measures of the of this cosmos. If we add a physical-spatial dimension to the
government. ideological hierarchyof Dumont7 the ezhava's position logically
But under the imperatives of globalisation the state is already becomes the threshold point between the purity-pollution
withdrawing the support to the traditional crafts and industries divide of the system. It means the community that occupied this
like coir industry, cashew processing and hand weaving. Under point was neither too polluted nor too pure. In that case the
this general turmoil the visvakarma artisans who once hoped to visvakarma at 24 feet stood within the vantageous segment of
improve their socio-economic position are floundering on fresher purity.
boulders created by the state. The community today is a dis- But this did not secure the visvakarmas any socially significant
illusioned lot especially with the serious dislocation of the gold- position under the brahminic hegemony. This they believe
smiths. They are launching many struggles under the banner of was the result of a historic villainy perpetrated by the brahmins
Visvakarma communal organisations and various trade unions. (see below). Their position in the middle of the caste order
Their acute sense of futility seems to eventuate the increasing became critical. Being neither too pure nor too polluted made
influence of the Hindutva ideology as well as the rearticulation them a pivotal caste between the upper and the lower ones. As
of their history with a new logic. The latter looks awkward many a result their professional status became ambivalent. They
a time. built temples, sculpted the deities, made their ornaments and
these were undoubtedly pure and sacred acts. But the moment
these acts were finished they were thrown out deemed as
polluted. Thus straddling pollution and purity indecisively
The visvakarma community traces its lineage to Lord became their jinxed life state or existential ontology under
Visvakarma, the divine architect of the Hindu pantheon. and his brahmin dominance.
five children. It is believed that the five children (or five essences)
of Visvakarma, Manu, Maya, Tvashta, Shilpi and Visvajna were Ill
the forefathers of the five groups among the visvakarma com-
munity. Manu was believed to be the forefather of the black- The disasters in the occupational front have roused many
smiths, Maya of carpenters, Tvashta of metal casters, Shilpi of ideological and political responses from the visvakarma com-
stonemasons and the last one Visvajna of the goldsmiths. The munity, which is especially noteworthy for disunity, factional
title 'visvakarma' was adopted only recently, before that the fights and incoherence. This derives from the lack of an integral
community was known under the name 'kammalan'. Kammalan vision about the community identity on which their struggles
which according to Edgar Thurston, may have derived from the could be launched. This in turn is pivoted on the peculiar way
Tamil 'kannalan' or 'kannalar' which means 'one who rules the their profession and caste order are bound up together. The
eye or one who gives the eye' [Thurston 1909:106]. This refers argument for upper caste status is inextricably bound up with
to the ritual act by the artisan or the artificer who makes the idol the historically claimed merit of their crafts. So their putative
coming forward and painting its eyes at the end of the conse- brahminism and the dignity of their crafts go up or sink together.
cration ceremony of a temple or a 'vihara'. In Ceylon and south The community identity thus becomes a resilient node that could
India, this act of 'eye painting ' or 'netra-mangalya' is believed be pulled from various directions and also one that could be
to infuse the idol with the divine powers before which it is only manipulated by a host of ideological and political forces that
a lump of metal or clay [Coomaraswamy 1979:70-75: Singer range from hardened Marxism to fundamentalist Hindutva. As
1972: 122].6 Paul Zachariah, the famous litt6rateur of Malayalam told me,

Economicand PoliticalWeekly November8, 2003 4795

"This is the most confused community about their own identity
in Kerala".
The identity of the community suffers from a number contra-
dictions engendered both within and without. The immigrant
Tamil goldsmiths consider only themselves to be brahminswhile
they hold their Malayali kins to be an inferior and untouchable
jati. Even within the Malayali fold there is no unity. As an
informanttold me this is because of the 'bad ego' deriving from
the nature of the respective professions of each group. "The
goldsmith, since he works upon the precious metal, thinks that
he is the most superior. The blacksmith, since he works upon
iron, which is the most essential and strongest of metals, thinks
that he is higher. On the other hand the bell metal worker and
stonemason since they make human and even divine forms think
that they are the greatest. The very medium they work upon and
the natureof the profession foment jealousy towards each other
and prevent the community from coming together."
Again the community always identified with wrong ideologies
and causes at wrong times, thus thinks many influential ideo-
logues of the community. For a long time, to be exact till 1980s,
the community identified with communism, which hampered
their prospects, according to one of the vice-presidents of the
KVS. Almost 70 per cent of the community had always been
Left Frontsupportersheaded by the CPI (M) [Karmayugain,April
2002:6]. But the Left Front never did anything worthwhile to
improve their condition. Similarly the identification with the
communists also prevented them from participating effectively
in the freedom struggle led by the Indian National Congress.
According to Karamana Balakrishnan, one of the community
leaders, "There were very a few freedom fighters from the
communitylike Moothapillai Achari from Choorakkattupalayam.
The community somehow missed the legacy of the Indian free-
dom struggle" (interview on March 22, 2003). The community
failed to organise under an eminent community leader during
the freedom struggle, which in fact happened to many other
communities, like the nairs and ezhavas. P R Devadas, the
president of K V S, cites another interesting incident. During
the freedom struggle, when the outcaste pulayas were organising
underthe community leader Ayyankali, the uppercastes beat him
up for travelling in a decorated bullock cart ('villuvandi') which
was forbidden to the lower castes at that time. In the group that
beat up this pulaya leader there was one Kesavan Achari from
the visvakarmacommunity who identified himself with the upper
castes. This, according to Devadas. shows that "the community
always stood with its back turned to history and always failed
to imbibe the social changes occurring around it" [ibid:10].
We again notice that it is not the paucity of communal
organisations or similar cultural outfits within the community
that has thwarted the construction and projection of a viable
community identity. The first communal organisation of the
smiths in south India was started in 1903 in Madras namely the
'Visvakarma Kulabhimana Sabha'. After that we see a number
of communal organisations budding, growing, splitting, merging
and vanishing among them. The year of India's freedom 1947
witnessed the formation of the Akhila Thiruvithamkore
VisvakarmaMaha Sabha (ATVMS) in the Travancorearea. After
10 years in 1957 it grew into a statewide organisation called
Akhila Kerala Visvakarma Maha Sabha (AKVMS). Many local
associations coexisted with this frontal organisation while many
associations emerged newly due to factional rivalry in this period
[Achary 1998:305]. Some of them like Kerala Visva Brahma
4796
MahaSabha(KVBMS)andKeralaVisvakarmala Sangham(KVS)
emergedas rivals to the MahaSabha.Accordingto Vikraman
Achary,who wrotea thesison the politicalmodernisation of the
community,a 'RoundTableConference'itself was heldin 1966
in Aluvaunderthe initiativeof the MahaSabhato resolvethese
internecineconflicts(ibid). Then in 1968 an entirelynew asso-
ciation emergedunderthe name VisvakarmaService Society
(VSS). But this groupwas alleged of articulatingthe interests
of only one groupamongthe visvakarmas,the goldsmiths.The
year2001 witnessedthe mergingof threeseparateorganisations,
AKVMS,VSS and Tamil VisvakarmaSamooham(TVS) into
a single frontaloragnisation,KeralaVisvakarmaSabha(KVS).
Also a sectionof theTamilgoldsmithswho considerthemselves
distinctfromothersespeciallyonthequestionof brahminicpurity
have formedtheirown oraganisationnamely,Visva Brahmana
KulodharanaSangham (VBKS). They also organised under
two political partiesof their own namely ProgressiveDemo-
craticFront(PDF)andBharathiyaLabourParty(BLP)in 1980s
and 1990s respectively,to negotiatemore effectively with the
government,but failed miserably (interviews with different
communityleaders).
The claim to brahminstatus or the equivalent had always
beenone of themainstaysof visvakarmaidentity.Theyconsider
the brahmins- whom they call 'go-brahmins'withan air of
contemptand themselves'visvabrahmins'- have always con-
stitutedthe 'Other'of thecommunity.8Thenotionot the 'Other'
in thecase of visvakarmashasan identicalformas thebrahminic
one butwith a differentcontent.In the case of the brahminsthe
Otherbecomesa mediatedcategoryratherthanan oppositional
one. The Otherwas always incorporatedthrougha processof
'inclusivism'and 'hierarchisation'[Jaffrelot1996:4; Dumont
1998] The failureto addressthe Otherin termsof opposition
inhibitedthe growthof the Hinduconsciousness,accordingto
the Hindunationalistsof theearly20thcentury.This is because:
Hinduismhas alwaysrecognisedthe existenceof 'aliens'and
'barbarians'(mlecchas).But suchgroupsweremadethe object
of discrimination,noton the basisof ethniccriteriabutbecause
theydidnotconformtotheprescribed ritualsof whichtheBrahmins
werethe guardians.Oncethis obstaclehadbeenremovedthere
wasno longera barrier preventing theirsocio-culturalintegration.
In this processthe internallogic of the castesystemrevealsits
capacityfor assimilation:in so faras the hierarchyrepresents a
systemof gradationbasedon the notionof ritualand purity,
everyonecan find a placein it, below he Brahmins,according
to his degreeof conformitywith the exaltedvaluespersonified
by Brahmins[Jaffrelot1996:2-3].
The Hinducommunity,for nationalistslike Golwalker,is a
communityof 'lack' in the Zizekianterms[Hansen1997:271].
Theessenceof thecommunityis emptyandinexpressible.Itcould
only be felt ratherthandefinedor measured.Thisemptinessalso
promotespossibilityof the productionof more insidiouscom-
munalimaginariesas 'fantasyconstructssupportingreality',to
use a Zizekianexpressionagain [ibid: 181].The lack perceived
in thepresentmakestheimaginarycurvebackto fictionalUtopias
and primordialworlds in which the communityin questionis
envisagedas the rulersand masters.Castoriadisconceptualises
it cogently:
It(thesignifier)designatesthecollectivityin question,butit does
notdesignateit as pureextension;it designatesit atthesametime
asintention,assomething, aqualityora property. Weareleopards.
Wearemacaws.We aretheSonsof Heaven.Wearethechildren
Economicand PoliticalWeekly November8. 2003
 of Abraham, thechosenpeoplewhomGodwillmaketriumph over consideredas inert or alienatedobjects of their creatorsbut
his enemies.We arethe Hellenes- the peopleof light.We call somethingthatcontainedthe live creativespiritof the artistor
ourselves,orotherscall us German,Frank,Teutsch,Slav.Weare the silpin;morepreciselyinsteadof objectsthey were subject-
the childrenof God, who sufferedfor us..., the namewas not objects.Thiscreativespiritthatshapedtheobjectsof artorcrafts
restrictedto denotingthembutat the sametimeconnotedthem was
as well- andthisconnotation refersto a signifiedthatis notand partof the cosmic spiritthat ruledeverything.Hence the
products of artsor craftswereequallythe vehiclesof Maya,the
cannotbe eitherreal or rational,but imaginary...[Castoriadis
1987:148]. playfulexpressionsof the Absolute.Andthereforethe exclama-
tion of the artistor craftsmanbeforehis or hercreation"Ohow
In the case of Hindu nationalism,the Vedic 'Golden Age' did I make it? [Kramrisch1954:14].
connotesthe primordialgrandeur,which latercollapsedunder Silpawas a complexconceptconstitutedof manyaspectslike
the incursionof alienOther.Now the retrievalof this primordial art,craft,labour,ingenuity,rite and ritualas well as form and
glorydependson the vanquishingof the Otherthroughmilitant creation.Thereforesilpi more thana mere technicalperformer
nationalism. becomesan agent of magicaland divine powers.The craftsin
The visvakarmaidentityconstructionmanifestsan identical earlyIndiaembracedthewholeof thecultureandethosandhence
historicalimaginaryof similarintensity,but with a construed came to be classifiedas 64 artsor kalakal.Its variegatedrange
Chronotope9and with the same actorsin changedroles. In the includedmundanecraftslike potterymakingand blacksmithy,
traditionalHinduworldview,to which the Hindu nationalists magicaland occult practicesand even agonisticartsof love as
subscribed,theVedicworldwasconstructedwithspecificnotions laid down in the Kamasutra.On the otherhand,vidya or pure
of territory,languageand social structure.The Aryansof the sciences formedonly half the numberof arts:thirty-twoin the
Vedic timesweredeemedas the chosenpeopleof god to whom ancientIndia [Kramrischin Miller 1983:59-60].
the formlessgod revealedthe perfectknowledgeof the Vedas. The silpinsortheartisansof IndusValleywereoriginallycalled
Some time afterCreationthey came down to Aryavarta- the 'Vis' or 'Vissa', derivedfrom the Pali usage 'Viskamma'.The
territorybetweenHimalayasandVindhyamountains,the Indus laterbrahminismandits language,Sanskrit,corruptedthisorigi-
and Brahmaputra - and then became the mastersof the earth. nal Pali expression.In this amendation'vissa ' became'vaisya'
Theyinstructedthe inhabitantsin the 'motherof all languages', which signified a lower status. From 'vaisya' the name
theSanskrit,beforefallingintoidolatryandsuperstition[Jaffrelot 'visvakarma'oughtto haveevolved accordingto scholars.From
1996:16].Thelegacyof theAryanscontinuedthroughthebrahmins thePali 'viskamma'thedravidian'kamma'and'kammalar'took
who institutedpolytheismand caste system, the pivots of the birthin all probability[Somanathan1987:28].The vissas wor-
Hinduculturelater.Intheensuinghierarchicalorderthebrahmin shippedBrahmaandhis demiurge,visvakarma.The latermem-
becamethe apexpointto whose pre-eminenceeverythingin the bersof the HinduTrinity,Vishnuand Siva were not important
Hinduworld was subjugated. in this originalpantheon.Therewere a numberof templesfor
The visvakarmarenditionof the Vedic world and its legacy Brahmain this period.Later,cleavages rend this Vedic com-
becomesa mutatedversionof the brahminicone. For themthe munityspecificallydueto therivalrybetweenthe sagesVasishta
brahminshavecompletelymisrepresented theirrolein theVedic and Visvamitra.Vasishta conspired with one of the kings,
times,whichwas nothingshortof villainyandmanipulation. For Sudasana,who fought the 10 clans of the artisansand finally
aprominent historianfromthecommunity,EdavaSomanathan,10 destroyedthem.The Induscivilisationdeclinedeventuallyand
the Hindu religion and brahminicreligion are two different theartisanvissasfled to differentpartsof theworld[Somanathan
things.The trueHindureligion was pre-brahminic,Vedic and 1989:76-77;1987]. Vasishtawho was instrumentalin the de-
egalitarian.The brahminsonly createdthe four caste divisions structionof these artisansnurturedanotherpriestlyclass who
andalsothefifthdivisionof untouchablescalledthePanchamars became the brahminslater. The brahminsinstitutedthe new
later.Sage Vyasawho compiledthe Vedas standsat the prove- HinduTrinityin whichBrahmawas given an inferiorplace.All
nance of this contrivance.The Jains used to call this Hindu his templeswere destroyedand the decree was passed that he
religioncorruptedby brahmins'Vyasareligion'with contempt should not be worshippedanywherein the Aryavarta.
[Somanathan1989:120]. And how did the brahminssoarandthe artisanssink?For the
Thesenseof 'lack'atpresentpromptsthecommunityto ransack visvakarmaideologuesa differentchronotopeis discerniblein
the reasonsfor it in the Vedic milieu as similarto the romantic the pre-historyof India.This chronotopeis markedby a deep
theorisationsof Hindunationalism.As usualthey stronglyfeel scission in the stretchof Indianhistoryfrom the later partof
thatthe primordialworldwas theirsand they were the masters the Induscivilisationaround2500 BC to 1000 BC. This is the
of it. Thelocus of this pre-brahminic worldwas Aryavartaitself periodthatis called the 'DarkAges' of the Indianhistory.We
and the civilisation they gave rise to was the Indus Valley get the faintglimpseof the Vedic periodfromVedasespecially
Civilisation. The Vedic Civilisation and the Indus Valley Rig Veda.Then suddenlythereis a gap of 1,500 years with no
Civilisation were one and the same. This was an 'Artisan historicaldocuments.Then historyis born anew around1000
Civilisation'in contradistinction to the laterauthentication that BCandJainismandBuddhismfollowsaround600 BC.The 1,500
it was aryan/brahminic. It was an egalitariancivilisationwithno darkyearsbetween2500 BC and 1000 BC is the criticalperiod
castedivisionsin it. Theartsandscienceswerehighlydeveloped for the visvakarmas.Theyclaimthatin this periodthe brahmins
in thismilieuwiththousandsof treatisesproducedon astronomy, did everythingpossible to deliberatelyerase the tracesof their
metallurgy,chemistry,geography,physics, textile technology, glory in the Vedic/Indusperiod[Somanthan1989:42-43].
architecture andeven aerodynamics. Theymadeeven aeroplanes The argumentgoes as follows. We find evidence of scripts
using a rarealloy called 'rajaloham'(royalmetal)[ibid:24-27]. andwritingsin the Indusperiod.The archaeologistshavefound
In ancientIndiathe artisanwas an artistpar excellence:the out around400 lettersfrom the writingson seals, vessels, etc,
'silpin' or 'silpan'. The productsof arts and crafts were not retrievedfromtheHarappa-Mohanjadaro sites. So if writingwas

Economicand PoliticalWeekly November8, 2003 4797

known in the Vedic/Indusperiod how come the Vedas were
preservedin the oral traditionfor thousandsof years till they
were translatedto Sanskritbornonly around3rd centuryBC?
The answeris simple.The brahminswho wantedto destroythe
greatlegacy of the artisansand foist theirown glory destroyed
every traceof historicaland culturalrecordsthat spoke about
the artisansandtheircivilisations.So the thousandsof scientific
treatisesof the Indus period were destroyed.But Vedas were
sparedsincetheyunderstoodthatwithproperconstrualtheycould
be used as vehicles to freighttheirown glory also. But to keep
the exclusivepreserveof themthey destroyedthe writtenforms
of Vedas and insteadstartedkeepingthem in theirown heads
by by-heartingthem.Thus startedthe oral traditionof Sruthis
andSmrithisthroughwhich Vedas were transferred fromgene-
ration to generation for hundredsof years. Only with the
systematisation of Sanskritby Paniniaround3rdcenturyBC the
Vedas were reproducedin the writtenform [ibid:96-101,115].
"Sanskritwas the last shroudspreadon the corpseof the Vedic
GoldenAge" [ibid:134]. This also markedthe descentof India
from the 'AeroplaneAge' of the artisansto the 'Bullock-cart
Age' of the brahmins[ibid:131].
TheoriginalVedicconceptionof thecosmoswasdifferentfrom
the laterbrahminicone. It was called 'Visvabrahmam'created
by visavkarma, thedemiurgeof Brahma.Itis interestingto notice
that this cosmos was oragnisedon the principleof 'five' or
'pancha'.Accordinglythe Brahma/Visvakarma originallyhad
five faces. He had five childrenfrom whom the five groupsof
the artisancommunitytook birth. There were originallyfive
Vedaswith PranavaVeda as the last one. It was suppressedby
thelaterbrahminsbutretainedits essenceas theone-wordmantra
of OM.
The variousaspectsof mundanelife also came to be ordered
on thisprincipleof five. The landof Induswheretheyliveditself
wasPanjab,'thelandof five rivers'.Theyfollowedanegalitarian
administration basedon theruleof five called'panchayat',which
constitutesthe basic unitof civil administration even at present
in India.1Ipanchaguna (five qualities),panchakalyani (a peculiar
horse), 'Panchavadyam' (five musical instruments),
'panchakarma' (five practices of Ayurvedic medicine),
'panchgavya'(a sacredfood madeof the five productsof cow),
'pancharatna' (fivediamonds),'panchangam' (thefive-partIndian
astrologicalcalendar),'panchamrutam' (foodmadeof five sweet
edibles),'panchadukham' (five sorrows),etc, were some of the
five-based aspects of this prelapsarianreality [Somanathan
1989:51-55;Raveendran1998:22-40;Suvarnakar1988:13-17].
The fourlaterHindulife stages called 'Varnashrama Dharma'.
were also five in the earlyperiod.The stage afterdeathwas the
fifth one. Deathis only a 'home coming' of the humansoul to
the Visvabrahmamto be born again accordingto the Hindu
theology;and,therefore,this temporarystage was also deemed
as a life stage or AshramaDharma[Natarajanl997:17].
In contrapositionto this, the laterbrahminsreorganisedthe
classicalworldentirelyon theprincipleof 'four'or 'chatur'.The
five Vedaswerereducedto four.Amongthefive facesof Brahma/
Visvakarma onewaschoppedoff. FromthefourpartsofBrahma's
body four Varnaswere born.There came to be institutedfour
DharmasandfourAshramaDharmasaccordingly.Fourages,four
directions,fourarts,fourcraftsall followedfromthis reduction.
Even cow came to be veneratedsince it has four legs. This
elevationof fourcorrespondingly debasedthe orderof five into
'panchama'thatcameto representeverythinglowly andpolluted
4798
in the brahminic ideology. Under this tainted category came to
be included the 'mleccha' (foreigner), nishada(squatter),chandala
(the untouchable), avarna (casteless) and the adivasi (tribal)
[Walker 1968,Vol II: 172-75].12
The defeat of artisans and the destruction of Indus civilisation
by Sudasanaon the counsel of Vasishta resulted in the mass flight
of the Visavakarmas to other parts of the world. For Somanathan
the Indus civilisation was the 'mother of all civilisations' and
the artisans who fled to different parts of the world from the
Indus became the creators of cultures in other parts of the world.
Deploying an incredible historical Chronotope he tries to authen-
ticate a fabulous Indus-centric theory of diffusion of world
cultures. He argues that the first temples in the world were built
by the Visvakarmas of Indus, which then spread to other parts
of the world with their migration. The sun temples of Egypt and
Sumer, the temple of Athena in Troy, the Mother Goddess of
Philistines, etc, were Indian gods and goddesses. But it is note-
worthy that they were all Vedic gods of the artisan period like
Sun, Varuna, Indra, etc, and not the brahminic gods like Siva
or Vishnu who emerged later. It was not only the areas surround-
ing India like Persia or Arabia that came under the influence of
the fleeing visvakarmas but even places as far as Egypt, Polynesia
and America. The Aztec civilisation was built by the artisans
who went there from Indus. The Maya civilisation of South
America was another one, which inherited the legacy of the
Visvakarmas of Indus. The name 'Maya' itself derived from the
name of the second son of Visvakarma, Maya [Somanathan
1987].
Europe also came underthe overriding influence of the migrant
artisans of Indus. The gypsies and pagans of Europe were their
descendants. The notion of 'commune' in Europe from which
communism evolved in fact originated from the settlements of
the early artisans. The name 'Viskamma'of earlier artisans
shrunk to 'kamma' later. The social order of these artisans was
egalitarian and their settlements were called kammakkudi,
kammatheruvu, kammakulam, etc. The notion of egalitarian
'commune' derived from these 'kamma' (or Camma) settlements
of the early artisans. Marx and Engels who wrote about the
Communes of Europe failed to take note of this umbilical re-
lationship with Indus civilisation and the artisan makers of it
[Somanathan 1989:18-21].
IV
The identity projectionat presentevinces a more critical outlook
and negotiatory spirit as necessitated by the political bargains
based on communal headcount and the worsening employment
conditions. As a result there has been a deliberate effort recently
to put a check on the fissiparous tendency prevalent among the
community organisations earlier and a conscious effort to show
unity. This had an initial success when the three communal
organisations AKVMS, VSS and TVS merged into KVS on
March 14,2001, the eve of the assembly elections. This was done
primarily to negotiate with both the Left and the United Fronts
for more political spoils in the name of the community. The Left
Front headed by CPI(M) didn't oblige, so KVS declared open
supportto the United Frontheaded by the Congress. The Congress
dealt with them better and gave two assembly seats to the
community members, one of which they won. The United Front
also assured them in their manifesto that if they came to power
they would implement the most important demand of the com-
Economicand PoliticalWeekly November8, 2003
 Figure: Support of Goldsmiths to Different Political Parties
3.16per 8.42per
cent cent
46.32per 27.37per
cent cent
D But the leadershipcontradictsthis. Accordingto one of the
1.05per 1.05percent 12.63perent
cent
o UnitedDemocraticFront E3LeftDemocraticFront
1 BharatiaJanatha Party O NationalistCongress Party
O JanathaDal O No politicalparty
O No response
Source:SurveyconductedinMarch,2002, inTrissur.Thissurveyis conducted
amongthe goldsmithsonlyas partof anotherstudy on gold tradeinthe Trissur
cityof Kerala.The samplepopulationconssted of hundredandffty goldsmiths
fromthree areas n-Trissurwhere most of the goldsmithsare concentrated:
Viyyoor,Cherp and Kzha mpattukar.Thoughthis:e nota fo
ofthespllbt: sympathiof the Visvakarma
lndicator as a whole,
community
yetitshowsthegeneratrend
munity:thatthey shouldbe declaredas 'traditionallabourers'.
Butnothingof thissorthashappenedtill August2003, aftermore
thantwo years of United Frontin power.
It is noteworthythat the Visvakarmashave aligned with all
the politicalfrontsin the last 20 years in the majorelections.
It seemsthatwitheverydecadetheychangesupport.Exceptfor
a shortinterludethey were the supportersof the Left Frontin
the 1980s. Early
ther1990s saw shiftingthe allianceto BJP.
They along with a few other backward communities(OBCs)
formedBharathiyaLabourParty(BLP) and aligned with BJP
in the elections.The alliancebroke miserablylater.Again, as
we saw,thebirthof thenew centuryhadthemshiftingallegiance
to the UnitedFrontunderCongress.This alliancehas also not
fructifiedin any meaningfulway till now.
Theircommunalpoliticsthereforebecomesarestlessitinerancy
from one camp to the other and getting more debilitatedwith
eachswitchover.The imagethe communityas a wholeconveys
is undependability andopportunism formanyfromotherpolitical
parties.All politicalpartiesin Keralaview themas a takenfor
grantedvotebankthatcouldbe luredon theeve of the elections.
Butsuchpoliticalwanderlust,normallyequatedwithideological
effeminacy,could be criticalin its long-termeffects when seen
inthebackdropof thegrowthcurveof Hindunationalismin India.
The super-saturatedHindu core of visvakarmaideology in
conjunctionwith the lack felt from the continuouspolitical
debaclescouldinciteanethno-religious movementontheHindutva
linesormakethemidentifywiththemainstream Hindutvaforces
on bargainedtermsand conditions.It seems thatthe Hindutva
ideology is gaining more popularityamong the city-dwelling
visavkarmasandthe youths.A surveyin Trissur,whichhas the
largestgoldsmithpopulationin Kerala,showsBJPcommanding
supportsecondonly to Left Frontwhile the rulingUnitedFront
is pushed to the third place. According to informantfrom
Trivandurm, theHindutvaideologyis gainingpopularityamong
the youthof the communitynot as a utilitarianinstrumentbut
as a refugeto hold on amidstthe presentconfusions."Thisis
just becausethey give respect to our symbols. The BMS has
Economicand PoliticalWeekly November8, 2003
acceptedVisvakarmaas thepatrongod of craftsandlabour.The
psychologythatwe worship'yourgod', therefore,'give us vote'
works to a great extent. Moreover,Hindutvagives a better
personalidentityto the otherwisefaceless Visavkarmassteeped
in povertytoday.Theirkhakishorts,the red vermilionmarkon
the foreheadand the lathi in the hand renderan immediately
identifiableindividualityto people ".
vice-presidentsof KVS, there is no substantialinfluence of
Hindutvaon the community.The communityis pragmaticand
wouldonly resortto a politicalline thatcould help them solve
theirproblemsin theoccupationalfront."Everybodyknowsthat
in KeralaBJP is nevergoing to come to power.So whatis the
point in supportingthem?Of courseout of suddenresentment
with the othertwo Fronts,which ignoredthe community,they
mightsupportBJP temporarilyas in the earlierelection. What
is the use of an empty vessel for a man who is hungry?Only
a vessel filled with food makesany sense to him. So peopleare
not going to supportBJPwhichcannotdelivergoods in Kerala
in the presentsituation"assertedthe vice-president.
Thoughthereis a tentativeswing to the BJP camp this also
doesn'tshow a clearpathof progression.Notwithstanding their
identificationwithwhatis potentiallynegativein theVisvakarma
Hinduism,the BJPleadershiprefusesto sharepowerwith them
in any meaningfulmanner.They also try to nurturethem as a
vote bank.The Left treatedthem badly in the 2001 elections.
Whentheyaskedfora specificnumberof seatsforthecommunity
membersin returnfor politicalsupportthe leadershipretorted
brazenly.One of them asked, "Whoin Keralawill vote for a
goldsmithif he is fieldedas a candidatein thepresentsituation?"
(interviewwithKaramana Balakrishnan onMarch28, 2003).The
UnitedFrontalso ditchedthem afterwinningthe last elections
with their support.
It seems thatthereare some congenitalflaws at workbehind
theirno-escapesituationandperennialpoliticalmarginalisation.
Firstly,thereis somethinginnatein theirideologyandworldview
thatprevents themfromrallyingunderacoherentpoliticalideology
or politicalleader.Secondly,thereis some structuralelasticity
in theirworldviewthat facilitatestheir identificationwith po-
liticalideologiesof allhues:fromleft,centristtofarright.Thirdly,
thoughthey are the largestsingle communityunderthe Hindu
fold in possessionof a religio-ideologicalsystempotentiallyas
xenophobicas militantHindunationalismtheyhavenevershown
any capacityto rallyunderit in a combativemanner.Fourthly,
asa corollarytotheabove,intheirhandsthispotentiallyexplosive
super-brahminic ideology becomesan instrumentof subjection
and self-surrender.
The symbolparexcellence thatrepresentsthe communityis
theirpatronlordVisvakarmahimself.As mentionedpreviously
he is thedivinearchitectwho as the demiurgeof Brahmacreated
theuniverseandeverythingin it, accordingto theHindureligion.
But this god also suffersfromconfusionsas regardshis status
withinthe Hindupantheon.13 In an interestingcomplementthe
destinyof the god and his people coincide. The god's exalted
position in the pre-brahminicVedic cosmology, the eventual
cuttingto size by brahminictheologyas an artisangod, andthe
presentmarginalisation withlimitedappealandnotemplesbecome
anironiccommentaryon thedestinyof his peoplewhoalso lived
througha similarhistoricaltrajectory.The god is being acted
uponatpresentbythemoder forces,whichrecreateandlegitimise
him in strangeshapesand roles backedup by quainttheologies
4799
andcompulsionsof politics.The formsthe god assumeandthe I foundout thatthis versionis followed in northIndiawhile the
incumbentlegitimacyhecomesto enjoyalsobecomethesemiotic southIndianversionis different.Again whatPidiliteCompany
barometer of how his peoplefarein theirworldlypathatpresent. gave out has beenacceptedby BMS as the imageof theirpatron
So let us try to look into this people by gauging this divine lord of arts and crafts.
barometer. Visvakarmabecomessubjectto anotherhegemonicappropria-
Visvakarmais the HinduVulcan, 'the shaper'of thingsboth tion in the milieuof presentfactionalpolitics.This is expedited
celestialandterrestrial.He builtthe heavensand palacesof all by anotherintrinsicambivalencein his essence.Likeothergods
the gods: Indra'sVaijayanta,Kuberaand Ravana'sLankaand Visvakarmais also attributeda putativebirthdayby the Hindu
thePandavas'Indraprastha.He alsocreatedfabulousanimalslike religion. This becomes conjecturalaccordingto many in the
Indra's horse,UchchaiSravas.Buthismostfamousartefactswere community.The more philosophicalminded argue that it is
theweaponsof gods:Indra'sthunderbolts, Kartikeya'slanceand impossiblefor the originalCreatorof everythingto be bornon
Shiva'strident[Ions1967:88].Visvakarma asBrahma'sdemiurge a particularday. It is a contradictionin termssince thatpresup-
is alsoknownby nameslike Vidhatri(creator),Karu(workman), poses anothercreatorfor Visvakarma.But among those who
Takshaka(carver)and also Sudhavan(having a good bow) believe thatthereis a birthdayalso thereis no agreement.It is
[Walker1968.vol II:577]. celebratedon two differentdays underdifferentnames: 'Rishi
Withtheascendanceof brahminism, SaivismandVaishnavism PanchamiDinam'andVisvakarma Jayanthi.TheRishiPanchami
gainedprominenceand Brahma'sstatusfell; and along with it Dinamliterallymeans 'the day of the solidarityof five rishis'.
Visvakarma'salso. Vyasa, the crafty compilerof Vedas did ThosewhocelebratethisdaybelievethatVisvakarmadidn'thave
everythingpossibleto distortthe exaltedstatusof Brahmaand a birthdaylike the mortalsbut only a commemorationday in
hisdemiurgein theeyes of posterity.VyasaportraysVisvakarma which his five children(supposedlyfive rishis)came together
in Mahabharatha as follows: to declaretheirsolidarityandprayto theirillustriousfather.This
Visvakarma. Lordof the arts,masterof a thousandhandicrafts, dayfollows therulesof HinduAlmanacandchangeswithevery
carpenterof the gods andbuilderof theirpalaces,fashionerof year [Achary 1995:221].Following the practiceof their sage
everyjewel,firstof craftsmen, by whoseartmenlive,andwhom, forefathersthe five groupsamongthe Visvakarmacommunity
agreatanddeathlessgod.theycontinually worship(Mahabharathaalso celebratethis as an auspiciousday in commemorationof
1:2592). their patrongod at present.
Visvakarmabecomesthe carpenterandthe goldsmithof gods Another group celebrates September 17 every year as
in Vyasa'slitany.Thecosmicfabricatorwho withhis own hands 'VisvakarmaJayanthi',or 'as the birthdayof Visvakarma'.
madestarsandmoonsandheavenlypalacescouldnotwithstand This conventionis also rife withcontradictory interpretationsas
the ideologicalshellingof brahminismwhich ruthlesslydown- usualin the community.The versiongiven by V Natarajanof
gradedany semblanceof physicaltoil as sign of lowlinessand Alappuzhais interestingaccordingto him, September17 has
decadenceirrespectiveof gods, men or monsters.The result: importance otherthantheVisvakarmaJayanthi.Itis animportant
Visvakarmagot entrappedin a double-bindthanksto the gut dayintheritualAlmanacof Indiaknownas 'KanniSankrantham'.
contradictionbetween his own ontology and the dismissive It was on this particularday thatthe forefathersof the present
postureson humanlabourby brahminism. He wastruncated from Visvakarmapeople inventedploughand gifted it to humanity.
his cosmic largenessand plenitudeas Purushato a secondary Ploughrepresentsboth the artisantradeas well as agriculture
deity and an artisanpar excellence. and thereforebecomes the most representativesymbol of the
Thederogationof his statusby brahminismin thepastassumes ancientIndiancivilisation.Itchangedthecourseof humanhistory
new modesin moderntimes.In my fieldtripamongcommunity altogether.Thiswasa changefrom'localmobcultureto universal
I was anxiousto see an iconographically'correct'figureof the humanculture'and Visavkarmasof Indiapioneeredit. Coinci-
lordVisvakarma. As I gathered,thecorrectfigurehasfive tilaka- dentally, this becomes the birthdayof Visvakarmaalso. So
markedfaces. 10armsholdinga bookandwritingstylus,a sword, Indiansin the pastcelebratedthis day of manyillustriouscon-
an adze, a citron,a cup, a water-pot,a rosary,a cobra(about junctionsas an occasionto honourVisvakarmaandhis descen-
his neck),a noose, handsbetokeningsternnessandbeneficence dents [Natarajan2001:9-10].
(one closed and one open). and a golden sacred thread Politicsentersin thisconjuncture.BharathiyaMazdoorSangh
[Coomaraswamy 1979:79].ButI couldnotfindone thatmatched (BMS), the tradeunionwing of BJP, has takenon the onus of
all thesedetails.All I couldfind in manyhomes,workshopsand late to honourVisvakarmaandcelebrateSeptember17 bothas
with the wayside Oleographvendors were variationsof this thebirthdayof Visvakarmaandthe 'NationalLabourDay'. (For
figure.The mostpopularone is thatof a single-headedold man manyin the community,such a LabourDay or ArtisanDay in
with a sage-likevisage surroundedby five boys. The latterare theIndiancultureis unheard of.) AccordingtoPuliyaraVentlgopal,
supposedto be the five forefathersof the Visvakarmaartisans. an ideologuewho supportsthe BJP,all otherfestivals in India
FinallyR S Manianof Pazhayasalatold me thatthesedays most are relatedto a particularcommunityor religion.Visvakarrna
of the communitymembersalso do not know who the true Jayanthiis the only secularfestivalin this regardcelebratedby
Visvakarmais. What they all worship as the true pictureof all people in India.He also resentsthe fact thatno government
Visvakarma is a distortedversiongivenoutby PidiliteIndustries. has takeninitiativeto declareit as a nationalholidaytill now
the companythatsells adhesiveand tools. (This companysells (Mathrubhumi, September 17, 2002).
the adhesiveFevicol andthe companyis knownby the product Among the many attributesof Visvakarma there are also those
thanits nameitself.) On a closer look I foundhis versionto be thathave entitledhim to the office of the patronof the 'Indian
correct.Visvakarma.supposedlythe creatorof the cosmos sits Labourer',as BMShasmadehimof late.Fora communistleader
on a throneborderedby chisels, hammers,saws, tapes,etc, as from the community(who doesn't want to divulge his name),
an advertisement piece for tools and paints.On furtherenquiry therearesubtlemanipulations by BMSin thisregard,"Whatthey

4800 Economicand PoliticalWeekly November8, 2003

are trying to foist is a Hindutva duplicate of the revolutionary
working class ideology of Marxism. This process of ridiculous
cloning forces the scientific and ground-breaking principles of
Marxism into motley apparels of reactionary Hindutva". "No
wonder the revolutionary concepts of dialectical materialism put
on flesh and body in the archaic symbols of BJP painfully
disinterred from those recesses of Indian history marked by
brahminicoppression and cruelty. Visvakarma becomes a hapless
victim of this reactionary exhuming", supplements theoretical
minded Gopi, an active member of AKGWU.
The celebration of Visvakarma Jayanthi is emerging as an
Indian alternative to the May Day celebrations of the world
proletariatunder the aegis of BMS, according to many Marxist
supporters from the community. There are some interesting
interconnectionsdiscerniblein this regard.The word 'Visvakarma'
could be split into 'Visvam' which means 'world' or 'universe'
and 'Karma' which means either 'action' or in certain parlance
'labour'. Hence Visvakarma is translated as 'world actor ' or
'world labourer'. This is certainly in ideological and conceptual
propinquity to the 'world proletariat' of Marxism. Hence
Visvakarmabecomes the central pivot of an ideological apparatus
that can combat Marxism in its own discursive terms. Tells
another Visvakarma leader, "The May Day celebrations also
resulted from the actions of the Visvakarma brethrenof America.
It started in Chicago with the strike of carpenters for stipulating
the eight-hour per day job schedule."
The image of Visvakarma is pregnant with more meanings that
also represent the existential dilemmas of the community at
present.The diminution by brahminism made him a dispossessed
god assigned to the status of a rishi or renouncerwithin the divine
polis. But in the Hindu ideology 'renouncer' is the most exalted
position. For Dumont caste order places human beings within
a system of relations and they have no 'being' beyond it. But
at another level this 'ultramundaneity' is compensated by a
salvation based on transubstantiationand rebirths.This provision
for escape from the mundane bonds of world and its rigid social
order is epitomised in the figure of the rishi or the archetypal
renouncer. He might exist within the society, yet is beyond all
the relations within it. He represents universality, transcendence
and detachment [Dumont 1998: 184-86, 267-76].
Again, from their claim as brahmins (visvabrahmins) also the
theory of renunciation holds, if we look at it from the theoretical
perspective of Heesterman who holds that brahmins are also
renouncers like the rishis. According to him, the brahmin in the
pre-Classicalor Vedic periodofficiated sacrifices andalso imbibed
its pollution. Once the brahmingot disengaged from the pollution-
imbibing process of the sacrificial rituals later, other lower castes
had to take this role. As a result washermen and barbers started
performingthe officiating roles in Hindu rituals, especially those
related to death and impurity. This was, therefore, the moment
of the birth of the caste system also [Quigley 1993:58]. So for
Heesterman, the brahmin attained such a position of worldly
renouncer in the Classical period itself once he got dissociated
from the conduct of sacrifices. Hence nothing could affect him
in his new status; he is beyond the pure-impurecomplementarity
of exchange [Heesterman 1985:43-44]. But on the other hand,
he shows this detachment within society, not outside it like the
renounceror rishi as Dumont visualises. Hence this detachment
makes the 'pure brahmin a poor brahmin' also.
V Natarajan of Alappuzha, a mystic and scholar from the
community, highlights this aspect of Visvakarma in his book
Economicand PoliticalWeekly November8, 2003
VisvakarmaOruJathiyude Peralla ('Visvakarma is not the name
of a Jati'). According to him Visvakarma had always been a
selfless and high thinking god detached from wealth or comforts.
He created all the celestial palaces, divine machines and weapons
for other gods. But for himself he built nothing worthwhile, not
even a house to live.1 4 He is the renouncer par excellence among
the celestial hierarchy[Natarajan1999:74]. Natarajanrationalises
the relative deprivation of the majority in the Visvakarma com-
munity also on this basis, as the reflection of their own god's
self-denial. He argues that though the Visvakarma people had
been the true architects of the Indian civilisation they never
amassed any materialpossessions for themselves. They built great
temples, palaces and all the noteworthy monuments of this culture
like their patron in the celestial world. If they wanted they could
have built the most ostentatious temples for themselves. In the
matterof worship also they in turn identified with the simplicity
andauthenticityof nature.Hence they follow an animistic worship
known as 'vaccharadhana'.They are therefore the true upholders
of the renouncer tradition of the sages and rishis of India. So
they have no jati, caste or even religion. He asserts, "to which
jati rishis belonged, to thatjati visvakarmas also belong; to which
religion rishis belong, to that religion visvakarmas also belong"
[ibid:8]. On the otherhand, the brahminsthough they make claims
to renunciation and austerity, still follow temple worship and
promote materialistic institutionalisation of devotion [Natarajan
1997:50-54].
Without being able to identify with either the upper castes or
the lower castes on caste questions, or with left ideologies or
rightist forces in the political front the Visvakarmas of Kerala
aimlessly straddle one shelter to another. Theoretically they
become important as their case gives some important leads
regarding the manufacturingof community identity by castes in
the middle level especially caught up in the economic throes of
post-capitalism and globalisation at present. We should end with
the words of venerable Visvavani Natarajan, the first English
professor from the community: "The people who once made
palaces, temples, great monuments and some of the wonders of
the world in India are today making septic tanks and toilets. They
grow like the snake-gourds, downwards". [I3
Addressfor correspondence:
bobbykala@yahoo.co.uk
Notes
[I am thankfulto the Centrefor DevelopmentStudies, Universityof Bergen,
Norway, for giving the financial assistance for this study. I gratefully
acknowledgethe able guidanceandhelp given by Bruce KapfererandGunnar
Haalandof the Departmentof Social Anthropology,University of Bergen,
Michael Tharakanof CDS, Thiruvananthapuram and P J Cherianof KCHR
in this study. I also thankPrabhashof the Departmentof Political Science,
KeralaUniversityCentre,Kariavattom,JDevikaof CDS, Thiruvananthapuram
andTKVinodanof Kollamforarrangingseminars,andfortheirencouragement
and extending criticism.]
1 He made this observation in a community meeting in Alappuzha in
October 2001.
2 The total strengthof the visvakarmacommunity in the absence of exact
census data is a conjecturedissue. It is getting revised by the community
leadership every time according to Vikraman Achary, who wrote a
seminalthesis on the political modernisationof the community.The caste
association, Akhila Kerala Visvakarma Maha Sabha (AKVMS) came
out with different estimates from time to time. In the year 1991 the
estimate was 2 million. But by the middle of 1990s the figure became
4801
 2.5 million [Achary 1998:152,n 55]. At present the apex communal
organisationKeralaVisvakarmaSabha (KVS) claims the community's
total strengthto be 12 per cent of Kerala's populationand 4.3 millions
[Karnayugam, April 2002:7; November 2002:7[. Vikraman Achary
calculatesit to be 2.5 million and I think that is the more reliablefigure.
3 This claim is made in the official monthly of the apex community
organisationKVS [see Karntayugam,November 2002:3].
4 Perhaps it starts with their filing of a petition in the court of the
Vijayanagaraking to ratify their Brahminic status in the 17'hcentury.
They got a favourableverdictin 1678. With the Britishestablishingtheir
rulejust after,the Sanskritisationefforts of many lower castes got a new
fillip .The colonial census records gave them a chance to change their
taintedcaste names and social attributesand therebymove up the social
hierarchy symbolically. The Tamil Kammalans utilised this chance
opportunely;theywho hadalreadychangedtheircastenameto 'Visvakarma
Brahmins', entered the British records in this new name [Srinivas
1962:69].
5 Accordingto ThengamomBalakrishnan,a prominentcommunistleader
from the community, the service of the community is 'basic' since it
is bound up with the life cycle of human beings. " The scissors that
cut the umbilical cord with which the human life begins to the coffin
in whichone is interredafterdeathare madeby the Visvakarmaartisans".
According to Padmalochanan,a trade union leader from Kollam, "the
traditionalartisan'scraft is like the mother's milk since it is very basic.
The mechanisedimprovisationsare just like the artificial milk powder
producedwhen the mother's milk is in short supply".
6 Anotherpopular interpretationof 'Kannalar'is that the artisans make
things so pleasing that it 'opens the eyes' of people who are thereby
persuadedto buy them. Yet anotherone is that 'Kammalan'derivedfrom
'Karmmalan'meaning'one who rulesover the Karma'or 'thepractitioner
selfless acts'
7 The distance pollution with its precise orbital positions for other castes
vis-a-vis the NamboodiriBrahminbecomes an ultra mundanegloss to
the ideological hierarchyof Dumont [Dumont 1998]. The physical space
itself was charged with the sacred on the touch of the Brahmin and
revertedto the non-sacred with his withdrawal
8 Thoughthe caste system theoreticallydifferentiatesall othercastes from
one's own it is only certain castes that are more or less in closer
propinquityin the pollution- purity scale that become the perceived
'Other'to one's own caste. In Keralathis is evidentlyat work.The famous
oppositionin this case is between nairs and ezhavas who consider each
other as the archetypal 'Other' to each other. A nair or ezhava might
not feel the gut oppositionto othercastes as they feel towardseach other.
In the case of visvakarmasthey never mention any other castes as their
'Other'otherthanthebrahminswhomtheybelievehaveusurpedtheirglory.
9 The concept is borrowedfrom Mikhail Bakhtin who uses it to analyse
literarynarratives,especially the novel. 'Chronotope'means 'space-time'
andhe uses both time and space in the Kantiansense as absoluteaprioris
of perception.His argumentis that in narrativesalso there is a specific
way in which time and space are integratedwhich facilitates a specific
kindof readingof the texts [Bakhtin1981:84]. Like the literarynarratives
historicalnarrativesalso can be enframedwithin specific Chronotopes,
especially if they contain fictional elements as in the case of visvakarma
historicising.
10 EdavaSomanathanis one of the organic intellectualsof the community
in the Gramsciansense. His historiesof the communityare writtenfrom
a pro-communityperspective.Therefore,there are lot of exaggerations
and anti-brahmintirades in them. They are noteworthy for phantasms
andthe way Visvakarmacommunityis portrayedas a global community.
He is heavily relieduponin this analysis since thereare no otherhistories
written of the community.
11 The visvakarmasof Tamil Nadu still follow this patternof community
administrationaccording to G S Ghurye [Ghurye 1994:392].
12 For PrabhatiMukherjee'pancha' was a source of 'irritation,conjecture
and speculation'in the early ideology especially in the case of Rigveda
[Mukherjee1981:19]. For Georges Dumezil 'five' was very important
forVedic world;it was Vedic formulaitself. Divisions by certainpreferred
numbersoccur in manyculturesas a sort of motif. Seven was a preferred
numberin the early Indo-Iranianculture while Irish preferredto divide
their encompassing reality with five like the Vedic India [Dumezil
1973:9-15].
13 Itwas BenjaminWalkerwho observedsomewherethatthe celestial world
with its 33 crore gods and celestial beings is much more populatedthan
4802
the earth over which it rules. So as a characteristicsubstructureof the
Indianideology the heavenly world also should have its caste hierarchy
with gods occupying different asymmetric stations.
14 But as usual there are so many interpolationsand false interpretations
about his status. One is regardinghis abode. According to Payyannor
N.Kesavanacharihis abode is the Mount Meru the cosmic centre of the
Hindu universe [Malayala Manorama, September 17, 2002, p 8).
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Economicand PoliticalWeekly November8, 2003