What The Canonization Of Tamil Christian Saint Devasahayam Pillai Means
On November 10, the Vatican announced that ‘Devasagayam’, who is said to have lived in the 18th century principality of Travancore, would be canonized. The media especially the ones in Tamil Nadu went berserk.
They praised the Vatican’s decision and proudly announced that Devasagayam is the first Indian to be canonized in history. Look at the respect Christianity has given to a Tamilian – was the central theme in almost all major stories. They also didn’t forget to mention that Vatican’s announcement is an award of recognition given for the sacrifice made by Devasagayam.
So, who is this Devasagayam Pillai? What was the motive behind his sudden canonization? What is the reason for the lifting of the Nair identity of the Devasagayam when it is said that there is no caste in Christianity? We met Bala Gautaman, a historian and director of the Center for Vedic Scientific Research, with many such questions. He says there are some things we need to know before analyzing the matter of Devasagayam in detail. An award is a recognition given to a person who has done a particular deed. For example, for our country, soldiers who exhibit great valour on the battlefield are given awards like Veer Chakra and Bharat Ratna for being the best citizen. Similarly, there are reasons behind the titles given by the Vatican.
The Vatican is not a holy place like Kasi or Rameswaram as most people think. It is a political capital. Its head-of-state is the pope. Their political ideology is ‘Christianity’. The Vatican is trying to bring its other countries under its control by spreading this ideology. Christian missionaries are their soldiers who are currently working to spread Christianity. But a few centuries ago, the Vatican used military force to bring many European nations under the control of Christendom. Many countries today remain Christian as a result of the war waged by the Vatican’s sectarian army. The Vatican still controls those countries. But when it comes to war, casualties happen on both sides right? Thus, in honor of veterans who have served in the Vatican’s Army, the title given by the Vatican Government is ‘Venerable’!
That is, the Vatican is a government. Venerable is the title that honors those who fought and sacrificed in support of the Vatican government without loyalty to their own government! War here does not simply mean fighting with the sword. It refers to all the tricks done to destroy other native religions and cultures. This has been menioned by the famous second century pastor Tertullian himself. As Tertullian’s view is accepted by “Pope John Paul II” and he too recogonizes “martyr of the Vatican”.
The Vatican conferred the title of “Venerable” in 2012 in anticipation of the canonization of the character “Devasagayam”. What does this mean? Devasagayam was not loyal to India but to the Vatican. Just like how Islamic movements celebrate the traitors responsible for the Coimbatore bombings as martyrs and honor them with the title of ‘Ghazi’.
Now, let’s look at how Devasagayam has been given the title of Saint.
Pope John Paul II when he arrived in India in 1999 had said that the Church took root in Europe in the first millennium, in Africa and in the Americas in the second millenium.
“May the third Christian millennium witness a great harvest of faith on this vast and vital continent”, he said back then.
India is the most important country in Asia India has been a Hindu country for about 500 years of Islamic rule and the next 200 years of British rule. Most Southeast Asian countries follow Indian culture. So, if you want to catch Asia, you have to catch India.
And how to capture India? That is why the Vatican has taken up the weapon of the title of ‘Saint’.
The Vatican’s plan is to find someone in any of the countries they think should be converted and give them the title of ‘saint’.
During the colonial period, Christian missionaries wrote and spread false adventure stories to spread Christianity among the local people. This has been done in many countries since India. There is even a template for these adventure stories. The villains are the native people. They will be portrayed as savages, worshipers of Satan, and oppressors of the poor. Later it was written that the hero of the story spread Christianity and upheld social justice and that some local miscreants who did not like it killed the Christian hero.
When the locals hear this story, they feel a hatred for themselves. There will be hatred over their culture. It also gives the impression that Christianity has elevated their status. Utilizing this, Christian missionaries create a cult similar to that of Sai Baba around the hero of their story.
If the cult has become very popular among the locals, they will declare the title of sainthood. By the time the cult would have become popular among Hindus too. Even if the canonization is announced, the title will be given only after a year of dragging. Do you know why? Until then, they will keep on talking about that person. The plan is to spread the story of anti-indigenous people across the country and to make the respective people hate their culture and support Christianity.
That is what they are currently doing in the matter of ‘Devasagayam’.Christian adventure stories in general can be divided into two types. One is a false story written with a real character. Second is fake story written with a second fake character! The story of Devasagayam is an example of the second type.! Let us first find out what is mentioned on the website owned by the Christian Churches about Devasagayam.
Devasagayam Pillai was born in 1712 in a Nair family. His real name was Neelakanda Pillai. He was in government service in the princely state of the Maharaja of Travancore. In 1741, the Dutch lost to Travancaore King Marthanda Varma in the Battle of Colachel. Eustachius De Lannoy’, commander of the Dutch forces, joined Marthanda Varma as commander-in-chief. Neelakanda Pillai got the friendship of Dutch commander Eustachius De Lannoy’ . Through him Neelakanda Pillai was inspired by Christianity. Later, in 1745, he converted to Christianity and changed his name to Devasagayam Pillai through a pastor named ‘Pellatari’ from Vadakkankulam.
Devasagayam Pillai, who converted to Christianity, was accustomed to all sections of the society irrespective of caste. He converted the people by ‘understanding the superiority of Christianity’. This was not to the liking of the dominant castes of Nair and Namboodiri. Thus, Devasagayam was reported to the king of Travancore. He was subsequently arrested in 1749. The Church states that he suffered torture by the king of Travancore while in prison. And it was during that time that ‘many miracles were performed by the grace of Jesus’. He was eventually shot by the king’s soldiers on Kattthadi Hill near Aralvaymozhi.
This is the story concocted by Christian missionaries. Take a good look at this story. Does the template of the Christian adventure story fit in perfectly? However, historians say that such a story never really happened in history.
Renowned Kerala historian A. Sridhara Menon in an interview to the Pioneer magazine said that the story is a completely fabricated fantasy.
President of the Indian Institute of Historical Studies (ICHR) Mr. MGS Narayanan, argues that there was never an army commander under Marthandavarma by name of Devasagayam.
Mr. Nagam Aiya, who wrote the history of Travancore said “It is unbelievable that converts in the country have a habit of portraying their ancestors as priests custom; It is on that basis that this story was conceived.” This has been mentioned in Travancore Manual Vol II page 129-130, M.Nagam Aiya.
Not only that. Christian missionaries say that Devasagayam had a wife named Bhargavi who had a child and that she too had converted to Christianity. If you visit the tomb of that Bhargavi today, not all the Tamil characters written on it are ancient characters. That means everything is freshly made half-set!Whichever Marthanda Varma king is blamed for killing Devasakaya’s child for converting to another religion, that king is the one who allotted the land tax free to Varapuzha Church (Travancore Manual, Vol-I page 16, T.K.Veluppillai). So, there is no evidence that Devasagayam Pillai lived in Travancore. There is also no evidence that the king of Travancore was a Hindu fanatic. King Marthanda Varma built a church in Udayagiri fort for the same De Lannoy and paid 100 rupees a month to the priest who worked in that church! (Travancore Manual, Vol-I page 16, T.K.Veluppillai).
But the Vatican does not care about that. The Vatican has so far canonized many. Today Devasagayam has been canonized and Hindus will be converted to create unrest between communities.
This article was originally published in Mission Kaali and has been republished here with permission after making suitable edits.
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One Year Of ‘Vidiyal’: Reality ‘Dawns’ On People
It has been a year since the MK Stalin-led DMK came to power. Chief Minister Stalin assumed office at a time when the state was facing the rage of the delta variant of the corona virus.
Just a day after taking oath as Chief Minister, Stalin imposed a full lockdown for a period of 14 days, a move he had vehemently opposed when he was an Opposition leader.
Little did the people know that it would be the first of the many flip-flops to come.
But to give credit where due, the Tamil Nadu government did a commendable job in containing the pandemic, far better than the neighbouring Communist-ruled Kerala.
However, that seems to be the only good thing that the DMK government has done in the past one year.
While the ‘Dravidian Stockists’ may paint a picture of honey and milk flowing in the streets of Tamil Nadu, in reality, it is only brimming with sweat, as people put up with long hours of power cuts in the scorching summer.
And people can’t even talk about it as the Hon’ble State Electricity Minister has warned of severe action against those who spread ‘rumours’ and ‘fake news’ about power cuts on social media. Hail ‘Dravidian Model’ of Free Speech!
Given that the media in Tamil Nadu is also infested with ‘Dravidian Stockists’ and kneel down with a begging bowl at the gates of Anna Arivaalayam, it is important that the abject failure of this government on many fronts is brought to light.
Duping Makkal Kazhagam
The DMK in its manifesto had promised to reduce petrol and diesel prices by ₹5 and ₹4 respectively. After much grilling, it was announced that the price of petrol would be reduced by ₹3. Nothing has been to reduce the prices of diesel and LPG cylinder. When the State Finance Minister Palanivel Thiagarajan was asked in a press meet whether the government will reduce fuel prices, he retorted saying “Have we put any date on fulfilling the promise?”
That is when it ‘dawned’ on the people – none of the promises made by the DMK have any dates mentioned!
A thought started echoing in the minds of the people – “Is this the ‘dawn’ (vidiyal) that was promised?”.
On 9th August 2021, Finance Minister Palanivel Thiagarajan released a white paper in order to absolve the government’s inability to fulfill the many unfulfillable promises and to shift the blame on the previous AIADMK regime. This white paper became the premise for taxing citizens more.
The minimum fare in Metropolitan Transport Corporation (MTC) buses was increased from ₹5 to ₹10. The DMK and its allies like the MDMK had protested when the AIADMK government tried to do the same.
Property tax has been increased to the tune of 50-150%. It is pertinent to mention that the DMK in its manifesto had promised to not increase property tax. So, that’s another flip-flop.
State-owned Aavin has increased the prices of milk powder, curd, ghee, and other milk products.
In essence, the DMK has hit at the belly of the working middle-class.
But even if these are considered as compulsions of time and a bitter pill for the greater good, the DMK should not be forgiven for duping the Tamil Nadu women and youth.
Till today, the DMK government has been playing needless politics over the National Eligibility and Entrance Test (NEET), putting the future of students in jeopardy. Their claims of abolishing NEET will never bear fruition. But, it is not too late. The DMK must accept defeat over its claims of abolishing NEET and move on, which they will eventually do once the President of India returns the NEET Abolition Bill.
The most despicable has been the promise of jewel loan waiver.
The DMK had promised in its election manifesto that it will waiver the gold loans under 5 sovereign (40 grams) taken by people in co-operative banks.
MK Stalin during election campaign had stated that had assured to waive jewel loans of up to five sovereigns availed by the poor, farmers and particularly women. CM Stalin’s son Udhayanidhi Stalin who is now the Chepauk-Tiruvallikeni MLA, had instigated people to pledge their jewels and take loans during election campaigns saying that they would be waived off when DMK comes to power. As a result of this, many in rural Tamil Nadu had pledged their jewels and taken loans.
However, in December 2021, the DMK government declared that 35 lakh jewel loans of the 48 lakh are ineligible for loan waiver.
Likewise, the DMK had also promised that it would bring back the old pension scheme for state government employees once it came to power. However, Tamil Nadu Finance Minister PTR Palanivel Thiagarajan had said that a decision could not be taken on the implementation of the old pension scheme as the state’s financial situation was dire and that the government will go bankrupt if it gives everything away for free to everyone.
Corruption, Commission, Collection
The DMK is a party that is synonymous to corruption, ‘scientific corruption’ to be precise. The present regime too is living up to that legacy. Multiple allegations of corruption have cropped in just a year.
The Sweet Scam – Instead of giving orders to state-owned milk cooperative Aavin, for the supply of ghee sweets on the occassion of Deebavali, the state transport department had reportedly amended the tender rules to favour a single company that shares close ties with then DMK Transport Minister Raja Kannappan’s son. After the scam caused embarassment for the government, CM Stalin passed an order to procure sweets from Aavin. The Minister’s portfolio was later changed to Backward Classes Welfare.
Pongal Gift Scam – There have been several complaints of missing items and poor quality of items given as part of the government’s ‘Pongal Gift Pack’. Worms, lizards and other insects were found in some of the items like tamarind, wheat packets, etc.
Irregularities were reported in the procurement of sugarcane from farmers. While the DMK government had said that it would procure sugarcane at a price of ₹33 per cane (10% higher than last year), farmers ended up selling their produce at a rate of ₹14-15 per cane with DMK functionaries siphoning off ₹18-19 per cane.
The BGR Energy Scam – There are allegations that the state electricity generation and distribution agency TANGEDCO has offered ₹4,442 crore deal violating all procedures, to a company named BGR Energy Systems Limited, whose promoters are believed to be backing the ruling DMK.
TASMAC Scam – Many bar owners gathered in front of the house of Minister Senthilbalaji over irregularities in rewarding of bar tenders. They had also approached the courts filing a case against wrongful sale of bar tenders. There is an accusation that the tenders were majorly given to those belonging to the Karur district.
Pathetic State Of Law & Order & Police Brutality
Just immediately after the DMK came to power, an ‘Amma Unavagam’ located in J.J Nagar near Maduravoyal, Chennai was attacked by DMK goons. DMK goons in Karur district ransacked a shop belonging to an AIADMK cadre causing extensive damage to the property along with a person getting injured seriously. Over 60 families have been rendered homeless in Thiruvottriyur due to atrocities committed by DMK cadres in the area. And the list goes on and on with multiple reports of attacks on women and DMK functionaries indulging in land grabs and other atrocities.
On the other hand, there have been several instances of death due to police torture. Vignesh (25), a Scheduled Caste youth who was taken to the G5 Secretariat Colony police station reportedly died due to custodial violence. Another incident was reported in Tiruvannamalai where a man named Thangamani, belonging to the Scheduled Tribe succumbed to injuries reportedly due to police torture. In another incident that happened in January 2022, a physically-challenged man named Prabhakdaran was locked up for allegedly stealing jewelry from a provision stores owner. He died on January 12. Prabhakaran’s relatives have alleged police torture as the reason for the death. In June 2021, a fruit stall owner named Murugesan was thrashed to death by police in the middle of the road.
Infesting Institutions With Anti-Hindu Elements
While the Dravidian Stockists cry of the ‘RSS’ capturing institutions, in Tamil Nadu, rabid anti-Hindu demogogues have been rewarded for their loyalty.
Suba Veerapandian, best known for his anti-Hindu speeches, has been admitted to the advisory committee to Tamil Nadu Textbook and Educational Services Corporation. He has also been appointed as the Chairperson of ‘Social Justice Monitoring Committee’.
Suba Vee had supported lyricist Vairamuthu who has been accused of sexual harassment by multiple women. In fact, Suba Vee himself has allegation of of sexual harassment against him. He also reportedly has links to the Lulu Sex Racket.
Another rabid Hindu-hater who has been appointed to the committee is S. Abdul Hameed who identifies himself as Manushyaputhiran.
Father Mariasusai, a Maoist-sympathizing Christian priest has been appointed as a member of the Tamil Nadu Public Service Commission by the DMK government. Father Mariasusai has an extremely controversial past as he allegedly had a close relationship with the deceased ‘Urban Naxal’ and fellow Christian priest Stan Swamy.
Prominent pattimandram (Tamil debate) icon Dindigul I. Leoni who is also the DMK’s propaganda wing secretary has been appointed as the head of the Tamil Nadu Textbook & Educational Services Corporation. He had made sexist remarks on women while campaigning for the 2021 Assembly elections.
Anti-Hindu Politics Of DMK
From Day 1, the DMK government has been meddling in the affairs of the Hindu faith. Several temples have been razed down under the garb of ‘clearing encroachments’ pinnning it on the High Court.
In January 2022, an Anjaneya temple in Varadharajapuram, Mudichur, in the Kancheepuram district, was ordered to be demolished despite heavy opposition from local residents and devotees.
The Vasudevar Temple in Sulur, Coimbatore, has been demolished.
Seven temples have been demolished in Kumarasamy Nagar, Coimbatore. One of the temples is said to be over one hundred years old.
A Sivan Temple in Sriperumbudur was demolished because it was built on government land.
On the other hand, the DMK government has turned a blind eye to encroachments made by other religious places. A church built by encroaching a water canal in Kilkattalai, Chennai has not been brought down despite the structure being marked in 2017.
Back in October 2021, the Madras High Court had directed the HR&CE Department to evict the Queensland amusement park from 21 acres of land in Poonamallee belonging to Kasi Viswanathaswami temple and Venugopalaswami temple.
The amusement park owner late ‘Oorvasi’ Selvaraj who also founded the King’s Engineering College, was a former Congress MLA and his wife Nalini Selvaraj is today a prominent Christian evangelist.
Despite the Court’s order, no action has been taken to evict the encroachers from the temple land.
The HR&CE department itself has been functioning inimical to the interests of temples and Hindu society. It has given permission for the construction of a fish market near the Kandasamy and Aadimottaiyamman temples in Chennai.
It has also proceeded with melting temple jewellery and convert them into gold biscuits for mortgaging them and raise funds for secular purposes. The HR&CE department has also formed a committee to build 10 colleges using Hindu temple funds. The committee members include DMK MP Kanimozhi, an avowed atheist and Geetha Jeevan, Minister for Social Welfare and Women Empowerment, who is a Christian.
The HR&CE took over the decades old Ayodhya Mandapam in Chennai, despite no substantial proven financial mismanagement.
And in the recent incident of pandering to the rabid anti-Hindu outfits like Dravida Kazhagam, the DMK Government has banned the centuries-old Pattina Pravesam ceremony of the Dharmapuram Adheenam in which Hindu devotees carry the seer of the Dharmapuram Adheenam in a palanquin.
What The DMK Is Good At
The DMK has excelled in a couple of things:
– Satiating their separatist itch by emphasizing on India being a ‘Union’ and deliberately calling the Central government as ‘Union’ Government.
– Scripting and staging dramas to boost Stalin’s public image. Be it cycle rides along ECR or having tea at a tea shop. Be it meeting the Narikurava women who was allegedly denied Annadanam in temple, appointing ‘alleged’ dancer Zakir Hussain who was reportedly denied entry in Srirangam temple or meeting the kids whose vox pops had gone viral on social media. The DMK’s propaganda machinery is working at unimaginable levels.
– Hunting down and harassing political adversaries and the party’s critics.
– Last but not the least, pasting stickers for successful Central government schemes.
But people cannot be taken for granted for a long time. They have started seeing through the fallacies of this government. The DMK will go down as a party that has earned high anti-incumbency within a year of coming to power.
The clock is ticking. Four more years to go.
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