India, a country that is home to almost 33 million Gods, is truly the most diverse nation on the planet. The ratio of the number of people and gods put together is staggering; we arrive at 1 god/goddess for every 42.42 people. From this lens, there is a divine depiction of every cultural identity. These gods are a medium for cultural integration and invocation for a historic and spiritual consciousness. Contrary to their purpose, the divine entities have been misinterpreted to foster division and isolate certain linguistic backgrounds from the larger Indian identity. A common example of such a misinterpretation is the distinction given to Tamil Thaai from Bharat Mata. The Dravidian movement effectively used Tamil Thai as a symbol to resist the ‘Aryanisation’ of Tamil Nadu and invoke a cause to protect the Tamil identity. Yet, when both are closely studied, one realises that Bharat Mata and Tamil Thaai are one and the same.
Goddess For Each Region And Culture
In ancient Indian culture, geography at different levels is depicted in the form of goddesses. The earth is known as Bhumi Devi. India and the larger subcontinent are worshipped in the form of Bharat Mata. When broken down further, each cultural region and linguistic identity has its own depictions, such as Tamil Thaai (the personification of the Tamil language), Karnataka Thaayi (the mother of Karnataka), and Telugu Thalli (the mother of the Telugus). Break them down further; we can find gods that are specific to each town and village. This shows that at every stage, from the globe to the country and then to the local region, at each successive level, there is a concept of female divinity, the Mother who nourishes us.
Drawing Parallels That Intersect
The problem arises when these linguistic and regional divine entities are invoked to foster division among regions and people. When that is not truly the case. Ultimately, all goddesses are an incarnation of Shakthi, the ultimate feminine energy, that which gives life to everyone. Therefore, all other goddesses, such as Lakshmi, Saraswati, Kali, Bharat Mata, and Tamil Thaai, are different forms taken by Shakthi in different situations.
Bharat Mata was first conceptualised in the 1870s by Bankim Chandra Pal in his song Vande Mataram, which personified the nation as a goddess. This idea was later enhanced with the pictorial depiction of Bharat Mata by Abindranath Tagore in 1905. The freedom movement at that time used the idea of Bharat Mata to solicit national pride and identity among the people.
Similarly, Tamil Thai found its origin around the same time as Bharat Mata, Bharathiyar and Sundaram Pillai spoke of a Tamil mother to inspire pride in the language. Pillai’s drama Manomaniam used the song Tamil Thai Vaazhthu to set such a tone. This identity was later used and given an image by political groups in the anti-Hindi agitation.
The similarities are that both Bharat and Tamil Nadu were personified to invoke pride in identity and language. Both of them are goddesses who found their origins during the need for cultural consciousness under British rule. Both have their own songs, which were later adopted as the national and state songs, respectively. Thus, Tamil Thaai is an incarnation of a larger Bharat Mata.
If Bharat Mata is the body of India, then Tamil Nadu is one of her limbs, and Tamil Thaai is the voice of that limb. One cannot separate the voice from the body—it is a regional articulation of the same national spirit.
Bhartiyar’s Perspective
In Bharatiyar’s poem, “Bharat Mata Thiruppalliezhuchi”, he writes, ‘Aḷḷiya teḷḷamu taṉṉai em aṉṉai!’ which translates to ‘The one who has been crying is our mother!’
Throughout the poem, in different stanzas, he is constantly referring to a mother with words such as Thaaye, Annai, and Amme; in this context, the mother he speaks so lovingly about is none other than Bharat Mata.
In other poems in which the theme was Tamil pride, he would personify the language with a feminine connotation, many a time showing love for it like how one does for a mother. Therefore, one can affirm that he saw no distinction between the two.
To argue that Tamil Thaai is an incarnation of Bharat Mata is not to diminish Tamil pride but to place it within a context. Just as rivers flow from different sources but reach the same ocean, regional identities like Tamil Thaai lead us toward a united love for Bharat Mata. India may have many cultural identities, but none of these stand outside or above India; instead, they enrich it. Bharat Mata speaks many tongues. When she speaks in Tamil, she becomes Tamil Thaai.
Soorya Kant is a 12th grade student at Isha Home School.
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