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MOOKKUTHI, KALLA AND MALA:WOMEN’S ADORNMENTS AND

THE POLITICS OF SOCIALASPIRATION

BINI B.S.

Abstract:The paper analyzes the Mookkuthi Samaram and the discarding ofkalla and mala as movements that gave bold expressions to the social aspirationsof ‘subordinate castes’. While looking at these confrontations through the lensof caste and gender, one can see the presence of two male protagonists in thehistorical accounts available on these incidents and this makes one wonder whywomen are a conspicuous absence. The attempts for upward mobility cannot befully described by the term ‘sanskritization’ since it does not take into accountthe nuances of protest and resistance implicit in the acts of imitation or replicationof ‘dominant caste’ life styles by subordinate castes. Discarding one’s own castemarkers is a powerful expression of dissent as it is a rejection of the overt symbolsof inferiority and subservience. In this discourse mookkuthi (nose stud) andkalla and mala (the stone necklaces) are not mere articles for adorning the femalebody. Though these adornments can be given all the conventional functionalattributes of aestheticizing the female body and enhancing its desirability, thereis more to them than meets the eye. When adornments act as caste markers, theysignify a hierarchy, the superior-inferior relations in society. Wearing anadornment which was a unique privilege of a dominant caste and discardinganother that was a caste marker for a subordinate caste show new possibilitiesand viabilities of breaking up caste barriers and breaking into forbidden realms.Such uprisings are unfortunately obliterated, or their significance is

Samyukta: A Journal of Women’s Studies (July 2009) Vol.9.No.2

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unacknowledged. A re-reading and reconstruction of the history of Kerala isrequired in order to salvage these incidents from oblivion, deliberate or otherwise.

In Kerala, the demarcating mechanisms of the erstwhile castesystem were intricate and they manifested in myriad ways. Control,coercion, and prohibition used to be the main strategies that perpetuatedthe caste system. Strictly assigned social and ritual roles reinforced thedivisive practices and status quo. All human activities in the domesticsphere and to a greater extent, in the public sphere were regulated andrestricted by caste norms. Transgressions were seldom left with impunity.In the nineteenth century Kerala, caste hierarchies thus became wellpronounced and rigid. Attire and adornments served the purpose of actingas caste indicators so that pollution through sight, touch and proximitycould be ruled out.

This paper analyses the adornments of women as objects makingtheir bodies ‘recognizable’ and ‘distinguishable’ in terms of casteidentities, so that purity and social position of each caste could beascertained. Norms came into place by sanctioning or insisting on thewearing of certain kinds of ornaments and prohibiting the use of someother kinds. The social differences articulated through dress andornaments were loud and resonating in the public sphere. Robin Jeffreyobserves that ‘distance pollution1 gave a concrete form to abstract ritualstatus; the separateness of various groups was reinforced in the minds ofTravancoreans. For such a system to work, the caste of an individual hadto be identified from a distance’2. Jeffrey further substantiates his viewby quoting from a letter, probably written in 1884 by Mary Baker, amissionary of the Church Missionary Society (CMS). Anyone after livinga little while in the country can at first glance tell to what caste a strangerbelongs by the way he or she wears the hair or their garments.3

The Royal Proclamation of 1818, issued by Rani Parvathibhayi,abolishing the adiyara (a kind of tax to be remitted in the royal treasuryfor procuring the sanction to wear gold and expensive ornaments) statedin unequivocal terms that in Travancore, men and women of Sudra (Nair),Ezhava, Channar and Mukkuva castes were permitted to use ornamentsof gold and silver according to their jatimaryada or the norms pertainingto respective castes without having to pay the adiyara from then on4.Though the proclamation claims that the sovereign abolished the adiyara


Mookkuthi, Kalla and Mala: Women’s Adornments and thePolitics of Social Aspiration 99

for the happiness of people and the subjects were allowed to wearornaments, the notion of jatimaryada, subtly woven into it nullified theright to make and use the ornaments of one’s choice or liking. There wasalso an understated warning against emulating the style of ornamentsunique to other castes. People of the castes listed in the proclamationcould use only such types of adornments that befitted their jatimaryada.Moreover, the proclamation did not grant this right to Paraya, Pulaya,and many other castes that were at the bottom rungs of this caste riddensociety.

The deliberate violation of dress norms imposed by caste practices,appropriation of ‘dominant caste’ attires or adornments, or rejection ofthe adornments imposed on particular castes effected remarkable socialchange in the latter half of the nineteenth and the early decades of thetwentieth centuries. The strategies of opposition implied in breaking intothe forbidden realm of privileges unique to the ‘dominant castes’ orbreaking away from the caste norms imposed on one’s own caste issubjected to analysis in this study as attempts to break up the existingcaste boundaries and challenge inequalities. Two incidents thathappened in Travancore, namely the nose stud agitation or MookkuthiSamaram and the rejection of kalla and mala which are only casuallymentioned and have not yet been studied as significant movements forsocial change in historical accounts are selected for examination. In theformer incident, women of subordinate castes wore the nose stud,upsetting the caste norms prohibiting its use. In the latter, women ofPulaya caste discarded the kalla and mala, a caste marker which theywere expected to wear, thus inviting the ire of dominant castes.

The female body as an object of desire and a source of both aestheticand sexual pleasure is reconstructed in the discourse on adornments.The politics of adornments and notions of sexual desirability andattractiveness associated with the use of ornaments have also beeninvestigated in the paper, glimpsing into the ideas of chastity andmodesty that were complexly entrenched in caste practices. The periodselected in this study is late nineteenth and early twentieth century Kerala.

Mookkuthi Samaram

Scarcity of historical accounts available on this incident speaksvolumes about a range of strategies of inclusion and exclusion in


100 Bini B.S.

historiography. The relative silence about uprisings of subordinate castesin Kerala history screams. Mookkuthi Samaram is discussed in connectionwith Aarattupuzha Velayudha Panicker (1825-1874) whom somehistorians describe as an unsung hero. Introductions to two biographicalworks on Sarasakavi Muloor5 briefly discuss the Mookkuthi Samaram andin the autobiographical account of A. P. Udayabhanu, titled EnteKathayillaymakal, there is mention of it6. In the work of Vasava Panicker,Sarasakavi Muloor: Oru Anukalikaavalokanam, the incident is narrated inthis manner:

Velayudha Panicker came to know that near Pantalam, anEzhava lady was humiliated for wearing the nose-stud and hernose-stud was ripped off by the savarnas7. Immediately, Panickergot many nose-studs made and his attendants took them toPandalam in baskets meant for carrying seeds. Panicker andhis companions accompanied on horseback. The noses of allavarna8 women who had come to the market were pierced and theywere made to wear the gold nose-stud. After that, no savarna ofCentral Travancore dared to humiliate women who used thenose-stud or any other forms of ornaments. 9(Emphasis added).

S.N Sadasivan’s version10 of the incident is similar. Without manyrhetorical flourishes and explicit attempts at glorification, he gives anaccount of the happenings. He does not state whether the women worethe nose-stud willingly, or they were made to wear it:

Almost 24 kilometers east of Kayamkulam, in Pantalam, casteHindus plucked forcefully out of the nose of an Ezhava woman,the golden stud she was wearing which left her nose bleeding.On learning the outrage, Panicker, with a volunteer force reachedPantalam and distributed to every woman belonging to non-caste Hindus a gold nose stud to adorn her nose. For meetingany threat or to avert any untoward development, Panicker andhis followers camped at Pantalam till peace was completelyestablished.

Prof. M. Satya Prakasham narrates this incident with somemodifications. In his version, the Ezhava lady who used the nose-studwas molested. Panicker took revenge on the perpetrators. Then he gotone thousand nose-studs made and distributed them among the poorwomen in the market. No one dared to trouble the avarna women11.



Here the issue becomes more serious with elements of molestationand revenge in the narrative and the women do not appear to be hesitantand afraid to wear the nose-stud. Even the number of nose-studs madeby Panicker has been mentioned. Though these narratives seem to containtraces of exaggeration and the ‘agenda’ to glorify Velayudha Panicker isevident, one cannot dismiss the incident, Mookkuthi Samaram asinsignificant. Fillippo and Caroline Oscella also discuss KallasserilVelayudha Panicker as ‘a cult figure’ in the locality, and according tothem most Ezhavas in Valiyagramam had heard of him. They do notmention the Mookkuthi Samaram as a significant incident. We read thatagitation for avarna women’s right to cover the breast was supported byPanicker and he distributed upper clothes to all women of subordinatecastes at Kayamkulam market12.

A. P. Udayabhanu narrates a similar instance about the hostilityof Muslims of the Kayamkulam market against Ezhava women whopierced their ears to wear earrings13. Even in this matter, VelayudhaPanicker intervened and Ezhava women coming to Kayamkulam andKarthikappilly markets started using the earring14. In these accounts,the positions of avarna women who were made to wear nose studs to protestagainst the savarnas or Ezhava women who started using the earringdespite the Muslim resentment are both ambiguous and ambivalent. Wedo not see these women getting into a protest mode themselves and thehesitation on their part to participate and carry forward these movementsto overcome social disabilities implicit in these accounts is a clearindication of the coercive mechanisms of caste control prevalent in thosedays. Fear tactics and cultural coercion were used to make the subordinatecastes follow the norms of the caste system and these techniques had apowerful impact on women. Any violation of the existing norm wasseverely punished and that could be the reason why many a time womenseemed to play a passive role in movements against their socialdisabilities. Women had to regulate their lives according to restrictionsprescribed by caste practices for their own safety and survival. This de-visualization of women in struggles and movements could be aconsequence of the deliberate attempts to portray them in conformity tothe non-assertive, non-aggressive stereotype: women who would neverget into the aggressive mode unless they are prompted and supported bymen.


102 Bini B.S.

In Ente Kathayillaymakal, A.P. Udayabhanu observes theconsequences of the struggles and revolts for social rights. One canunderstand from his description the attitude of savarnas and orthodoxsavarna administration towards social change. He vividly portrays howthe tactics of physical punishment, coercion and violence used forsuppressing these uprisings created an ambivalent environment of fearand daring:

Savarna Hindus and the conservative Hindu government triedto drown in blood the rightful demands of the avarnas, whoconstituted the majority of population. Orthodox savarnas andthe savarna administration unleashed brutal violence. Theavarnas too did not hesitate and retaliated. All these avarnaagitations and revolts for procuring basic human rights andovercoming social disabilities that claimed a space on the pagesof Kerala history namely the Nadar Revolt, the Pulaya Revolt,Melmundu Kalapam (the Upper-cloth Revolt), the MookkuthiSamaram (The nose-stud agitation) were met with cruelviolence15. (Translation mine)

In the light of Mookkuthi Samaram, it would be worthwhile to analyzethe strategies of protest used by Velayudha Panicker. The schema ofVelayudha Panicker in subverting the existing caste norms andchallenging the prevalent practices is evident in many other protests16

initiated by him. He flouted caste restrictions and prohibitions, promptingEzhavas in his area to follow suit. His stance in Mookkuthi Samaram andAchipudava Samaram17 was to make women overcome fear andsubservience in order to assert their rights. In the latter incident, Panickerprompted the people of depressed castes to boycott agricultural labourrelated to the cultivation of paddy and coconut till the Nair menapologized for humiliating an Ezhava woman who draped theachippudava breaking the caste prohibition.

Panicker started wearing the Kuduma (tuft of hair) in theNambuthiri style, constructed temples and learned to perform rituals,established a Kathakali troupe and founded a school and a library inAarattupuzha18. In all these activities, one can see a conscious attempt tobreak up caste barriers by doing what was prohibited, venturing into arealm that was forbidden. Emulating the dominant caste dress code and



life style was an act of subversion. The controversial idea used by M.NSrinivas, ‘Sanskritization’, will not be adequate to explain the actions ofPanicker which inspired many Ezhavas and other subordinate castes19.The term fails to include the techniques of protest embedded in theemulation of dominant caste customs, dress code and life styles anddoes not leave any scope for examining innovation and invention ofnovelty in customs and practices.

These acts of imitation are not merely indirect indication of jealousyor reverence, as one finds in many of the historical accounts that haveuncritically used the idea of M.N. Srinivas. Such acts posed a powerfulchallenge to the ideas of caste superiority and privilege by breaking upand breaking into the centuries old boundaries erected by the caste system.There is resistance and mockery of the superiority in the act of replicatingthe practices of a dominant caste. This imitation was meant not only formoving up in the social hierarchy. These deeds of replication implied theproduction of newness rather than sameness in many ways and jettisonedcaste prohibitions. It was a moment of entry into the category of humanfrom the level of being subhuman. The move implies transgression,violation of caste norms and a refusal to remain docile. Social aspirationsthus bolstered social mobilization of the people of subordinate casteswho gradually overcame fear and oppression.

Kalla and Mala

Upward mobility of subordinate castes could be achieved not onlythrough education and breaking into the realms cordoned off by thehierarchical operations of caste system. A planned disruption ofboundaries is made possible through a conscious mimesis of dominantcaste life styles and thus appropriating those very privileges unique tothem. At the same time, discarding certain customs, traditions, and waysof dressing and adornments that symbolize the servitude and inferiorityof a caste is another strong possibility of resistance and protest. InMookkuthi Samaram, subordinate castes tried to fulfill their socialaspirations by using an adornment sanctioned only for the use ofdominant caste women. But discarding the Kalla and Mala, which is alsoknown as Kallumala Samaram 20 shows the viability of a different strategyfor articulating dissent and social aspiration.


104 Bini B.S.

Pulayar, Parayar, Kuravar, Malayar, Vedar, and many suchayithajatis21 or polluting castes were in the habit of wearing kalla andmala. There could be many reasons why they started using kallumala. Theuse of kallumala may have ritual reasons and it perhaps substituted thefunction of an upper garment.

People of these subordinate castes were treated as slaves and themasters could buy and sell them. Slavery was abolished in theory after aRoyal Proclamation22 prohibiting the purchase and sale of persons wasissued in 1811 by Rani Lakshmibhayi. But in practice, Pulayas, Parayasand such downtrodden castes were treated like cattle. They were notallowed to use new or clean clothes. Before putting on, new clothes hadto be smeared with soot to make them look dirty23. As evident from theRoyal Proclamation of 1818, they could not use ornaments made ofexpensive metals such as gold and silver. Smooth stones and glass pieceswere pierced and strung together to make the kalla and mala. Sometimes,this stone necklace even served the purpose of covering the breasts, sincewomen of subordinate castes were not allowed to use any uppergarments24. Pulaya women used to wear earrings shaped out of thin ironrods and iron bracelets and rings were their other adornments.

The accounts about the discarding of kalla and mala are found inmany biographical works on Ayyankali. Ayyankali, a social reformerand leader of Pulaya community found these ornaments to be explicitsigns of slavery and subservience. He instructed the Pulaya women tostop wearing kalla and mala and to start putting on a blouse. Women inNeyyatinkara and nearby places removed these ornaments from theirbody and started using blouses. The discarding of kalla and mala provokedthe dominant castes and triggered many atrocities against the Pulayawomen. Kollam and Neyyattinkara became storm centres of the conflictbetween Pulayas and the dominant castes, especially Nairs and it led toa violent agitation in Perinadu25.

The Reports about the Perinadu incident in Newspapers likeMithavadi26 blamed Pulayas for these violent incidents. It became theneed of the hour to bring about a change in the chaotic situation andpacify the conflicting caste groups in the region. Moreover, Pulayas, underthe leadership of Ayyankali, wanted to get rid of the negative image ofthe community as perpetrators of violence which was an aftermath of the



agitation in Perinadu. A Sarvasamudaya Sammelanam (a meeting ofrepresentatives from all communities) was suggested as a panacea forthe crises in the region. At the same time, this meeting also was intendedto be a clarion call for overcoming caste disabilities. The sammelanam wasmeant to provide a platform for voicing the concerns and asserting thesocial rights of the downtrodden masses. It was during this meeting thatKalla and Mala was formally and somewhat ceremoniously discardedby the Pulaya women. The historical accounts of this meeting unravelvarious facets, strategies, aspects and nuances of protest and socialaspiration.

The Sarvasamudaya Sammelanam27 is a significant incident to beanalyzed with great sensitivity. The meeting which had a reconciliatoryair about it was scheduled on December 10, 1915. Ayyankali sufferedmany hardships to make the meeting a reality. The Police Circle Inspectorof Kollam, Gopalaswami Pillai28 helped Ayyankali for obtaining theDewan’s sanction. Finding a place for conducting this meeting was notan easy task. People refused to provide a venue for a meeting to be attendedby untouchable Pulayas. Earlier, Ayyankali had to convene a meeting atErnakulam in 1912 on a platform made by boats tied together in thebackwaters29. But at Kollam, he was luckier. Tarabai30 who owned a circuscompany, allowed him to use the tent situated in the big carnival groundat Kollam. More than five thousand people belonging to subordinatecastes crowded the tent, neatly dressed and apparently fearless. Manypeople of dominant castes had also come to participate in the grandevent. The meeting was presided over by Changanassery ParameswaraPillai, one of the founder members of Nair Service Society and Mr. RamanThambi gave an inaugural speech on the theme of unity and fraternitybetween communities and the necessity of maintaining fellow-feelingand mutual empathy. The strong savarna presence among the audienceand on the dais was noteworthy and indicative of the inclusive strategyof Ayyankali as far as avarna reforms were considered. He could elicitsupport from enlightened people belonging to dominant castes that hadupheld a hostile stand against the Pulaya community from very earlytimes.

Ayyankali’s speech31 on the occasion is a significant manifesto ofhis reformative agenda. After mentioning the disabilities suffered by the


106 Bini B.S.

subordinate castes, he appealed to them to fight atrocities, but not to useviolence against the perpetrators of these atrocities. Civilized ways ofdressing, discipline and education, according to him were the steppingstones to progress. Avarnas were requested to be ‘civilized’ and ‘modern’.He asked them to be patient even if some intolerant people confrontedthem. Ayyankali’s plea to savarnas was to encourage and not to obstructayithajatis when they try to be modern and civilized in terms of customsand dressing. He then emphasized the need to discard kalla and malawhich in his view were signs of subservience. Ayyankali couldunderstand the significance of changing the attire and adornments inorder to construct new identities and self images.

The reasons given by Ayyankali for discarding kalla and mala areindicative of a new social consciousness about ‘being civilized andmodern’. He alluded to the activities of Sadhujana Paripalana Samkham32

in Southern Travancore and praised the daring of women who discardedaparishkrita (not civilized or modern) ornaments and attire. He made anobservation that incidents like the Perinadu Revolt happened becausethe Jenmis or dominant caste landlords of the region could not acceptsuch changes. After contextualizing the protest in its socio-culturalscenario, Ayyankali put forth a request in the sammelanam to the savarnasto cooperate in the move for discarding the kalla and mala, which would be donein the presence of people of all castes present there33 (Emphasis added).

This demand presented in the form of a request reveals the discreetpolicy of Ayyankali. Perinadu Revolt proved that bloody protests andagitations would only tarnish the social image of Pulaya communityand support and sympathies of people of all castes could be gained onlythrough reconciliatory and non-violent strategies. In this aspect,Ayyankali differs from Velayudha Panicker who took an aggressive stanceagainst social oppression and disabilities.

As soon as Ayyankali’s speech ended, ChanganasseryParameswara Pillai sanctioned the discarding of kalla and mala on behalfof all those who were present there. Amidst applauses, two Pulaya girlswere called onto the stage. They were clad in rowka (a kind of blouse).Ayyankali told them to remove their kalla and mala since all the dignitarieson the dais and among the audience have permitted them to do so. Thegirls then took out the sickle34 that was tucked into their waist cloth and



cut off the kalla and mala. The sickle asserted indirectly that Pulayacommunity is essential in the sustenance of society. To sever a symbol ofslavery and inferiority worn on the body, an assertive symbol of theirindispensability in agricultural labour was used in this incident.

The kalla and mala thus removed was then kept on one side of thestage. The government Chief Secretary Mr. Viara and the president of themeeting, Parameswara Pillai took these same kalla and mala home35. It isinteresting to note how these objects signifying the shameful conditionof Pulaya women, which were so discarded, become curious souvenirsfor two affluent men.

Though many Pulaya women had already discarded the kalla andmala as a result of their interaction with Sadhujana Paripalana Yogam,they all wore it again for the meeting for a ceremonial discarding. Afterthe two girls discarded it on the stage, all Pulaya women among theaudience followed suit36. In no time, there was a heap of kalla and mala onthe stage37. The mock ceremonial air of this incident is noteworthy. Thewhole incident is described in my paper in great detail because, as onecan see, each step of the act of discarding is replete with powerfulconnotations.

The attacks on Pulaya women did not stop after this reconciliatorymeeting. Perinadu witnessed another unpleasant incident following theSarvasamudaya Sammelanam. A Pulaya woman was stopped on the roadand a savarna questioned her where the caste adornment was. Onreceiving a reply that kalla and mala had been discarded during the meetingat Kollam, the infuriated savarna cut off the woman’s ear. Mithavadi,reporting this incident, expressed sorrow and shock because it took placein a princely state or the stronghold of a local king (natturajavu)38 duringthe British Imperial control. The faith expressed by the reporter in theabilities of the British Administrative system in maintaining law andorder situation may sound ironic. This report in Mithavadi definitelyindicates the changing attitude of people towards the oppression of andresistance by the subordinate castes.

Like Velayudha Panicker, replicating the dominant caste life stylewas also a mode of protest Ayyankali adopted. Using a turban, travellingalong the roads of Venganoor in an ornate bullock cart (villuvecha vandi)


108 Bini B.S.

and starting a school for the children belonging to subordinate castes atVenganoor were significant among his acts of dissent. It is evident thatthrough certain forms of protest, both Velayudha Panicker and Ayyankalicould make the dominant castes realize the significance of thedowntrodden masses in society and the dependency of dominant casteson them for sheer survival. Boycotting agricultural labour was a powerfulstatement that proclaimed in loud and unambiguous terms the vital rolesplayed by the subordinate castes in feeding even the highest of castes inthe hierarchy. Ayyankali called for the boycott of agricultural work andraised certain demands39. Initially the Nairs and other dominant casteHindus did not pay any heed, but were forced to concede and yield to thedemands of Ayyankali thanks to the indispensability of Pulaya labourersin cultivation, harvesting and all other aspects of food production.Unveiling the statue of Ayyankali at Kawdiar Square inThiruvananthapuram on November10, 1980, the Prime Minister, IndiraGandhi said:

It was in Kerala that untouchability was most acute. At thesame time it was Kerala that gained fame by its Temple EntryProclamation. Equality and Freedom are indivisible. Withoutequality there cannot be genuine freedom….The struggle forfreedom must start from within the society. That was whatAyyankali did40.

Freedom through equality was a strategy used in many of the reformmovements in Kerala. Mookkuthi Samaram and the discarding of kalla andmala were attempts to assert equality in a caste ridden society with severallevels and types of inequality. Identifying the adornments as symbolic ofcaste inequalities and disabilities in these incidents, one can see thattheir use or rejection have many repercussions in the process of socialchange and struggles for demanding equal opportunities. In KallumalaSamaram we can see all castes coming together as a community againstthe inequalities prevalent in society. This cohesive power of localmovements gave momentum to the national movement, which also wasin a way a struggle against injustice, inequality and social disabilities.

Adornments as Objects that Mean and Do

When it comes to women’s adornments, the economic and socialdeterminants of taste and use are very complexly intertwined with the



process of subject formation. We see adornments as objects embodyingsocial distinctions in terms of caste. In this study, the nose stud orkallumala no more remain innocuous ornaments, but become semanticobjects that erstwhile signified the social status determined in terms ofcaste. Hierarchies and classification are embodied in objects. Socialdistinctions are thus brought into a tangible sphere of perception throughthem. The conscious or inadvertent implementation of overt or subtlestrategies of perception is a pointer to an altogether different logic, usingwhich one ventures beyond the primary strata of signification and entersa realm of multiplicity of significations. The act of cognition or decodingdepends on the observers’ understanding(s) of culture. An object ispolysemic since it is surrounded by a plethora of extrinsic referents andits definition in terms of functions or use is subordinated to a variety ofcultural significations.

Objects cannot escape their socially attributed meanings. Thesemeanings are seldom restricted to the signification attributed by theirphysical features and function. Adornments, primarily objects that servethe purpose of beautifying the body thus acted as vehicles of a new kindof meaning in the society under discussion. In subtle and blatant ways,the social and ritual status of each caste was determined and affirmedand ornaments overtly proclaimed the caste identity of an individual.

The imposition of a meaning or multiplicity of meaning to objectsis an intricate cultural phenomenon. The historical process of howmeanings are assigned, changed and reframed is interesting. In Kerala,each caste had its own specific array of attire and adornments. Ornamentsfor the neck, the arm, the nose, and the ankle varied from caste to caste.The adornments of people belonging to different subdivisions of the samecastes also varied41. Bell metal and thin brass bangles were worn usuallyby antharjanams (Nambuthiri or Malayala Brahmin Women) and thesebangles covered the forearm. There were certain ornaments that hadrestricted use, indicating the ‘privilege’ of some dominant castes. Fawcetthas done a study of Nambuthiris and Nairs in which he briefly mentionstheir ornaments:

The ornaments worn by Nambuthiri women are chiefly, if notaltogether of a pattern or a kind which can be worn by women of no


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other caste…. The nose is never pierced and no ornament is everworn in the nose42. (emphasis added)

About the Nair ornaments, Fawcett gives this description, ‘Properlyspeaking the thoda is an ornament worn exclusively by Nair women.Several necklaces are worn at the same time’. He adds that ‘Nairs useonly gold Venetian sequins strung together to make a very effectiveornament for the neck’43. The oldest ornament of the Nair women wasthe necklace called Nagapatam, the pendants of which resembled acobra’s head. They used to wear mookkuthi on the left nostril and a goldwire known as gnattu was suspended from it44. The Nambuthiris do notbore their noses or wear nose rings, and in this respect present a strikingcontrast to the Nair women45. Mateer’s observations about the Shanarand Ezhava women indicate how caste and status quo were complexlyinterlinked:

They were not allowed to carry umbrellas, to wear shoes orgolden ornaments, to carry pots of water on the hip, to build housesabove one story in height, to milk cows, or to use the ordinarylanguage of the country.46

Accounts of Fawcett, Thurston and Mateer indubitably show howthe use of adornments and access to many other privileges were castespecific. From these accounts, it is evident that the use of nose stud wasa special privilege of Nairs. The primary function of the mookkuthi orkallumala as articles for adorning the female body with all the implicitnotions about the enhancement of beauty and attractiveness of who usesit, and the social function of adornments as caste markers that help indistinguishing women of different castes throw light on the nuances ofmeanings an object takes. Objects claim more than one level ofsignifications in terms of appearance, use, and more importantly theculture wherein it is used. These significations are suggested by a societyand they, in turn are suggestive of certain traits of that society. Mookkuthithus was synonymous with high social status. At a later stage, kallumalabecame a matter of ‘shame’, a sign of being aparishkrita (not civilized ormodern), and thus signified social inferiority.

The sign-signifier-signified associations of adornments as objectsare precariously unstable and subject to the vagaries of time and social



contexts. The symbolic meanings of adornments are even moreambiguous in terms of meanings they assign to the user. Thoughts,images, tastes, emotions, and cultural values that crystallize into anadornment as object attribute to it the function of social stratification inexplicit and identifiable terms. It was not just a question of taste andaffordability that validated the use of adornments. The meaningattributed to adornments has both cultural and regional nuances.Adornments exuded meanings associated with social status operativein Kerala society during a period of social changes.

The meanings that adornments as objects have in terms of theiruse are not stagnant. The use of ornaments to substitute a covering forthe upper part of the body can be seen in the cases of both Nair andPulaya women. Forbes’s observation that if not with drapery, the Nairwomen covered their bosom with adornments47 indicate a differentpurpose in the use of ornaments. In the photographs of traditional Nairornaments given in the work of Fawcett show their layered and broadmake and indicate their possible use as a means to cover the breast48. Inthe case of Pulaya women rejection of kallumala and the starting of usingthe blouse happened simultaneously.

The region becomes a signifying system for these objects that areimbued with certain meanings and there had been a deciding, dominantgroup that was involved in careful surveillance or vigil againsttransgression. As time passed, one can see this surveillance becomingless acute. After many struggles and protests against oppression, thecoercive power of caste system could not remain rigorous and absolute.Thurston’s remarks about the Ezhava women in 1909 indicate thissignificant change. He observes that ‘in dress and ornament, the Ezhavasclosely resemble the Nairs’ and also adds:

The nose ornaments, mukkuthi and gnattu have only recentlybegun to be worn and are not very popular in central and northTravancore. This is a point in which Ezhavas may be said todiffer from the South Travancore Matrons…. Of late allornaments of Nair women are being worn by fashionable Ezhavafemales.49 (Emphasis Added)


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In his study of the ornaments of the subordinate caste Tiyanwomen, Thurston remarks about the breaking of boundaries. Thoda, aunique ear ornament used by the Nair women as Fawcett clearly remarkedwas being worn by the Tiyan women of Malabar, though it according toThurston ‘is not a Tiyan ornament’. ‘The earrings, kathila and ananthodare the Tiyan ornaments…. Venetian sequins, real or imitation are largelyused for neck ornaments’50.

These accounts prove that the barriers had slowly becomesurmountable and the territory of upper class privileges was not anymore an inaccessible realm. The use of ornaments was gradually not toorigidly caste specific. Mookkuthi Samaram and discarding kalla and malacan be read as movements towards changing the self image byconstructing new identities through the appropriation or rejection ofadornments. Here it is clear that adornments as objects have symbolicpotential and they signify certain concepts. These concepts are not fixed;they are susceptible to change according to the vicissitudes of time. Theseadornments did at one point of time articulate a visual language andhad a major role in social differentiation. They acted as tangible symbolsdenoting intangible and abstract concepts of distinction. But thesedistinctions blurred. Sophistication in dress and adornments eventuallybecame a measure of social status. The function of adornments as castemarkers slowly changed into that of a status marker and ideas of modestyand even being fashionable came into picture.

The Dynamics of Gender

While looking at Mookkuthi Samaram and the discarding of kallaand mala through the lens of caste and gender, one can observe thepresence of two male protagonists in the historical accounts available onthese incidents and this makes one wonder why women are a conspicuousabsence. Women in such movements are viewed as subjects of reformand seldom considered to be active agents facilitating social change. Therepresentation of women in struggles and assessing the significance oftheir participation are often found to be partial and inadequate. One ofthe most widely accepted myths is that women are less assertive andaggressive and so they need the help of men to react against the injusticedone to them. This stereotype may be the reason why women are



represented as passive participants or as totally indifferent to the processof social change in the historical account of struggles. It is moreconvenient to deal with the image of woman who hardly ever gets intoan aggressive or assertive mode, whether it is offensive or defensive.

An analysis of the undercurrents of gender and caste is importantas far as such protests are concerned. Gender is a distinguishable categorythat has played a major role in reformulating traditional historiographyand it has to be foregrounded in any historical analysis of caste. Woman’sbody, with its sexual and reproductive potential, often figures as a sitewhere discourses are inscribed and contested.

Clothing and ornaments acted as a sign system in such a way thatthe bodies of men and women expressed themselves through caste markerswhile venturing into the public sphere. This was primarily to makepossible the easy recognition of people belonging to savarna and avarnajatis and to avoid physical contact. But the selves and lives of men andwomen expressed themselves rather differently as they moved about inthe society and so while examining incidents like the Mookkuthi Samaramand the discarding of kalla and mala, one cannot take the body as a gender-neutral or a unisex object.

The body of the subordinate caste woman was considered impurein principle. Thodeel (untouchability) and theendal (inapproachability)were practiced in order to ensure the purity of the dominant caste, both atphysical and ritual levels. The paradoxical aspect regarding thismeticulously kept purity of the body was that there were no restraints onthe dominant castes’ sexual access to the otherwise untouchable womenbelonging to subordinate castes51.

We cannot underestimate the significance of the gendered body inhistorical discourses. Historical perceptions on Mookkuthi Samaram andthe rejection of kallumala will yield more possibilities if a socio-politicalawareness on the female body in that particular cultural context is arrivedat. Politics of pleasure and domination operated in complex ways in thesociety of the nineteenth century Kerala. Chastity as a virtue wasprescribed only for antharjanams or Nambuthiri women and whilestepping outside the domestic sphere, their bodies were fully clothedand less adorned. Samuel Mateer makes this significant observation about


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Nambuthiri women: ‘Their women are carefully concealed from the publicgaze; and when venturing out of the house, are enveloped in clothes, orare covered by an immense umbrella’52.

Fred Fawcett also observes that for Nambuthiri women, silk andcoloured clothing were prohibited and they commonly used white coarseclothes53. Ward and Connor who conducted the survey in Travancoreobserve that ‘nothing can exceed the precaution taken by the Nambuthiristo seclude their women from the gaze of profane eyes, guarded with morethan Muslim jealousy’.54

Nair women of affluence used plenty of ornaments and carefullyadorned their body. Attire and adornments are also understood as objectsthat aestheticize the body, enhancing its appeal. We can see the overcodingof the Nair woman’s body with ornaments and fine clothing andundercoding of Nambuthiri woman’s (antharjanam’s) body throughrestricted use of adornments and coarse clothing. If Elamkulam’sstatement has to be taken seriously, Nambuthiris declared all castes thatrefused to provide them concubines as ayithajatis55. Through the customof Sambandham, Nair women entered into temporary alliances withNambuthiri men and there were no prohibitions against the use ofornaments and adorning the body in the case of Nair women. Sambandhamwas in a way a socially sanctioned concubinage. Women of ayithajatieshad initially no rights to adorn their body.

There are two instances in Keralolpatti56 in which chastity isdescribed as a unique virtue to be observed only by Nambuthiri women.According to the instructions said to be given by Parasuraman,antharjanams, in order to safeguard their pathivrata dharmam, shouldcover their body with a cloth and limit the use of ornaments57. Themythological Parasuraman also commands that women of all other jatis,starting from the Kshatriyas need not observe the virtue of chastity58.Women of all other castes were not allowed to cover the upper part oftheir body in the presence of Nambuthiris. Keralolpatti is an example ofmanipulation of knowledge by the powerful Nambuthiris and how thismanipulated knowledge had been used in order to perpetuate theirsuperiority and ultimate authority. The influence of the myth of Keralolpattihad lasting impact on the culture of Kerala. Nagam Aiya’s statement,‘Hinduism, the religion of the state is coeval with the colonization of the



country by the Brahmin sage and warrior, Parasurama, and has longremained untainted by foreign influences,’ reveals the enduring authorityof the myth of Keralolpatti and its role in validating Brahmin supremacyand the subordinate status of other castes59. The norms of chastityimposed by Keralolpatti and Sankara Smriti built a wall around theNambuthiri women; at the same time they justified the use of women ofother castes for the amusement of Nambuthiris.

The body of the antharjanam was always hidden from the publiceye. Being strictly ghosha (ritual seclusion), they covered their body witha puthappu (a blanketing cloth) and were sheltered behind a huge cadjanumbrella. Padmanabha Menon makes the interesting observation that‘the Nambuthiris insist on their women folk wearing about their personsas much clothing as they would persistently deny the Nair women’60.The prescription against the use of valuable ornaments was very strict inthe case of Nambuthiri women. Sankara Smriti ordained that anantharjanam could wear on both arms only bangles made of brass or bellmetal. Silver was permitted, but gold was not allowed. She should alsonot use a nose stud61.The virtue of chastity is deemed high by SankaraSmriti also. The body of the Nair women of affluent families whoconsidered it a matter of honour to have temporary alliances orsambandham with Nambuthiri men was beautified with clothes andadornments. James Forbes observed with astonishment that the Nairwomen ‘are adorned with a profusion of gold and silver chains fornecklaces mixed with strings of Venetian and other gold coins.’62 EdgarThurston has also made a detailed study of the Nair attire andadornments. According to him, a variety of ornaments for the neck, ear,waist, hands, and fingers distinguished wealthy Nair women, unliketheir Nambuthiri counterparts or antharjanams63. Canter Visscher wasalso struck by the expenditure of Nair women on their dress and hewrote ‘there is not one of any fortune who does not own as many astwenty or thirty chests full of robes made of silver and other valuablematerials, for it would be a disgrace in their case to wear the same dresstwo or three days in succession’64. Travellers like Barbosa, Nieuhoff,Hamilton and Della Wella have commented on the plentifully adornedNair women65. These accounts may sound like overstatements; butconsensus among these travellers and historians regarding theabundance of costly ornaments and attires used by wealthy Nair womensuggest a social privilege unique to them.


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We can see that the costume and norms of chastity are associatedin very complex ways. The body of the antharjanam, even if she wasaffluent, was kept hidden by a coarse white cloth and made less attractiveby prohibiting the use of many types of ornaments. They did not have theright to use clothes of smooth texture like silk and any colour other thanwhite. The Nair women were not allowed to use the upper cloth in thepresence of Nambuthiris and they, especially those who were prosperousalways preferred to have sambandham with Nambuthiri men. Perhaps,for this reason, there were no restrictions on them regarding the use ofsilk clothes, ornaments and other adornments for their body. This absenceof regulations may seem to be a special privilege. But in effect, the half-naked body of the Nair woman became an object of visual, aesthetic anderotic pleasure for the Nambuthiris.

Elamkulam Kunjan Pillai’s observation that Nambuthirisconsidered Devadasis and Nair women alike may sound exaggeratedand far-fetched. He traces the similarities between the initiation ritual ofdevadasis (the women dedicated to the temple deity whose responsibilitywas also to amuse Brahmins and Kings through dance, music and eroticacts) and the thalikettu kalyanam (the puberty ritual) of Nair women66. Butone cannot fully ignore the fact that after the initiation ceremony ofdevadasis and the kettu kalyanam of Nair girls, both became potentialobjects of pleasure and access to them was a privilege restricted toNambuthiris, Kings, naduvazhis (ruler of a small territory) and men ofdominant castes.

The caste system acted as a metaphoric compartment or enclosureconfining the woman’s body, keeping it under surveillance; a systemwherein the body was to be controlled and subjected to various nuancesof ‘gaze’ and use. The use of adornments was sanctioned to those bodiesthat can be made use of for visual and sexual pleasure. This wasexploitation masked as a privilege. The bodies of women thus usedremained docile and even complacent due to the ‘privileged status’ givento them. The uncurbed right to use ornaments was one of these privileges.In this light, the intricate body dynamics in Mookkuthi Samaram anddiscarding the kalla and mala reveal the possibilities for a rigorous re-reading and careful re-constructing. These incidents can be read as astruggle against docility – the refusal of the women of subordinate castesto be subjected, used and transformed.



There is a politics behind how history represents a people’s wayof recollecting itself in a socio-cultural context. Gender/caste politicsand historiography are entangled in complex ways. The reciprocity ofpower and gender is a significant aspect one should subject to carefulanalysis while reading and writing history. ‘Gender’ is an aspect thatcannot and should not be ignored or excluded in all approaches ofhistoriography. At the same time, one needs to be aware that this is notthe only possible basis of historical enquiry.

A commonly accepted and deliberately circulated myth is that thenegative image of the caste ridden, oppressive Indian society whereinwomen were subjugated and atrocities against them were perpetrated isa colonial construct. Many sociologists and historians dismiss casteinequalities and repressive mechanisms as exaggerated versions or eveninventions of highly critical and imaginative colonizers’ minds whichwere not sensitive to Indian values and traditions. Through this kind ofan outlook, they diminish the significance of movements against casteinequalities and disabilities in their accounts.

In colonial historical accounts, women’s question and the atrocitiesagainst women did indeed occupy a key position. John Mill’s claimed inhis History of British India that ‘a civilization should be judged by itstreatment of women’; and for this reason Indian tradition and Hinduismwere condemned67. The British administrators and scholars tried tounderstand the lives and lived experiences of the colonized. Definitely,for the colonial masters, it also became necessary to find out more aboutthe beliefs, customs, practices pertaining to the ‘caste system’ and thetreatment of women in order to critique the Indian tradition and justifythe colonial dominance as a civilizing mission. What the British travellersand scholars conceptualized as the Indian tradition was often depictedas barbaric and backward. The motive behind this knowledge seekingwas the belief that it would help them to govern the colonized in a moreeffective way. The caste and gender question gained importance sinceaccording to the European colonizers, the civilizing mission was afterall meant for liberating the natives who were confined in outdatedcustoms and tradition. Orientalists and missionaries did highlight theplight of women in their accounts in order to justify the exercise of colonialpower in India. Partha Chatterjee’s analysis about the centrality of


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women’s question in colonial accounts explains this agenda ofrepresentation:

By assuming a position of sympathy with the unfree andoppressed womanhood of India, the colonial mind was able totransform the figure of the Indian woman into a sign of theinherently oppressive and unfree nature of the entire culturaltradition of a country68.

But still there is no denying of the fact that women were oppressedand used in myriad ways. The evil impacts of caste system, with itsexercise of tyranny and unleashing of cruelty on subordinate castes, andatrocities against women were key aspects that colonial historieshighlighted. But brutality, subjugation and oppression implied in thecaste system was not their ‘invention’ or something that was ‘concocted’with an insidious intent.

I do agree that the status of women cannot be fully understoodthrough colonial accounts alone. The conclusive colonial view aboutcaste and the oppression of women in India as an antithesis to modernityoverlooked an important fact that inequalities and social disabilitiesarising out of hierarchical caste practices and injustice against womencould trigger many reform movements among the colonized subjectswithout the colonizer’s intervention. Mookkuthi Samaram and thediscarding of kalla and mala took place without any direct interventionsor prompting from missionaries. The conflict was resolved internally. Inthese reform movements, we can see men and women of different castescoming together as a community. European historians and travellerstried to underplay these struggles against social disabilities. AbbeDubois’s casual observation reveals the colonial attitude to disputesamong castes such as Mookkuthi Samaram and Kallumala Samaram arisingover matters concerning local privileges:

The rights and privileges for which the Hindus are ready tofight such sanguinary battles appear highly ridiculous,especially to a European. Perhaps the sole cause of the contestis the right to wear slippers or to ride through the streets in apalanquin or on horseback during marriage festivals69.



Not only European historians, but many of the Indian historiansalso show a tendency to underestimate the significance of movementsagainst social disabilities and inequality. Unless the impact of caste systemin Indian society and the mechanisms through which it subtly mouldsconsciousness and selves are understood, the politics of representationof caste in historiography cannot be fully comprehended and a genderedperspective of caste would not be possible. Caste has several avatars. Theknowledge on caste and the ways in which it is depicted in and acrossdisciplines such as history, sociology and anthropological studies havenever been free of vested interests, clever manipulations and distortions.The gendered perceptions on caste practices were also subjected tomanipulations and were distorted by the Indian and colonial historians.The colonial historians who used the women’s question as a batteringtool against the so called ‘Indian tradition’ failed to see the unifyingpotential of movements against women’s subjugation. Oppression andexploitation of their women made the subordinate communities cometogether and in cases like the Kallumala Samaram dominant castes alsojoined the movement. The potential of these movements, in which casteand gender issues are complexly interwoven, for cultural transformationis time and again underestimated by both colonial and native historians.Their intentions might have been different, but they pushed to oblivionmany people and incidents. But new attempts in writing and readinghistory have succeeded in unearthing several such buried histories.

Caste and Technologies of the Self

Contextualization of caste is important, because caste, with itsmyriad manifestations keep changing in tune with the ever varyingsociopolitical scenario. Purity and pollution acted as governing principlesand the nuances of ritual hierarchy was determined on these bases.Samuel Mateer’s observation in his work on Travancore is significant:

The term ‘caste’, be it remembered is not always synonymouswith employment, profession or trade; nor does ‘high caste’imply the possession of wealth, nor ‘low caste’ always indicateextreme poverty70.

The attempts to portray the caste system as a benign order thatimplies only a practical division of labour were done by many


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sociologists. G.S. Ghurye’s conceptualization71 of caste as a system whichis essential for sustaining social values and healthy cooperation turneda blind eye to the oppression and exploitation of subordinate castes. Theevil impacts of the caste system were concealed under the theories ofkarma. Caste was never an inoffensive practice for facilitating mutualresponsibility, interdependence and spiritual authority of the learned.Caste gave rise to and perpetuated other forms of inequalities. Controlover material, land and even man power was determined by caste inmany regions. The clandestine nature of the power of caste made peopleinternalize the positions attributed to them unquestioningly for severalcenturies. The caste norms were punctuated by validatingpronouncements from mythology, puranas, epics and shastras. This kindof ‘divine sanction’ attributed to caste made it all the more formidable.Oppressions, exploitation and inequalities were seen as unavoidableand justifiable aspects of the caste system.

Differentiated and differentiating conditioning was a major featureof the caste system in Kerala. This conditioning cannot be separatedfrom the lived experiences of people and circumstances. In order toperpetuate caste distinctions, mythical, puranic and scriptural validationwas sought. The idea of janmabhedam or being born into different castesor financial backgrounds is closely related to karma. BesidesDharmashastras, Nambuthiris or the Brahmins of Kerala had indigenouslegends and myths to authenticate their supremacy and authority.Keralolpatti and Kerala Mahatmyam, two mythological accounts on theorigin of Kerala, in which the pivotal figure, Parasuraman bestows manyprivileges to Nambuthiris, were used to justify the hierarchical castesystem and supremacy of Brahmins. Social ordering and classificationare conserved through such reaffirmations and conformity.

Divisions, exclusion and inclusion mark social structures andunderpin the caste system. Social distinctions are inscribed on people’sminds and their selves and actions are determined, shaped and controlledthrough cultural coercion. Pierre Bourdieu’s remark about this processof internalization is valid in the context of caste divisions as well. Heobserves how a person internalizes ‘a sense of one’s place which leadsone to exclude oneself from the goods, persons, places and so forth fromwhich one is excluded’72.



Foucauldian ideas on power can give certain insights into thecaste practices of erstwhile Kerala. Power should be understood here inits tangible and local effects and through everyday exercises. In Power/Knowledge, Foucault clearly analyzes this dimension of power that has acapillary form of existence. Power thus ‘reaches into the very grain ofindividuals, touches their bodies and inserts itself into their actions andattitudes, their discourses, learning processes and everyday lives’73.

It was not merely through specific attires, adornments and otherexternal markers that the power dynamics of caste was articulated andpercolated. We can see here how caste identity inscribes itself on thebody, making the body docile and capable of maximum utility. Casteimplies the presence of a disciplinary power and there are systems ofsurveillance hidden in caste practices. Discipline is interiorized to thepoint that each person is his or her overseer. Several notions of identitywith well defined possibilities and limitations were internalized andperpetuated. The ‘internalization’ of caste resulted from the coercivemechanisms prevalent in those days and caste identity was perpetuatedthrough rituals and practices. In Kerala, a strict code of conduct andmannerisms indicating respect and subservience were enforced on the‘subordinate castes’. Malayalam language then spoken was full of terms74

that acted as metaphors of inferiority and servitude to Nambuthiris androyalty. People lived in distinct groups and their movement and visibilitywere controlled. In order to facilitate and perpetuate this system, definitecaste identification markers for men and women such as dress code,ornaments and hair styles were deemed essential. These markers werenot merely worn on the body, but their symbolic significance wasinternalized as a ‘sense of one’s place’ in society along with a clearawareness of possibilities and restrictions imposed on the self.

Caste divisions had such a strong impact on social psyche thatovercoming the boundaries and surmounting restrictions took atorturously long time and this itself would show the power ofinternalization that leads to the formation of docile, self-regulatingsubjects. The norms of division and distinction burn into the self thateven individual taste and dispositions in aspects like dressing andornaments were regulated by a person’s understanding of one’s ownposition in the highly stratified and hierarchical social arrangement. In


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short, knowledge of the social world and its mechanisms of regulationspresuppose the kind of behaviour suiting the classificatory schemes. Theseforms of classification may get absorbed in the psyche as a mentalstructure, wherein an individual defines oneself and maps out one’sposition with reference to caste.

There may sometimes be a desire to move up because hierarchiesimply notions of superiority and inferiority and more importantlysuperior positions indicate access to resources. F.G. Bailey in his account,Politics and Social Change in Orissa, looks into the interrelated nature ofhierarchical divisions and aspirations thus, ‘Segmentation impliescompetition and competition implies aspirations toward equality, andequality denies stratification’75. There is no society in which all are equal;some are always more equal than others. So as long as there areinequalities, competition and aspiration would be part of the mentalmake up of individuals. Aspirations remain under control due to lack ofopportunities, fear and oppression of many types. Only during strugglesand such instances of audacious challenges, the internalized limits startappearing as boundaries or barriers that have to be removed in order tofulfill certain ambitions and to assert self-respect.

The tacit and subtle mechanisms of beliefs and practices createda rigid social structure, which had to undergo a total reconstruction dueto the overhauling powers of struggles and protests. When one looks atsocial changes through the lens of caste and understands them in termsof asserting/aggressive identities and conflicting hierarchies, MookkuthiSamaram and discarding kalla and mala are of great significance.

The body dynamics of caste practices can also be seen in adifferent light. How the caste system in Kerala created an environment ofhostility, wherein a Hindu’s attitude to another Hindu was regulated bythe superior-inferior positions traditionally assigned to each in the castehierarchy opens a complex debate. Untouchability resulted in the divisionof the Hindu society into mutually exclusive and antagonistic groups.Touch, proximity and even sight of certain castes was believed to causepollution to the higher castes. Thodeel or untouchability and theendal orinapproachability resulted in a condition of extreme inequality as thelower orders were prevented from the enjoyment of facilities and deniedopportunities for social interaction.



It is interesting to note how the metaphors of impurity anddefilement of body proliferated the discourse of caste system and therewere taboos regarding ritual sanctity and touchability. The repulsionbetween people of different castes was expressed through commensalrestrictions, but there was inevitable interdependence due to the divisionof labour. The practice of vannathimattu76 or using the cloth washed bywomen of the subordinate vannan caste in order to come out of the impurestate the female body was believed to enter during menstruation andchild bearing, exemplifies another facet of this purity politics. Even theantharjanams and Nair women had to depend on ‘lower caste’‘untouchable’ Vannathi women to be reinstated to the state of ritual purity.Partha Chatterjee makes a significant observation about the purity politicsof body in caste practices:

Caste attaches to the body, not to the soul. It is the biologicalreproduction of the human species through procreation withinendogamous caste groups that ensures the permanence of ascribedmarks of caste purity or pollution. It is also the physical contact ofthe body with defiling substances or defiled bodies that mark itwith the temporary conditions of pollution, which can be removedby observing the prescribed procedures of physical cleansing77.

The bodies of dominant castes also entered into states oftemporary pollution, but they could exit from these states and regainpurity, paradoxically with the help of a woman from a subordinate caste.But the bodies of people belonging to subordinate castes were in a stateof permanent pollution that cannot be ritually removed or literally washedclean. So, spatial segregation from the untouchable polluting castes wasrecommended to the dominant castes in order to safeguard the purity oftheir bodies. For the bodies of the dominant castes, purity was a birthrightand an asset to be treasured with utmost care. The observance of theendaland thodeel is thus a complex purity politics pertaining to body and ablatant form of subjugation. People of the subordinate castes or ayithajatiswere not allowed to use the public roads, wells and ponds. They weresupposed to make warning sounds so that the Nambuthiris, Ambalavasisand Nairs would not be polluted by their proximity. A clothed andadorned body thus had to act as a sign system, exuding a plethora ofsignifications. The caste system attributes a distinctive exteriority in terms


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of identity by means of restrictions and specificities as far as theappearance of people are concerned.

Mookkuthi Samaram and discarding kalla and mala indeed gave afree rein to the social aspirations of a downtrodden community. Thedominant socio-political systems and discourses had to address andtake into account the hitherto insignificant social groups. The socialaspirations of the downtrodden castes thus became part of the momentumand struggles towards liberation and empowerment which are said to beingrained in the project of colonial modernity.

Many ideas of Foucault have been used in this paper in order toexplicate the micro-physics of power implicit in caste practices. The ideasof Foucault have emerged from his experiences in a western socio-culturalcontext. While using them to analyze Indian cultural phenomena, manylimitations did confront me. The politics of power, especially in its micro-level exercises elucidated in Foucault’s works definitely opened manypossibilities of understanding the caste system and the politics of attireand adornments. But while looking at the macro-level aspects ofinstitutional control that the caste system exercised, the need was felt togo beyond the conceptual notions of Foucault.

The restrictions on body and attire exemplify what Foucault termsas a political anatomy, which is a subtle and clandestine mechanism ofpower. This is a policy ‘of coercions that act upon the body, a calculatedmanipulation of its elements, its gestures, its behaviours’78. But one hasto be wary while using Foucauldian ideas for explicating the power andbody dynamics of caste system and struggles against disabilities.Resistance and retribution are concepts which I feel Foucault has notworked out sufficiently. Foucault’s notion of power is always under thethreat of turning into an overarching principle in the analysis of history.Subjects often tend to look like pawns in the game of power. Resistanceand retribution get appropriated into the network of power and so whileanalyzing certain instances of historical conflicts and violence whichcan be interpreted as resistance or revolution, Foucauldian ideas fail tosee resistance as both intrinsic and extrinsic to the network of power.

Foucault does not take into consideration the difference of genderin the formation and manifestation of subjectivities. A serious limitation



of Foucault’s conceptualization based on un-gendered subjectivities andun-gendered body was experienced while examining the MookkuthiSamaram and Kallumala Samaram. While reading the nuances of coercionon body in Mookkuthi Samaram and Kallumala Samaram, genderedperspectives are needed.

The ideas of constant surveillance and the resultant self-regulation of the behaviour of people in a carceral society are of greatsignificance in understanding the caste ridden society of Kerala. Theformulation of the female body as something used for pleasure andreproduction, something that is subjected to constant vigil in order toavoid indulgence in forbidden acts is relevant while looking at the genderdynamics of caste. The process of commodification and mechanizationof bodies and subjugating them to a state of docility can be seen in castepractices. With this emphasis on the body, the colossal construct of poweris replaced by the concept of pervasive and intricate dominations thatoperate clandestinely in the society. The complex mechanisms andstrategies of power and their various effects on the individual life andconsciousness can be seen in the caste system of Kerala. Caste systemexemplifies a surreptitious exercise of power that comes in the guise ofbeneficial and benevolent practices or a mere, even harmless division oflabour.

Caste often becomes a central symbol of India and defines the coreof Indian tradition. People like Edmund Burke conceptualized caste as adefining term of social order. In a speech, he remarked:

In that country, the laws of religion, the laws of the land and thelaws of honour, are all united and consolidated in one, andbind a man eternally to the rules of what is called his caste79.

The omnipresence of caste in Indian history across regions andcenturies gives it a dominant position in the discourse that is history. ABritish officer involved in a statistical analysis of the population sawcaste as ‘a prison, far stronger than any which the civil tyrannies of theworld have erected; a prison which immures many innocent beings’80.Robin Jeffrey’s description of caste ridden old Kerala as ‘a place ofboundaries and constraints-boundaries on where particular people mightgo; constraints on what they might do’81 gives insight into the nature of


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society. People lived in discrete groups and their association with otherswas regulated and often symbolic. Caste system here acts as a restrictivegrid wherein a human body is subjected to constant watch againsttransgressions and cruelly punished on violating the prescribed norm.Body is thus an object and target of power, and of various levels ofdomination.

The politics of attire implicates the intensification of subjection.Both Mookkuthi Samaram and the act of discarding kalla and mala areunited in their defiance of the notions of caste-based superiority andattempt to seek solutions to social disability and inequality. MookkuthiSamaram and the discarding of kalla and mala tell the story of marginalizedwomen daringly seeking a different self image. Epistemological andmethodological transformations in history and the new directions thathistorical enquiry have taken call for a re-conceptualization of thestruggles and movements against caste practices. Shortcomings of theempirical method in historical enquiry and economic determinism affirmthe need to look for more fluid and non-restrictive means of historicalinvestigation. Collapse of the grand narratives and teleological theoriesopen up the possibilities of history extending its scope of enquiry intocultural aspects in terms of identity, attitudes, human relations, micro-physics of power and the body politics of social practices. All these newfields of investigation give history a broader epistemological range andthus history captures the rich and varied nuances of human experiencesand perception.

While trying to understand an age in its presentness, one has tobe wary of the attempts of glorification or the tendency to project a negativeimage. The politics of inclusion and exclusion, overstatement and under-estimation, highlighting and obliteration operates in myriad guises inhistoriography. The available accounts of Kerala history are full ofdisturbing silences, instances of de-significations and omissions. Thestrategies of ‘deliberate’ forgetting have to be comprehended before anyattempt is made to reconstitute the perceptions of the past.

History being both knowledge and discursive practice, thepossibility of the deliberate manipulation of facts, highlighting orobliterating certain aspects in history purposefully and interpretationsbased on different points of view cannot be overlooked. History of caste



and struggles against disabilities exemplify a ‘subjugated knowledge’which is insufficiently elaborated. Foucault’s remark on the history ofstruggles that ‘there lay the memory of hostile encounters which even upto this day have been confined to the margins of knowledge’82 is trueabout the Mookkuthi Samaram and the discarding of kalla and mala.

History is an unending process and so a knowledge that doesnot insist on conclusions because there are no limits and ends to thenuances of experiences in different socio-cultural contexts that lead tonewer discourses. Several significant concerns can be raised on thehitherto used documents and methods for analyzing and comprehendingthe history of Kerala. New paradigms are needed to capture the variegatedshades of the lived experiences of subordinate castes. In the newly writtenscripts of the past, the women’s question also should be voiced withgreat audacity and sensitivity. More over, one has to keep in mind thatstruggles are always under the peril of being ossified into certain favouritestereotypes, while being historicized.

Notes1 People of all castes had to maintain a ritual distance from those who

were considered higher in the caste hierarchy. From a Nambuthiri orMalayali Brahmin, a Nair has to keep a distance of 16 feet, an Ezhava 32feet, a Pulaya or Paraya 64 feet; and the sight of a Nayadi at a distancewould force the Nambuthiri to undergo ritual purification. Besides, thesesocial groups had to keep a specified distance from each other.

2 Jeffrey, Robin. The Decline of Nayar Dominance: Society and Politics inTravancore 1847-1908. Delhi: Vikas Publishing House, 1976, 10.

3 Ibid. Mary Barker was the daughter of the Rev. Henry Baker. Jr. Thesource is given by Jeffrey as Church Missionary Archives, Number 38, of1884.

4 See in Thiranjedutha Rajakeeya Vilambarangal(Selected Proclamations ofthe Sovereign). Trivandrum: Kerala Archives Department, 2005,Prolamation Number 56 issued in 1818, 82-83.

5 Vasava Panicker, Kumbalam Chirayil. Sarasakavi Muloor S. PadmanabhaPanicker: Oru Anukalikaavalokanam (A Contemporary Reading). Publishedby the author, 1976, Sathyaprakasham M. Sarasakavi Muloor S. Padmanabha


128 Bini B.S.

Panicker. Trivandrum:Kerala Government Cultural PublicationsDepartment, 1988.

6 Udayabhanu, A.P. Ente Kathayillaymakal. Kottayam: D.C. Books, 1991, 208.

7 Savarna, the term used by the author to indicate the dominant castes isretained in translation. Translation mine. Throughout the paper,wherever the words savarna or avarna are used in Malayalam workscited, I have not changed them.

8 Avarna, the term used by the author to indicate the subordinate castes isretained in translation. Translation mine.

9 Vasava Panicker, 159.

1 0 Sadasivan, S.N. A Social History of India. Delhi: APH Publishing, 2000, 479.Preview available at <http://books.google.co.in/>.

1 1 Satyaprakasham, M., 30.

1 2 Osella, Fillippo and Caroline Osella. Social Mobility in Kerala: Modernityand Identity in Conflict. London: Pluto Press, 2000, 157.

1 3 Udayabhanu, A.P., 179.

1 4 Ibid, 173.

1 5 Ibid, 208.

1 6 See the Chapter, ‘Kathayil oru Sooran’ (A Valiant Man in the Story) inA.P. Udayabhanu’s Ente Kathayillaymakal, 167-173, Fillippo Osella andCaroline Osella, 156 - 158 and N.R. Krishanan, Ezhavar Annum Innum,Thrissur: Seena Publications, 1967, 121 for detailed accounts of the deedsof Velayudha Panicker. According to these accounts, Velayudha Panickerstarted wearing the tuft in the Nambuthiri style. He learned Kathakali,considered to be a Nambuthiri art and entertainment and started aKathakali troupe. Ezhava Kathakali artists started performing the vesham(role) of gods, and even wore crowns during performance. On anotheroccasion, disguised as a Nambuthiri, he is said to have gone toGuruvayoor temple (where ayithajatis or untouchables were not allowedto enter) and spent ten days there for learning the method of worshipand installation of idols, a knowledge which was considered a specialprivilege of Nambuthiris. When his identity was discovered by a



Nambuthiri, Panicker threw a bag of gold on the table and escaped.Asserting economic affluence by throwing a bag full of gold to aNambuthiri shows how class also comes into picture gradually. In 1854,he founded a temple in Mangalathu village which was open to all castes.Velayudha Panicker built another temple in Cheruvaranam in 1855.

1 7 See Vasavapanicker, 158. Ezhava women were experts in weaving aspecial variety of cloth usually worn by Nair women, but the weaversdid not have the right to use it. At Pathiyoor, near Kayamkulam anaffluent Ezhava woman who was walking along the ridge of a paddyfield wearing the achipudava was humiliated by the Nairs. Panickerinitiated a protest move by making the subordinate caste agriculturallabourers boycott their work.

1 8 See Fillippo Osella and Caroline Osella, 156 - 158 and N.R. Krishanan,Ezhavar Annum Innum. Thrissur: Seena Publications, 1967, 121.

1 9 According to Srinivas: ‘The caste system is far from a rigid system inwhich the position of each component caste is fixed for all time.Movement has always been possible, and especially in the middle regionsof the hierarchy. A caste was able, in a generation or two, to rise to ahigher position in the hierarchy by adopting vegetarianism andteetotalism, and by Sanskritizing its ritual and pantheon. In short, ittook over, as far as possible, the customs, rites, and beliefs of the Brahmins,and adoption of the Brahminic way of life by a low caste seems to havebeen frequent, though theoretically forbidden.’ The term is used to denotethe process by which certain castes placed lower in the caste hierarchyseek upward mobility by emulating the rituals, life styles and practicesof the upper or dominant castes. It has become an accepted notion thatsubordinate castes have tried to imitate dominant caste practices andfollow their norms and ways of life as an attempt to fulfill their socialaspirations. For more details, see Srinivas, M.N. Religion and Societyamongst the Coorgs of South India. Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1952, 32, andSrinivas, M.N . Caste in Modern India: And other essays. Bombay: AsiaPublishing House, 1962, 48. Using the ideas of M.N. Srinivas uncriticallyin the analyses of caste and movements against social disabilities hasdone more harm than good.


130 Bini B.S.

2 0 For detailed accounts, see Abhimanyu, C. Ayyankali. Trivandrum.Department of Cultural Publications, Kerala Government, 1990, 133-34,and Chentharassery, T.H.P. Ayyankali. Trivandrum: Prabhat Book House,1972, 117.

2 1 Untouchables were referred to as ayithajati in Malayalam.

2 2 See the Royal Proclamation No: 1 issued in 1811 in Thiranjedutha RajakeeyaVilambarangal (Selected Proclamations of the Sovereign). Trivandrum:Kerala Archives Department, 2005.

2 3 Chentharassery, T.H.P. Kerala Charithrathinte Gathi Mattiya Ayyankali.(Ayyankali who changed the course of Kerala history). Ernakulam: CICCBook House, 2000, 64.

2 4 See Chentharassery, T.H.P. Ayyankali. Trivandrum: Prabhat Book House,1972, 117.

2 5 C. Abhimanyu gives a detailed account of the agitation in his workAyyankali (See 135-138). According to him, under the leadership ofAyyankali, many acts of protests took place in the early decades of thetwentieth century. Pulayas started resisting the coercive mechanisms ofthe janmi- slave system. In places like Kollam, Mavelikkara andChennithala, the protest movement against the landlords and dominantcaste Hindus spread. Gopaladasan, a Pulaya youth was at the helm ofaffairs in this region and on 24 October, 1915, a huge meeting wasconvened at Perinadu in Kollam. Hidden under the stage, weapons werekept for protection against possible attacks from savarnas. Some savarnasconspired against this movement and decided to disrupt the meetingand kill Gopaladasan. About 3000 people assembled for the meetingpresided by Gopaladasan. As Visakhan Thevan, an activist of SadhujanaParipalana Sangham (an organization founded by Ayyankali for theprotection and upliftment of the downtrodden) got up to sing a prayersong, he was attacked by some savarnas who managed to creep into thecrowd. This led to bloody confrontations. Savarnas destroyed Pulayahuts and the latter retaliated violently. Government, Police and evennewspapers like Mithavadi and Nasrani Deepika supported the dominantand affluent savarnas.

2 6 See Mithavadi October 30, 1915.



2 7 For detailed accounts see Chentharassery, T.H.P, Abhimanyu. C and thepublication titled Ayyankali Smaraka Grantham (Ayyankali MemorialSouvenir).

2 8 In that tense scenario, in order to conduct the Sarvasamudaya Sammelanam,Ayyankali had to seek permission from the Dewan and it was denied.The Dewan expressed his concern that there would be seriousconsequences if such a meeting takes place. To convince him, Ayyankaligave him an assuring letter written by the Police Circle Inspector,Gopalaswami Pillai who was sympathetic to the social reform movementspearheaded by Ayyankali. It was after receiving this written assurancethat the Dewan issued an order, granting permission for conducting theSammelanam.

2 9 Ayyankali Smaraka Grantham, 16.

3 0 See C. Abhimanyu, 140. Tarabai was from Talasseri. She belonged to asubordinate caste in Malabar and readily agreed to provide her circustent as the venue for sarvasamudaya sammelanam.

3 1 See Chentharassery, T.H. P, 132-133.

3 2 Ayyankali formed an organization called ‘Sadhu Jana ParipalanaSangham (SJPS)’ which took radical direct action to achieve justice forthe oppressed and subjugated community. Thus he was able to get theGovernment pass laws (1907) for the right of entry of subordinate castechildren to the schools. He organized the agricultural workers and hadheralded the first agrarian strike in the history of Travancore for betterworking conditions, which included (1) stop victimization on whims (2)end trapping workers in contrived cases (3) stop whipping of workers(4) freedom of movement, and (5) admission of children in schools. See<http://www.asianetindia.com/commentary/ayyankali-harijan-leader-kerala-28081863-18061941_52864.html>.

3 3 C. Abhimanyu, 142.

3 4 The sickle, a harvesting tool is symbolic of the occupation of Pulayas asagricultural labourers and their significant role in society is suggestedthrough the sickle.

3 5 See Mithavadi, 1916 February and Chentharassery, 134.


132 Bini B.S.

3 6 Chentharassery. T.H.P, 133

3 7 C. Abhimanyu. 143.

3 8 Mithavadi, February 1916.

3 9 His demands included (a) stoppage of the practice of not serving tea intea shops to avarnas who were given tea only in coconut shells; (b) rightto education for the subordinate caste children; (c) resting time forworkers during work hours; and (d) replacement of the system of wagesin kind by payment of cash.

4 0 See <http://www.asianetindia.com/commentary/ayyankali-harijan-leader-kerala-28081863-18061941_52864.html>.

4 1 Asyan and Adhyan Nambuthiris had different types of ornaments.Adhyans wore 15 brass bangles or bracelets on the right hand, and 14 onthe left. Asyans wore bronze bangles. Everyone used to wear ‘Chittu’ (awide ear ring) in the enlarged lobes of the ears. See the website,maintained by Namboothiri Website Trust, <http://www.namboothiri.com/articles/ornaments.htm for details>.

4 2 Fawcett, Fred. Nambuthiris (1901). Madras Government Museum Bulletin,Volume III, No.1, New Delhi: Asian Education Services, 2004, 43.

4 3 Fawcett, Fred. Nayars of Malabar(1901). Madras Government MuseumBulletin, Volume III, No.3. New Delhi: Asian Education Services, 2004,196-97.

4 4 Thurston, Edgar. Castes and Tribes of South India. 1909. Volume V. Delhi:Cosmo Publications, 1975, 366-367.

4 5 Ibid, 170.

4 6 Mateer, Samuel. Land of Charity, 41

4 7 Forbes, James. Oriental Memoirs: Seventeen Years in India, Volume I.London: Richard Bentley, 1834, 245.

4 8 See Plate X, in Fawcett, Fred. Nayars of Malabar. 1901. Madras GovernmentMuseum Bulletin, Volume III, No.3. New Delhi: Asian Education Services,2004. In the photographs of Nair girls given in the book on plate IX, theirbreasts are covered and one girl has a palm leaf umbrella (earlier, anindispensable attribute of antharjanam’s ghosha) in her hand.



4 9 Thurston, Edgar. Castes and Tribes in South India, Volume II (1909). Delhi:Cosmo Publications, 1975, 397.

5 0 Thurston, Edgar. Castes and Tribes in South India, Volume VII (1909). Delhi:Cosmo Publications, 1975, 47.

5 1 The songs sung by Pulaya women during harvesting contained overtreferences to the sexual overtures of the landlord or tampuran. See Sajitha.K.R. ‘Penprathirodhangal Nadan Pattukalil’ (Women’s Resistance inFolksongs) in Varghese V. J and Vijaya Mohan Pillai (ed). ChilaArivadayalangal: Anjooru Varshathey Keralam. Trivandrum: Association forComparative Studies, 2001, 310-313.

5 2 Mateer, Samuel. Land of Charity, 30.

5 3 Fawcett, Fred. Nambuthiris. Madras Government Museum Bulletin,Volume III, No.1. New Delhi: Asian Education Services, 40

5 4 Lieutenants Ward and Conner. Memoirs of the Survey of Travancore andCochin States (1863), Volume I. Trivandrum: Kerala GazetteersDepartment, 1994, 131.

5 5 Quoted in Balakrishnan. P.K. Jathivyavasthayum Kerala Charithravum. (Thecaste system and the history of Kerala). Calicut: Purna Publications,1997, 68. Elamkulam Kunjan Pillai made this observation in his work,Studies in Kerala History.

5 6 Keralolpatti is in the form of a mythological text and gives an accountabout the origin of Kerala. According to the myth, Kerala was reclaimedfrom the sea by Parasurama, an avatar of Vishnu. There are many wordsand deeds of this sage woven cleverly into the narrative to confirm thesuperiority of Brahmins. The orthodox view about a Nambuthiri as statedin an official document of Travancore goes like this: His person is holy,his directions are commands, his movements are a procession, his mealis nectar, he is the holiest of human beings; he is the representative ofgod on earth. The dictates contained in the myth of Keralotpatti influencedthe outlook on and attitude to Nambuthiris to a great extent and ensuredreverence and subservience from other castes. I have used Menon.C.A(ed). Keralolpatti. (Madras University Malayalam Series No: 10). Madras:University of Madras, 1953 for reference.

5 7 Keralolpatti, 19.


134 Bini B.S.

5 8 Ibid, 46-47.

5 9 Aiya, Nagam. V. The Travancore State Manual, Volume II(1909).Trivandrum: Kerala Gazetteers Department, 1999, 37.

6 0 Menon, Padmanabha. History of Kerala, Volume III. Eranakulam, 1933, 48.

6 1 Ibid, 50.

6 2 Forbes, James. Oriental Memoirs: Seventeen Years in India, Volume I.London: Richard Bentley, 1834, 249.

6 3 Thurston, Edgar. Castes and Tribes of South India (1909), Volume V. Delhi:Cosmo Publications, 1975, 366-368.

6 4 From Letters from Malabar. Qtd. in Thurston, Edgar. Castes and Tribes ofSouth India. 1909. Volume V. Delhi: Cosmo Publications, 1975, 367.

6 5 See the Introductory Notes in Menon, Padmanabha. History of Kerala,Volume III. Eranakulam, 1933.

6 6 Sam, N. (ed). Elamkulam Kunjan Pillayude Thiranjedutha Krithikal. (TheSelected Works of Elamkulam Kunjan Pillai), Volume I. Trivandrum:International Centre for Kerala Studies, 2005, 660.

6 7 See Volume I, 383 in Mill. James. The History of British India.(6 Volumes).London: Baldwin, Cradock &Joy, 1826.

6 8 Chatterjee. Partha. ‘The Nation and Its Women’ in The Nation and itsFragments from The Partha Chatterjee Omnibus. Delhi: OUP, 2004, 118.

6 9 Dubois, Abbe. J.A. Hindu Manners, Customs and Ceremonies. 1906. NewDelhi. Rupa &Co, 2006, 28.

7 0 Mateer, Samuel. Land of Charity, 26.

7 1 See the Introduction in Ghurye. G.S. Caste and Race in India. London:Routledge and Kegan Paul, 1932.

7 2 Bourdieu, Pierre. ‘Class and Classification’ in Distinction: A Social Critiqueof the Judgement of Taste(1970). New York: Routledge, 2005.

7 3 Gordon, Colin, (ed.). Power/Knowledge: Selected Interviews and OtherWritings, 1972-1977. London: Pantheon, 1981, 39.



7 4 People of subordinate castes, even Nairs never used njan (I) to indicateoneself while talking to a Nambuthiri, the word used was adiyan (footservant). The food of Nambuthiri and the king was referred to asamrithethu (nectar).

7 5 Bailey, F.G. Politics and Social Change in Orissa. Berkley: University ofCalifornia Press, 1963., 123.

7 6 Death in the family, menstruation and childbirth had ‘impurity’ attachedto them and a ritual seclusion was observed on these occasions. Once theperiod of seclusion was over, the cloth washed by the woman of Vannanor washer woman had to be worn. Even dominant caste women had towear the vannathimattu or change into the cloth brought by the Vannanwoman.

7 7 Chatterjee, Partha. ‘The Nation and its Outcastes’ in Partha ChatterjeeOmnibus, 194.

7 8 Foucault, Michel. Discipline and Punish: The Birth of the Prison, New York:Random House, 1975,138.

7 9 See the speech on the impeachment of Warren Hastings, 15 February,1788 in Marshall. P.J (ed). The Writings and Speeches of Edmund Burke,Volume VI. Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1991, 302-303.

8 0 See Dirks. Nicholas, B. Castes of Mind: Colonialism and the Making of ModernIndia. Delhi: Permanent Black, 2002, 26-27. This remark quoted in Dirk’swork is made by a colleague of William Carrey who was involved insome census related work.

8 1 Jeffrey. Robin. Politics, Women and Well-being: How Kerala Became a Model.New Delhi: OUP, 1992, 19.

8 2 Michael Kelly, Ed. ‘Two Lectures’ in Critique/ Power: Recasting the FoucaultHabermas Debate. Cambridge: MIT Press, 1994, 22.

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