Kala pani (taboo)
The kala pani (lit. black water) represents the proscription of the over reaching seas in Hinduism.[1] According to this prohibition, crossing the seas to foreign lands causes the loss of one's social respectability, as well as the putrefaction of one’s cultural character and posterity.[2]
History
The offense of crossing the sea is also known as "Samudrolanghana" or "Sagarollanghana". The
The reasons behind the proscription include the inability to carry out the daily rituals of traditional Hindu life and the sin of contact with the characterless, uncivilized
The 13th century Venetian explorer, Marco Polo, would note in his travelogue, for Malabar:[7]
"They are very strict in executing justice upon criminals, and as strict in abstaining from wine. Indeed they have made a rule that wine-drinkers and seafaring men are never to be accepted as sureties. For they say that to be a seafaring man is all the same as to be an utter desperado, and that his testimony is good for nothing."
— "The Travels of Marco Polo, ch:17 Province of Malabar"
During the Portuguese
British period
Mutinies
The East India Company recruited several upper-caste soldiers, and adapted its military practices to the requirements of their religious rituals. Consequently, the overseas service, considered polluting to their caste, was not required of them.[9]
During the
The General Service Enlistment Act of 1856 required the new recruits to serve overseas if asked. The serving high-caste sepoys were fearful that this requirement would be eventually extended to them.
Cellular Jail, the British Indian prison on the Andaman and Nicobar Islands was known as Kala Pani: an incarceration in this jail threatened the convicts with the loss of caste and the resulting social exclusion.[14]
Indentured laborer diaspora
When slavery was abolished in British colonies (such as
The Kala Pani theme features prominently in the
Modern India
The
In 2007, the
Vishnunarayanan Namboothiri, a noted poet who served as a priest at the Sreevallabha Temple, was not allowed to enter the temple after he returned from an overseas trip to London. The temple authorities, led by the thantri (chief priest), asked him to undergo a thorough cleansing, penance and punaravrodha (reinstallation) before he would be allowed in again.[22] Namboothiri was asked to purify himself by reciting the Gayatri Mantra 1008 times, which he refused to do. The Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh supported him, calling the taboo an "outdated ritual".[23] The Travancore Devaswom Board also supported him, and fired two of its officials for refusing to support his reinstatement. After the board served the thantri a show-cause notice, Namboothiri was allowed back after purification by sprinkling of holy water (theertham).[24]
References
- ^ "Crossing the Kala Pani to Britain for Hindu Workers and Elites". American Historical Association. 2012-01-04. Retrieved 2012-02-02.
- ISBN 978-0-415-52624-1. Retrieved 2 February 2013.
- ^ Charles Eliot (1921). Hinduism and Buddhism: An Historical Sketch, vol. 3. Edward Arnold & Co. p. 102. Retrieved 3 October 2023.
- ISBN 978-0-19-283882-7. Retrieved 2 February 2013.
- ^ Crossing the Ocean by Vrindavanam S. Gopalakrishnan. Hinduism Today, July/August/September 2008.
- ISBN 978-1-84331-006-8. Retrieved 2 February 2013.
- ^ "The Travels of Marco Polo/Book 3/Chapter 17 - Wikisource, the free online library". en.wikisource.org. Retrieved 2022-01-12.
- ISBN 978-90-04-19316-1. Retrieved 2 February 2013.
- ISBN 0-521-68225-8.
- ^ Spencer Walpole (1890). A history of England from the conclusion of the great war in 1815. Longmans, Green. p. 279. Retrieved 2 February 2013.
- ISBN 978-0-85229-760-5. Retrieved 2 February 2013.
- ISBN 978-81-8158-012-2. Retrieved 2 February 2013.
- ISBN 978-0-313-32280-8. Retrieved 2 February 2013.
- ISBN 978-0-415-30980-6. Retrieved 2 February 2013.
- ISBN 978-0-8223-3388-3. Retrieved 2 February 2013.
- ISBN 978-1-137-26295-0. Retrieved 2 February 2013.
- ISBN 978-0-415-50967-1.
- DNA. Retrieved 2012-02-02.
- ^ "Shiroor seer backs Puttige swamiji". The Hindu. 2007-11-29. Archived from the original on 2007-12-01. Retrieved 2012-02-02.
- ^ "Paryaya is my right: Puttige swamiji". The Hindu. 2008-01-15. Archived from the original on 2008-01-16. Retrieved 2012-02-02.
- ^ "Shiroor Math seer terms fear of swamijis' foreign visits as irrational". The Hindu. 2002-01-17. Retrieved 2012-02-02.
- ^ "Kerala priest loses his job 'cos he went to London". rediff.com. Retrieved 2012-02-02.
- ^ "Kerala temple tamasha leaves two jobless, many angry and a few laughing". rediff.com. Retrieved 2012-02-02.
- ^ "And thus ended the temple tamasha..." rediff.com. Retrieved 2012-02-02.
External links
- Lomarsh Roopnarine, The Long Journey to Today: East Indians in Guyana. Guyana Chronicle Online
- Crossing of Kala Pani, from the exhibition ORIGINS: Creative Tracks of Indian Diaspora