Antigod’s Own Country: A Short History of Brahminical Colonisation of Kerala

by A.V. Sakthidharan

What is the history of those depicted as asuras in India? What happens when Adivasi, Dravidian, Buddhist and Dalit narratives, with their egalitarian spirituality, confront an invasive brahminism?

What is the counter-narrative to the ritually re-enacted murders of Mahishasura, Ravana and Bali? Is the trouble over Sabarimala merely about an unrepentant patriarchy?

Antigod’s Own Country reveals the histories that are contested in the South Indian state of Kerala. At the centre of the story that A.V. Sakthidharan charts is the asura king, Mahabali, whose subjugation—commemorated annually as Onam—became symbolic of the fate of the first peoples of the state in the face of Aryan domination.

This book examines the multifarious origins of the myths of non-Aryan deities like Mutthappan, Suyodhana, various mother goddesses, all the way up to the cult of Ayyappan.

Genres: Nonfiction, India, History, Hinduism

168 pages, Paperback

Published August 31, 2019

Reviews

[Nandakishore Mridula · Rating 3 out of 5]

Onam is the state festival of Kerala in India; and being the globetrotters we are, we have carried it to all parts of the world. It falls during August - September and is basically a harvest festival, when people have plenty of grain and vegetables to celebrate after the lean months of the monsoon. However, the mythical trappings of the festival are quite elaborate. Legend is that the Asura King Mahabali of Hindu myth was the ruler of Kerala before he was banished to the netherworld through trickery by Vamana, the dwarf Brahmin, who was the fifth incarnation of Vishnu. (The Brahmin came to beg for land from the king. He asked for only three steps; and when the king laughingly agreed, Vamana grew to gargantuan size and measured out the earth in one step and the heavens in another. When he asked Mahabali where to put his third step, the proud king removed his crown and asked him to put it on his head. Vamana did so and kicked him down to the netherworld.) The king was much loved by his subjects, so he is allowed to return once a year to visit the country by Vishnu; and the people celebrate it by eating, dancing, playing and making merry, in memory of his rule when the whole land was egalitarian.

Quite clearly, this is a case of the Brahmin assimilation of a local legend by tying it to a mythological story; a common practice in India. (It was only through such "corporate mergers" that the religion of Hinduism was made up.) Until very recently, nobody had a problem with this, and everyone was happy to accept the concept of benevolent demon king. However, ever since 1989, the Hindu fundamentalist organisation Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS for short) and its political wing, the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) are on the path to the aggressive "Hinduisation" of India; an activity which gained tremendous acceleration when the party came to power at the centre under Narendra Modi in 2014. So in 2016, when BJP President Amit Shah wished all Keralites "Vamana Jayanti" (Vamana's birthday) on the eve of Onam, all hell broke loose, with both fundamentalists and progressive outdoing each other in vituperation. Ever since then, Mahabali (or Maveli, as we Keralites call him) has been a controversial figure.

In this book, Sakthidharan explores the non-Brahmin ethos of Kerala on the backdrop of the Onam legend. Maybe because of the Western Ghats which would have been difficult to cross in olden times, Kerala has evolved rather differently from the rest of India. (In fact, we had more contact with seafaring foreigners than with our own brethren from the subcontinent.) Our festivals are unique and different; many of the Savarnas follow a matrilinear system; and there is no ban on beef consumption for Hindus, to cite a few examples. Brahmins came rather late to Kerala, and there attempts to integrate the regional culture into the Vedic fold has been rather haphazard, and it shows in the uneasy way Kerala interacts with the Union of States called India.

The author has done a pretty decent job of showing up the glaring differences, and using the same to point to other parts of India where the so-called "demons" of Hindu myth are gods for subaltern peoples. He has shown, with examples, how Hindu fundamentalist brigade is hell-bent on stamping out these indigenous beliefs; and how they have succeeded in many places, including Kerala where many rituals and temples have been Brahminised. I was aware of many of these, being from Kerala myself, but it would be fascinating reading to any non-Malayali.

I have a few caveats, however.

1. The lining up of all the gods on the Brahmin side and all the antigods on the subaltern side is a bit simplistic. Many of the Savarnas also followed non-Vedic practices in Kerala; a glaring example is the worship of snakes, mostly by the matrilinear Nair community, which is not mentioned at all in the book. In fact, in Mannarassala Naga temple, the head priest is a Nampoothiri Brahmin woman and the temple is the centre of a matrilinear fertility cult. An nuanced exploration of such crossover practices would have made the book more interesting.

2. The concept of Mahabali as a Buddhist king dethroned by Brahmin trickery is valid. It is true that large swathes of Kerala were Buddhist before aggressive Brahminisation led by Shankaracharya came into play. However, it is not true that Mahabali is vilified in Hindu myth; Devi Bhagavatham describes him as a benevolent monarch ruling over Sutala, a level of netherworld which as rich as (or richer than) the heavens. After banishing him there, Vishnu seems to have felt remorse in his trickery and is therefore guarding his gate as penance! So the Mahabali story seems to be more nuanced than what many of us believe.

3. The myth of the returning grain king who goes into the earth and comes back as plentiful harvest is a common theme in many primitive agrarian myths. Considering the fact that the god of Onam ("Onatthappan") is a pyramidal sculpture made of mud, which is worshipped on Onam day, this theory seems even more relevant. This pagan, pre-Buddhist aspect too should have been explored further.

But none of these take away from the importance of the book. Such studies are relevant in these trying times, when the region's varied culture is being sought to be buried under the ever-spreading juggernaut of Vedic Brahmanism.

[Anaghaa (theladyliterati) · Rating 4 out of 5]

Demons of our history- Antigod's Own Country

When I moved to Kerala last year, we happened to go to the largest mall here on Onam (harvest festival) day. I was in for a surprise: a Santa-esque avuncular figure dressed up as a moustachioed king offered passers-by a selfie with him. That was Mahabali. 
Mahabali (or Maveli) is part of the mythological tale of the 5th Avatara (incarnation) of Vishnu. The story I had heard throughout childhood was that Mahabali was a greedy king, and Vishnu took the form of an unassuming boy (Vamana) who came to ask the King for alms. The boy said “all I want is 3 steps of land and I’ll be on my way” and the king agreed. He then assumed gargantuan proportions and stepped on all of Earth and all of Heaven as his first and second steps, and looked quizzically at the king as if you ask “where must I now keep my third step?” And the King offered his bowed head, and thus the greed and egomania of the King came to an end as he understood his lesson. Having known Mahabali as the villain of the story, it was hard for me to understand why he was the figure celebrated here in Kerala. 


Myths aren’t history. They’re stories. Intergenerational flow of cultural information. And the narrative passed on over centuries is decided by the wielders of power. This book is critical to remind ourselves of the subversive nature of myths long enshrined as single narratives. Maveli, far from  greedy, is known in Kerala as a loving, generous king under whose reign equality and harmony triumphed. Similarly, Ravana, the aggressor in Ramayana was probably not as vengeful and evil as the myth makes him out to be. 


My favourite part of the book was the Ayyappa bit. The Sabarimala pilgrimage in Kerala is one that truly defines the coming together of Hindu-Muslim-Christian deities intertwined in history. But we rarely hear stories of Vavar or Veluthachan. There are striking similarities between Ayyappan and Buddha (for example Dharma Shasta/ Dhamma) The rather successful attempt to de-islamise, de-Christianise, de-tribalise and de-dalitise this popular place of worship is a devious plan most of us should know more about. 


Kerala has a breathtaking heterogeneous history, one that ensures Malayalis will always have more in common with each other than they ever will with their religious brethren from other parts of the country, especially above the Vindhyas. But only if we (un)learn to look beyond the Brahminisation of our history. 

(originally published on my blog- https://ablahnari.wordpress.com/2020/...)

[Arunmozhi Ganesan · Rating 3 out of 5]

For a Tamil, who have read enough excerpts about attempts to savarnaize and saffronize the local culture, homogenize the native practices as one 'Hindu' culture, conversion of buddhist shrines to hindu temples, non-veg gods, Sakthidharan gives a parallel picture about the neighboring state Kerala.

My personal favorite chapter is people's gods and goddesses.

We should remember his last line in the book and pledge towards it. "There should be a collective effort to guard against modern-day vamanas and parashuramas turning this mavelinadu into a neo-colonical hindu rashtra and gifting it to greedy corporate brahmins"

[Subrus · Rating 5 out of 5]

A quick look or rather relook at the heterodoxy that Kerala is and was. A relook at how the Brahmanical invasion appropriated the egalitarian subaltern culture of Kerala. Shaktidharan forces us to relook at all the myths we have grown up with.

All the myths and legends where the Asuras or the demons fight the Gods – the Devas or Suras need to be relooked at through the glasses of casteism. It would be fair to say that the so called gods would have been the upper castes or the brahmins who would have felt insecure due the rising popularity and perhaps power as well of some of the shudras and shudraatishudras. Thus threatened, they’d have resorted to violence and treachery to oppress and subjugate them. Once the objective was achieved, they would whitewash such episodes by painting in a divine device into the narrative. There would be an oppressed Deva who prays to some Brahmanical deity and the deity would, most often through treachery defeat the asuras. Thus the immoral and unethical tactics have been sanctified by the application of the divine hand. The asuras would be painted as the embodiment of pure evil and that they deserved to be decimated and their property, wealth and so on annexed. If you remove all the religious trappings, superhuman and mystical powers from all myths, all that remains would be a story of a dark skinned race that has been oppressed by the fair-skinned ones along the above mentioned plot lines. This is the lines on which he is forcing the reader to relook at all the popular legends and myths that we are familiar with.

This book, is a just a quick look at challenging the popular narrative that has all but whitewashed the history of the people of the land. This is a primer for the rereading of this narrative.

[Akshay · Rating 3 out of 5]

What best describes the kind of writing style used in this book is something a friend told me. "It reads more like a long online essay rather than a printed book." I don't think this is a particularly negative thing. Because the book is effective in what it's doing, which is to consolidate a set of stories that stand in opposition to the Brahmanical hegemony in Kerala.

But it does have its shortcomings. Some portions of Saktidharan's thoughts move away from evidence based arguments to knowledgeable speculation without much transition in between. And there are places where he has put one fact after another with no end in sight. What the book lacked are a few editorial interventions.

Nevertheless, Saktidharan narrative around the mythology felt especially personal and rooted in his political ideology against fascist movements. His writing in itself has a great flow and engages the reader for a good amount of pages. There are pages where I had to stop and process the things I was learning, as some of them were extremely relevant to my personal history and ancestry.The stories all have a truth that it speaks about the anti-Brahminical nature of Kerala's past.
Saktidharan's attempt at bringing them all together is definitely valuable.

[Anshuman Swain · Rating 4 out of 5]

The imposition of brahmanical ideas onto existing indigenous ones has been a story often ignored. The author takes specific examples from Kerala to impress upon the readers the structure of such impositions and the subaltern opposition to them. I wish such books existed for examples in other states of the country too.

Although I liked the book, I felt the narrative could have been better - it was haphazard at places.

[Kiran Jonnalagadda · Rating 5 out of 5]

This has easily been the most influential book I read in 2019. I found something noteworthy on nearly every page. Turns out I know so little about the country I've spent my entire life in, and there is still so much to learn.

[Katyusha · Rating 4 out of 5]

Five years back Amit Shah had ruffled the Malayali feathers by wishing them Vamana Jayanti on the eve of Onam. Posters contained the picture of a Brahmin boy placing his leg over a king, presumably Mahabali

This is an irony because the very festival, Onam is a response to the injustice to their benevolent ruler by an invader. This glorification of Vamana goes against the genesis of the festival which is meant to celebrate the antigod !

This book deals with the origin of many of the "antigods" - the non-Aryan deities and the myths in Kerala and the teleology, giving us an idea of the resistance offered by the natives against Brahminical domination through the centuries

Maveli or Mahabali, the grandson of Hiranyakashipu was a powerful, egalitarian ruler of the Asuras. According to the myth, after gaining control over the entire universe he began performing yajnas to consolidate his strength. It was at this time that Vamana, the fifth incarnation of Vishnu went to him and pleaded for a small part of land which he could measure in three paces. The moment the unsuspecting Bali granted the wish, the diminutive Brahmin grew in size and covered the earth and heaven in his first two steps. For the third step Bali offered his head, and Vamana pushed him into the netherworld

But this deceitful capture of his kingdom was counterproductive and only served to immortalise the benevolent antigod who reigns over the Malayali mindscape even today. Onam is celebrated to commemorate his promised annual visit

Onam is as also symbolic of the aspirations of the people and, more importantly it is a secular, subaltern festival.

Meat dishes are part of the sadya in some parts of Kerala, further reinforcing the fact that it is not a Hindu upper caste festival

The festival has also been influenced by other religions - Pulikkali (tiger dance) is believed to have been introduced by the Muslims of Tamil Nadu

In Maharashtra Jotirao Phule describes Bali Raj as a "past utopia destroyed by Brahminism"

In the feudal times it, however, it became a festival of the overlords and the ownership remained with the privileged castes

The prehistoric society, as per EMS Namboodiripad, was casteless, classless and came close to what is known as 'primitive communism. This gradually gave way to feudalism and slavery

Kerala has a history of brutal caste slavery. In 1819 there were estimated to be one lakh slaves, most of them pulayns and cherumans and it continued even after it was abolished in 1855

There was no formal religion there till the influx of the Brahmins from the North. And from the ninth century to the eighteenth - when King Martanda Varma attempted to rein in the temples - temples became the most powerful economic and social force and the exploiter of those who worked on land. Temples were endowed with huge donations and Brahmins controlled the them almost exclusively and also owned large tracts of land. Rigidity of caste, inequality, savage patriarchy were the hallmarks of this period

Indian history is mainly the landscape of Aryans and "the arrival of Brahminism reversed all mechanisms of cultural production of the original inhabitants : those parts of mythology which held the pride of place were made into the antagonistic principle in the Hindu landscape". This robs the subalterns of their cultural capital and their rightful place in history. They are demonised as the villains whose tyrannical rulers deserved to be slain by the invasive Brahmins.

Brahminical hegemony was marked by Sanskritisation of subaltern gods and appropriation of their places of worship, control over the economic lives of original inhabitants through deceit and their relegation to the bottom of the social hierarchy

The Ayyappa shrine Sabarimala is one such example of appropriation by the Brahmins. Ayyappa is not a Hindu God. It finds no mention in the ancient texts. The Mala Arayans claim that it originally belonged to them. After the Brahmin takeover in the 20th century, it underwent significant changes in the mode of worship and women of menstruating age were forbidden from entering the temple since the 1950s

The Sangh Parivar continues with the Brahminical agenda of turning the Mavelinadu into a neo-colonial Hindu rashtra in its attempt to impose a monolithic culture on the country.

[Bilal · Rating 5 out of 5]

AV Shaktidharan debunks the idea of a ‘Hindu’ identity of Kerala and seeks to invoke the forgotten tribal/Buddhist identity which were always opposed to Brahmanism. The book goes into how Brahmanism co-opted indigenous and Buddhist elements of Kerala history and culture and homogenised the very rich, vibrant cultural landscape into the Hindu mould through the advent of Brahmin culture and the accompanying vile practice of caste system. Kerala’s fierce resistance to the Sangh Parivar and the repeated attempts of the BJP to stir up a communal rhetoric in order to enter Kerala’s politics fails miserably because of this heritage, which includes that of the most revered mythological character : Maveli. While going into the manifold theories of what led to the myth, one fact remains : Maveli remains an Asura character, an anti-God who was the most just and fair ruler, loved by all. This is juxtaposed on the popular right vs wrong, good vs evil, deva vs asura narrative that prevails in the North India, which has also been used to vilify and demonise any figure and outfit that the caste Hindu deems a threat to their hegemony. Of course, such a demonisation is hard to float in Kerala, the Antigod’s Own Country.

Shakthidharan ends the book with a very potent line : “At a time when the people of Kerala are emerging from the impact of the worst deluge of the century there should be a collective effort to guard against modern-day Vamanas and Parasuramas turning this Mavelinadu, warts and all, into a neocolonial Hindu rashtra and gifting it to greedy corporate brahmins.”

[Sasi Menon · Rating 5 out of 5]

AV Saktidharan's book is a compelling read for all those who watch with disdain the current trend towards subjugation of the subalterns into the straightjacket of mainstream Brahminism. Echoes of what he writes about were visible in Kerala when I was a child back in the '70s and '80s and which, over time, did give way to a more inclusive and egalitarian society.
However, we are seeing a resurgence of this Brahminism and it's ways, with the current ruling dispensation and this book is a must read for all those who care about stopping the current trend in it's path, in the interest of a better future.

[Laxmi · Rating 3 out of 5]

Provocative, made me think. Gave me a lens to see the changes I'm seeing in my own family. It also helped me dive into historical details of Kerala's complex caste system. Would have liked it if references were embedded within the book to provide credibility to claims and differentiate facts from opinions. The author's bias against the current govt is also very pronounced, which is why the references become important.

[Nitin Nair · Rating 3 out of 5]

Uses the word "subaltern" way too many times. This was a good book, that could have been so much better with tighter editing and structure.

[Pradeep Kirubagaran · Rating 5 out of 5]

Eye opener.. must read for South Indians and everyone who would like learn how to read between lines on religious myths..

[Jeevanesh · Rating 5 out of 5]

you'll never see hinduism the same. sharp in its critique and powerful in it message.

[Shilpa Rao · Rating 5 out of 5]

Brilliant book on:
1. The tyranny of the Brahmin reached the southernmost parts of India
2. The appropriation of pagan and Buddhism by Hinduism. Also Ayyappa and Sabarimala and how the Hindus have restricted the very people who built and actually pray to Ayyappa.
3. How land was stolen by the Brahmins from non-Brahmins
4. How Brahmins came to own lower castes and SC/STs as slaves - basically begged the Portuguese and the Dutch to let them have slaves to do labourers-intensive tasks.
5. A small mention on why the communist movement in Kerala is a class struggle and not a caste struggle
6. And of course about the great Mahabali and asuras and why they are revered despite what the Hindu texts have to say about asuras.

Basically, Hindus appropriated everything (Tribal gods, Buddhist and Jain practices) so they could sell this lie that a majority of the population in India was Hindu.

Mysore (Karnataka), Mahabalipuram (TN), Mavelikara (Kerala), Ballia (UP), Mahabaleshwar (Maharashtra) and many others are named after the great King Mahabali.

[Anoop · Rating 4 out of 5]

An interesting read.
The book is a kind of elaboration on the theory that the indigenous culture of Kerala, which was egalitarian and syncretic in nature- as per the author- was usurped sometime in early years of the millennia, with Brahminical Hinduism imposing its Chaturvarnya and caste system onto the hapless populace.

I don't care too much for conspiracy theories.

And there is actually no real evidence in written or otherwise that proves either- that there was a golden age in Kerala- a Maveli Nadu- where everyone was equal, justice ruled and happiness and prosperity abound or that there was any form of coercion when Brahminical Hinduism took root in Kerala.
The author provides neither.
Just a lot of speculative, but rather interesting stories.
The story of Onam though , which is central to the book, is interesting in that, it celebrates the visit of the overthrown Asura king Mahabali, who visits his beloved subjects in Kerala during Onam Season. The central plot of the Onam story wherein Mahabali is cunningly pushed to the netherworld by the diminutive Brahmin, Vamana points to the real incident of subjugation by violence and subterfuge of the Keralites indigenous culture by the tyrannical brahmins and imposition of caste system onto an egalitarian society.- as per the author.

Of course, these are all purely speculative theories.
And if Hinduism took root in Kerala beating other contenders like Buddhism and Jainism and other forms of ancestral worship that existed in Kerala, there has to be a groundswell of support and acceptance of Hinduism also of the local populace. Else it cannot happen.
It can't be an external imposition by Brahmins alone.

Notwithstanding the obvious slant of the author who evidently believes the conspiracy theory, the book is interesting and gives a lot of nuggets of information on early Kerala culture and traditions that existed.

[Appu · Rating 2 out of 5]

This book celebrates the heterodox (non-Brahmanical) religious and cultural traditions of Kerala, epitomised by the Onam festival, a commemoration of the Asura King, Mahabali. The book concludes with this ringing assertion:"At a time when the people of Kerala are emerging from the impact of the worst deluge of the century, there should be a collective effort to guard against the modern day Vamanas and Parashurams turning this Mavelinadu, warts and all, into a neo-colonial Hindu Rashtra and gifting it to greedy corporate Brahmins."
The dravidian, Buddhist and Jainist heritage of Kerala find mention. The subaltern origins of Ayyappa and Parasanikkadavu Mutthappa are discussed. The author bemoans the growing gentrification of indigenous deities of Kerala.
This is a timely book that dares to question the cultural homogenisation project going on in full steam throughout India. However it is a hastily written book. This reads like a rough first draft. Hopefully the author will come out with a more rounded edition in the future. I give it 5 stars for the content but only one star for the presentation.