Thevar Jayanthi
{{Short description|Annual Commemoration in Tamil Nadu}}
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{{context|date=October 2023}}
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{{Use British English|date=October 2013}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=January 2025}}
File:Thevar Jayanthi in Madurai, 2007.jpg during the 2007 Thevar Jayanthi centenary]]
Thevar Jayanthi ("anniversary" or "celebration of a special occasion", {{Literal translation|victory|victorious}}), celebrated on 30 October, is an annual commemoration of the birthday of Pasumpon Muthuramalingam Thevar. It is celebrated by the Thevar community in the southern districts of Tamil Nadu, the southernmost state of India.{{cite web|url=http://www.rediff.com/news/1998/oct/28tn1.htm |title=Security beefed up in Madurai for Thevar Jayanthi |work=Rediff.com |date=28 October 1998 |accessdate=29 October 2012}} Although not an official public holiday, many schools and businesses in the area remain closed on the day.{{cite web|url=http://www.hindu.com/2006/10/31/stories/2006103105270300.htm |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20111126003621/http://www.hindu.com/2006/10/31/stories/2006103105270300.htm |url-status=dead |archive-date=26 November 2011 |title=Thevar Jayanthi processions peaceful |date=31 October 2006 |work=The Hindu |accessdate=29 October 2012}}{{cite web|url=http://www.hindu.com/2005/10/31/stories/2005103116560300.htm |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121105033213/http://www.hindu.com/2005/10/31/stories/2005103116560300.htm |url-status=dead |archive-date=5 November 2012 |title=Thevar Jayanthi processions pass off peacefully |date=31 October 2005 |work=The Hindu |accessdate=29 October 2012}}{{cite web|url=http://www.hindu.com/2007/10/31/stories/2007103159910300.htm |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20071031145558/http://www.hindu.com/2007/10/31/stories/2007103159910300.htm |url-status=dead |archive-date=31 October 2007 |title=Thevar Jayanthi processions peaceful |date=31 October 2007 |work=The Hindu |accessdate=29 October 2012}}
Background
Although Thevar was active in politics, it is mainly his spiritual discourse that explains his following after his death. Additionally, the fact that his date of birth and death lie close to each other has been interpreted as a sign of supernatural powers.
Thevar Shrine
One of the main events on Thevar Jayanthi takes place at the samadhi (burial place) of Pasumpon Muthuramalinga Thevar, located some 50 miles distance from Madurai. Pilgrims gather to take part in the ceremonies at the samadhi on 30 October. In recent years, the ceremony at the samadhi has begun to attract politicians.{{Cite book |last=Robinson |first=Rowena |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=2cIOqGcvHqoC&pg=PA167 |title=Sociology of Religion in India |date=2004-02-20 |publisher=SAGE |isbn=978-0-7619-9781-8 |language=en |quote=One factor that enhanced Thevar's charisma after his death was the fact that his date of birth was very close to that of his death. Though there was one day's difference between the two dates, people celebrate both on 30 October. People regarded this as a rare phenomenon and a sign of his supernatural powers.}} Former Chief Minister M. Karunanidhi installed the 16-foot-tall statue of Muthuramalinga Thevar at the intersection of Goripalayam in Madurai on 5 January 1974. He also constructed the memorial for Thevar at Pasumpon village.{{cite web|url=https://www.news18.com/news/politics/the-magnetism-of-muthuramalinga-thevar-his-bond-with-bose-and-his-touch-in-tamil-nadu-politics-6262531.html |title=The Magnetism of Muthuramalinga Thevar, His Bond with Bose, And His Touch in Tamil Nadu Politics|work=news18 |date=30 October 2022 |accessdate=30 October 2022}}
Thevar Jayanthi
In 1979, Chief Minister M. G. Ramachandran announced the birth anniversary of Thevar to be celebrated as a government event. On 19 October 1994, then Chief Minister Jayalalithaa installed a life-size bronze statue of Thevar at the Nandanam junction facing the arterial Anna Salai in Chennai.{{cite web|url=https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city/madurai/aiadmk-dmk-vie-to-take-credit-for-honouring-muthuramalinga-thevar/articleshow/66437395.cms |title=AIADMK DMK vie to take credit for honouring Muthuramalinga Thevar|website=The Times of India |accessdate=31 October 2018}}
Golden Armour
File:MELAVALAVUDEVER90.jpg garlands the Thevar statue at Nandanam in 2004|200px]]
Tamil Nadu opposition leader J. Jayalalithaa visited the Thevar memorial on 30 October 2010 during Gurupooja. Many from Pasumpon requested that she gift a gold armour for the statue. On 9 February 2014, J. Jayalalithaa, then Chief Minister of Tamil Nadu, donated gold armour to cover the 3.5-foot-tall statue of Thevar. The gold armour weighs 13 kg and is estimated to be worth Rs 4 crore. The armour is kept in a nationalized bank locker in Madurai, and will be taken out and handed over to the organizer of the memorial every year between 28 and 30 October to observe Thevar Jayanthi Celebrations.{{cite web|url=https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city/chennai/jayalalithaa-gifts-13kg-gold-armour-for-thevar-leaders-statue/articleshow/30136891.cms |title=Jayalalithaa gifts 13 kg gold armour for Thevar leader's statue|work=The Times of India |date=10 February 2014 |accessdate=10 February 2014}}{{cite web|url=https://www.newindianexpress.com/states/tamil-nadu/2014/oct/27/gold-armour-gifted-by-jayalalithaa-adorns-thevar-statue-for-jayanthi-675755.html |title=Gold Armour Gifted by Jayalalithaa Adorns Thevar Statue for Jayanthi|work=newindianexpress |date=27 October 2014 |access-date=27 October 2014}}{{cite web|url=https://www.dtnext.in/news/tamilnadu/aiadmk-treasurer-receives-thevars-golden-armour-from-bank-744197 |title=AIADMK treasurer receives Thevar's golden armour from bank|work=dtnext |date=26 October 2023 |access-date=26 October 2023}}
Political controversy
The All India Forward Bloc, the political party to which Pasumpon Muthuramalingam Thevar belonged, has demanded that Thevar Jayanthi be declared a public holiday in Tamil Nadu.{{cite web|url=http://news.webindia123.com/news/ar_showdetails.asp?id=710090655&cat=&n_date=20071009 |title=Mid term polls linked to Cong stand on US nuke pact: AIFB|publisher=webindia123.com |date=9 October 2007 |accessdate=29 October 2012}}
The event is not entirely uncontroversial. The CPI(ML) Liberation has charged that the Tamil Nadu government should stop sponsoring Thevar Jayanthi celebrations, claiming that the event is utilized by the Casteist forces.{{cite web|url=http://www.cpiml.org/liberation/year_2009/jan_09/reports.html |title=Kerala : Land Reforms Undone |publisher=Communist Party of India (Marxist–Leninist) Liberation|accessdate=29 October 2012}}
2007 centenary celebrations
On 30 October 2007, the birth centenary of Pasumpon Muthuramalingam Thevar was celebrated. TN Chief Minister M. Karunanidhi took part in the celebrations in Pasumpon village.{{cite web|url=http://news.oneindia.in/2007/10/30/karunanidhi-jaya-pay-floral-tributes-to-muthuramalinga-thevar-1193737346.html |title=Karunanidhi, Jaya pay floral tributes to Muthuramalinga Thevar|publisher=Oneindia.in|date=30 October 2007 |accessdate=29 October 2012}} This was the first time in two decades that M. Karunanidhi participated in Thevar Jayanthi. At the celebrations, Karunanidhi suggested that Madurai Airport be renamed after Pasumpon Muthuramalingam Thevar. These moves were seen as an attempt by Karunanidhi's Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (DMK) party to challenge the supremacy of the rival All India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (AIADMK) over the Thevar community. The AIADMK leader J. Jayalalithaa criticized Karunanidhi's participation in the Thevar Jayanthi centenary program, stating that he did not believe in Thevar's ideas. Moreover, she claimed that her previous government had allocated 30 million rupees for the Thevar Jayanthi centenary, but that Karunanidhi's government had spent only five million rupees.{{cite web|url=http://indianchristians.in/news/content/view/1732/48/ |title=New Icon, Old Wounds |publisher=All India Christian Council|date=23 November 2007 |accessdate=29 October 2012}}
''116th Thevar Jayanthi (30 October 2023)''
On 30 October 2023, marking the 116th Thevar Jayanthi and the 61st Guru Pooja, Tamil Nadu Chief Minister M. K. Stalin led the observance by garlanding the statue of freedom fighter Pasumpon Muthuramalinga Thevar at the Goripalayam junction in Madurai . He was accompanied by senior DMK ministers and leaders, including P. Moorthy, Palanivel Thiaga Rajan, Thangam Thennarasu, Anbil Mahesh Poyyamozhi, and Madurai Mayor Indrani Pon Vasanth . Following the tribute, the CM also laid foundation stones for flyover construction in Madurai and visited Pasumpon, honoring Thevar at his memorial in Ramanathapuram.