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WOMEN, DOWRY and PROPERTY in TAMIL FOLK SONGS Author(S): VIJAYA RAMASWAMY Source: Proceedings of the Indian History Congress, Vol

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WOMEN, DOWRY and PROPERTY in TAMIL FOLK SONGS Author(S): VIJAYA RAMASWAMY Source: Proceedings of the Indian History Congress, Vol WOMEN, DOWRY AND PROPERTY IN TAMIL FOLK SONGS Author(s): VIJAYA RAMASWAMY Source: Proceedings of the Indian History Congress, Vol. 53 (1992), pp. 181-186 Published by: Indian History Congress Stable URL: https://www.jstor.org/stable/44142782 Accessed: 18-04-2019 07:06 UTC JSTOR is a not-for-profit service that helps scholars, researchers, and students discover, use, and build upon a wide range of content in a trusted digital archive. We use information technology and tools to increase productivity and facilitate new forms of scholarship. For more information about JSTOR, please contact [email protected]. Your use of the JSTOR archive indicates your acceptance of the Terms & Conditions of Use, available at https://about.jstor.org/terms Indian History Congress is collaborating with JSTOR to digitize, preserve and extend access to Proceedings of the Indian History Congress This content downloaded from 14.139.45.241 on Thu, 18 Apr 2019 07:06:12 UTC All use subject to https://about.jstor.org/terms 14 WOMEN, DOWRY AND PROPERTY IN TAMIL FOLK SONGS VUAYA RAMASWAMY* 0.1 I would like to begin this paper with an apocryphal story narrated by A.K. Ramanujam. Once upon a time, a passer-by saw an old woman searching tor something under the powerful street lamp. When asked what she was searching for, she said : "My house keys". She told him that she had lost the keys somewhere in the house but since it was dark inside she was searching for them outside where it was comparatively well lit! 0.2 One is tempted to apply this parable to the present context and claim that folk tradition, especially those oral traditions which are particular to women, can provide the best grass-roots perception of women within a patriarchal (or for that matter, matriarchal) system. An analysis of other sources ignoring this vital source would be like the old woman's search for the keys. 0.3 This paper will concentrate on attitudes towards both dowry and female property as reflected in women's folk songs. As Jan Vansina pointouts, folk songs constitute 'soft' evidence in contrast to inscriptions or classical literary sources which are relatively 'hard' evidence (Vansina : 1961). One of the implications of this is that the evidence cannot be fixed chronologically. Yet it is possible to locate folk tradition chronologically through an analysis of stylistic differences as * AM- 14053. Fellow, Indian Institute of Advanced Studies, Shimla. Himachal Pradesh. This content downloaded from 14.139.45.241 on Thu, 18 Apr 2019 07:06:12 UTC All use subject to https://about.jstor.org/terms Proceedings , I HC : 53rd Session. 1992-93 well as corelating the events narrated in them with actual historical events. Despite certajn inherent problems both anthropologists and historians are increasingly making use of such resources to build up a structure of the history of such neglected social, categories as craftsmen, peasants (inclusive of both genders) and women. In the light of this preliminary discussion, this paper will study folk perceptions, especially that of women on the crucial issues of dowry and property. I 1.1 Folk songs mark a major departure from other kinds of 'hard' evidence in that the cradle songs extol not merely the male child but also the female child. Some of these folk songs relates, to a time frame when society was patriarchal but not patrilineal. Women seem to have enjoyed a share in the family property. In fact, it was partly in order to keep the landed property within the family that the practice of cross-cousin marriages was initially devised in south India. In one cradle song, the woman sings : "since your birth, my darling Ç kannammá) The stigma has been swept away. The infertility of the barren woman has vanished since that day." However, at some point of time, the system seems to have become patrilineal while cross-cousin marriages continue even today as the remnant of an old tradition. 1.2 Tamil folk songs provide us with some fascinating new insights into the dowry system. A folk song from Madurai presents the traditional viewpoint of 'dowry' as groom price and also refers to the predictable treatment of women in a patriarchal society. In this song the young bride is Goddess Meenakshi, the presiding deity of the city of Madurai, and Shiva is Chokkanathar the groom. It is noteworthy that the imagery is from a farming life. Azhagar in this song refers to Vishnu who in the legend of Madurai is Meenakshi's brother. Heeding her tears, Azhagar gave as dowry all he could in this world. He gave sister Meenakshi Maana Madurai (an area of the district) And all the lakes and wells he gave her. All the arable lands of Madurai Harvesting the chamba rice Chokkan (Shiva) stood in the hot sun. Making a reed basket Meenakshi (note : basketry was woman's work) carrying the food and water jar swaying in her graceful walk, Went to give her husband food. 182 This content downloaded from 14.139.45.241 on Thu, 18 Apr 2019 07:06:12 UTC All use subject to https://about.jstor.org/terms Vijaya Ramaswaniy : Women, Dowry and Property in Tamil Folk Sony * Angered at her being late, Chokkan scattered the rice Shouting that there were pebbles in the food Chokkan got furious. Both in its reference to the dowry system and its description of a patriarchal set-up, this song depicts a conventional situation. But surprisingly, the majority of Tamil folk songs refer to parisamm i.e. bride price rather than groom price. 1.3 It must be pointed out here that the reference to bride price in the folk songs may in fact point to an indigenous tradition. In this context it must be stated that Sangam literature (roughly from 3rd century B.C. to A.D. 4th century) indicates that pre-Brahmanical Tamil society was not wholly patriarchal. It is striking that there is not even one reference to groom price or dowry in the Sangam texts while there is a plethora of evidence regarding the giving of bride price. An Ainkurunuru poem mentions that a hero from the maritime tract (Neydal) gave land to the bride's relatives before the marriage (Nataraja : 1 969:25). There are lengthy references to bride price in both the Aham and the Puram. A youth from Kurinji tinai attracted by a maiden from the Neydal tract, laments that it is very difficult for him to obtain his beloved even though he is willing to give "plenty of costly jewels and other presents". It can be argued that it is this facet of Dravidian culture which is carried over into Tamil folk tradition. 1 .4 In the following folk song, a woman makes fun of her beau who has no money to pay her dowry : If you cannot pay my parisam , my love, Why do you desire a pretty bird like me? Why do you come to court me incessantly pray, cease to impose your society on me. However, the mere fact of the payment of bride price does not take away the inherent problems of the overarching patriarchal structure which is male dominated. Yet, another songs from the Tirunelveli district shows that the groom's party has paid three hundred panams (since this figure appears again and again it must have been a conventionally fixed amount) for the girl, probably in the hope of gaining control over her property. But discovering that her father, a Mittadar (small time zamindar) was too poor to leave her a substantial property, the husband and the in-law ill-treat her. Father in law : Having paid three hundred and married the Mittadar's girl, My son cries for the past three days They have not given him a ring. Daughter in law : You need not have paid parisam for me you need not have held festivities in my honour I am the daughter of a poor father accept me as such, my father in law. 183 This content downloaded from 14.139.45.241 on Thu, 18 Apr 2019 07:06:12 UTC All use subject to https://about.jstor.org/terms Proceedings, IHC : 53rd Session , 1992-93 Despite the fact that the bride price or parisam system functioned within the limits of a patriarchal society, the wide prevalence of bride price in contrast to dowry is a significant pointer to the possibility that the dowry system was a late entry into the Dravidian culture. 1 .5 The major issue of women's property rights is also dealt with in the folk songs. The importance of Oppari or mourning songs (also called pilakkanam) in Tamil society is linked to the question of women's position in the domestic economy and the property question. This is one of the longest surviving traditions in Tamil culture, and one entirely created and preserved by women. But chronologically Oppari seems to belong to a period when society was not merely patriarchal but also patrilineal. The woman does not seem to have enjoyed property rights which would provide her with an economic cushion under conditions of widowhood. The practice of giving bride-land or manjakkani gifted by the father on the occasion of the daughter's marriage, seems to have fallen into disuse. Under these circumstances, the death of the husband rendered her destitute. Nor could she have any expectations from her husband's property or from her in laws. There are no lamentation songs by men mourning the death of their wives. Oppari is essentially the product of a patriarchal society in which women lament their personal and material loss.
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