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Globalisation Traumas and New Social Imaginary: Visvakarma Community of KeralaAuthor(s): George Varghese K.Reviewed work(s):Source: Economic and Political Weekly, Vol. 38, No. 45 (Nov. 8-14, 2003), pp. 4794-4802Published by: Economic and Political WeeklyStable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/4414253 .

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Globalisationraumasa n d N e w S o c i a l ImaginaryVisvakarma Community o f K e r a la

Withoutbeing able to identifywith either the upper castes or the lower castes on castequestions, or with left ideologies or rightist orces on the political front thevisvakarma ommunityof traditionalartisans in Kerala aimlessly wandersfrom one shelter toanother. The changes that are takingplace in the self-identity of this communitybuffetedby new economicforces provide a clue to the process of reformulationof communityidentities by middle caste groups in recent times.GEORGEVARGHESEK

lobalisationncombinationwithmechanisationswield-ing a devastatingnfluence on the traditional rts andcrafts of India at present.The case of the traditionalartisancommunityof Kerala,otherwisecalled visvakarmas,becomesa sordid ale of pauperisationnddispossessionnthiscontext.Thepredicaments pithilyputbyoneof thecommunityleaders,Sthanumalayan:Visvakarmaommunitys in thegripsof LPGatpresent.By LPGI mean iberalisation,auperisationandglobalisation".Thisstateof things s creatingsubtleshiftsin communitydentityand politicalbehaviour.Thevisvakarmaommunityonsistsof five subgroups:lack-smiths,carpenters, ell metalworkers, tonemasons ndgold-

smiths.2Theyare neither oo highnortoo low in thepollutionbasedcasteorderof Keralawhile at the same time never it intotheapparel f thegrimymanual abourer.Paritywith brahminshadbeena strident loganfor long as well as the argumentorthe recognition f theirprofessionas somethingmore exaltedthan manual abour,whichthey consideras a combination fscientific,artisticandmanualskills rolled into one. The truthor forceof thesearguments otwithstanding,hecommunitysstill in politicalwilderness and in the brinkof professionalextinction.Globalisation t presenthas added o theirtraumas.This hasalso incitedsubtle shifts in their dentityprojection tpresent.Manufacturingnewcommunity onsciousness n thebedrock f primordial loriesandits deploymentn thepresentpoliticsof communal argain ecomesalient nthisprocess.Butwealsonotice hisagendapitiably lounderingnnewerpoliticalboulderscreatedby the state underthe fiat of globalisation.Thecommunityhas many peculiaritieshat maketheir caseuniqueandprecariousspecially n thecase of Kerala.Firstofall theartisanommunitysclaimed obethe argest inglegroupunder heHindu old in Indiawith a population f 14 crores.3Similarly his is one of the veryfew castes in Kerala hathasits representationutside the state also. It is the third argestcommunityfterezhavasndnairs n heHinduold[Karmayugam,November2002:6]. Yet the artisancommunitynever made adecisivesocial orpoliticalpresencen Indiaor in Kerala. n thecaseof Keralaheywerealwaysmarginalisedndarespecifically

noteworthy for their ineptitude in fetching the communallybrokeredpolitical privileges. According to SobhaRamakrishnan,an ideologue of the community, "Visvakarmacommunity couldnever consolidate itself like other communities either politicallyorcommunally. It failed to organise politically since it never hada philosophical vision needed for political organisation. On theother hand, it could never organise communally also since itlacked a spirituality that could impart symbolic coherence to thecommunity's aspirations. We have lost the label of the Hinduitself due to the lack of this spirituality andhave become outcasteHindus" [Ramakrishnan 2003:5].The visvakarmacommunity's identityhadalways been pivotedaroundtheirprofession, almost aprioristically. Hence their claimto brahminism,a stridentrefrain n theircenturies long struggle,4had always been aligned to the theme of the retrieval of the oldglory of their crafts. The craft traditions, it is claimed, go backto the ancientIndusValley civilisation itself. Their work manualsinherited from the early history manifest high influence ofcosmology, geometry, astronomy, physics, meteorology andmetallurgy [Somanathan 1987, 1989]. The visvakarmas alsostrongly hold thatthey were the real architects of the IndusValleycivilisation and not the brahmins of today who were in factusurpers of their glory later. So improvements in theirpresent condition also mean the reinstatement of the dignity oftheir crafts.In the pragmatic terms their demand is that they should berecognised as the "traditionalor basic labourers"5 and be giventhe due protection, which even the unskilled labourers enjoy inKerala [Mathrubhumi, February 27, 2003:14; MalayalaManorama, February27, 2003:11]. Of course there are certainsections of labourers who arerecognised as traditionallabourersby the Kerala government and they are confined to four sectorsmainly: coir, cashew processing, fishing and hand weaving.According to R S Manian of Pazhayasala from the community,thisisunjust ince theseprofessions areveryrecentwhencomparedto the ancient crafts of the artisans. He argues that the traditionalcrafts associated with Visvakarma, the archetypalCreator of theHindupantheon,bear the stampof the primordialact.of Creationitself. Living matter like animals and plants were created onlyafterthe creation of the non-living matter like stones and metals.

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The artisanswork on the non-living matter like stones andmetals(except for wood) that were the first creations of the lord. Butironically the government gives protection as 'traditional indus-tries' to professions associated with vegetal and living matterslike coir, cotton and fish, which were subsequent creations aftermetals and stones (interview on March 18, 2003).'Tradition' and 'labour' have other connotations as well in theparlance of the brahminic ideology. First of all 'labour' in thepolitical economy sense, which means an intrinsic human actthat adds a definite value and therefore price to a product, hadneverbeenpresent n theHindu vision wedded to thecaste system.Ordinary abour was always considered polluting and menial. Inan upturned ideology the brahmin who spurned the physicallabourgoverned the Hindu cosmos andthe so-called lower castesthat toiled for the sustenance of the system existed on its fringesor even outside it. The category of labour was seriously distortedin the Indianideology and we find only its philosophical hyper-boles like karma, dharma, etc, circulating with currency anddignity. The rising in the scale of caste order for visvakarmastherefore means reinstatingthe dignity of their profession on parwith that of the ancient crafts in the pre-brahminicandpre-casteperiod. At present this is possible only through higher economicreturnsfor their work and stable working conditions, which canbe guaranteed only through the protective measures of thegovernment.But underthe imperatives of globalisation the state is alreadywithdrawingthe support to the traditional crafts and industrieslike coir industry, cashew processing and hand weaving. Underthis general turmoil the visvakarma artisans who once hoped toimprovetheirsocio-economic position arefloundering on fresherboulders created by the state. The community today is a dis-illusioned lot especially with the serious dislocation of the gold-smiths. They are launching many struggles under the banner ofVisvakarma communal organisations and various trade unions.Their acute sense of futility seems to eventuate the increasinginfluence of the Hindutva ideology as well as the rearticulationof theirhistory with a new logic. The latterlooks awkward manya time.

The visvakarma community traces its lineage to LordVisvakarma,the divine architect of the Hindu pantheon. and hisfive children. Itis believed thatthe five children(orfive essences)of Visvakarma,Manu, Maya, Tvashta, Shilpi andVisvajna werethe forefathers of the five groups among the visvakarma com-munity. Manu was believed to be the forefather of the black-smiths, Maya of carpenters, Tvashta of metal casters, Shilpi ofstonemasons and the last one Visvajna of the goldsmiths. Thetitle 'visvakarma' was adopted only recently, before that thecommunity was known underthe name 'kammalan'. Kammalanwhich according to EdgarThurston, may have derived from theTamil 'kannalan' or 'kannalar' which means 'one who rules theeye or one who gives the eye' [Thurston 1909:106]. This refersto the ritual act by the artisanor the artificer who makes the idolcoming forward and painting its eyes at the end of the conse-crationceremony of a temple or a 'vihara'. In Ceylon and southIndia, this act of 'eye painting ' or 'netra-mangalya' is believedto infuse the idol with the divine powers before which it is onlya lump of metal or clay [Coomaraswamy 1979:70-75: Singer1972: 122].6

The visvakarmas occupy an ambivalent position in the casteorder. Distance pollutionmarkedtheearlycaste system in Kerala,which was prevalent till the 20th century. Though no morepractised, its spatialisation is still the best indicator of each caste'sposition within the ideology of caste order.Ayyappan, theethno-grapherof Kerala,furnishes us with thespatialscale of this systemaspractised n 1937. The namboodiri brahminwas the solarcentreof thesystem. A nair mustkeep seven feet away from him, ezhava32 feet, a cheruman 64 feet and a nayadi from 74 to 124 feet.In turn the various distances between the lower castes werededuced by simple subtraction: he ezhava mustkeep 25 feet fromthe nair, and cheruman 32 feet from the ezhava. Castes likenayadis were not only untouchables but 'unseeables' also[Hutton1969:80]. The visvakarmawas supposed to stand 24 feetaway from the brahminaccordingly [ibid]. So he stood eight feetahead of an ezhava and 17 feet behind the nair.The system was 'audio-visual' with the rules of pollution basedon sight, touch and sound. The nair who stood seven feet awaycould not touch the brahmin. The nayadi who was to remainbeyond 74 feet could pollute by sight also. The visible circum-ference of this sacred space seems to have the limit point at64 feet where the cheruman stood. The ezhava who stood at32 feet away from the namboodiri constituted the middle pointof this cosmos. If we add a physical-spatial dimension to theideological hierarchyof Dumont7 the ezhava's position logicallybecomes the threshold point between the purity-pollutiondivide of the system. It means the community that occupied thispoint was neither too polluted nor too pure. In that case thevisvakarma at 24 feet stood within the vantageous segment ofpurity.But this did not secure the visvakarmas any socially significantposition under the brahminic hegemony. This they believewas the result of a historic villainy perpetrated by the brahmins(see below). Their position in the middle of the caste orderbecame critical. Being neither too pure nor too polluted madethem a pivotal caste between the upper and the lower ones. Asa result their professional status became ambivalent. Theybuilt temples, sculpted the deities, made their ornaments andthese were undoubtedly pure and sacred acts. But the momentthese acts were finished they were thrown out deemed aspolluted. Thus straddling pollution and purity indecisivelybecame their jinxed life state or existential ontology underbrahmindominance.

IllThe disasters in the occupational front have roused manyideological and political responses from the visvakarma com-munity, which is especially noteworthy for disunity, factional

fights and incoherence. This derives from the lack of an integralvision about the community identity on which their strugglescould be launched. This in turn is pivoted on the peculiar waytheir profession and caste order are bound up together. Theargument for upper caste status is inextricably bound up withthe historically claimed merit of their crafts. So their putativebrahminismandthe dignity of theircrafts go up or sink together.The community identity thusbecomes a resilient node that couldbe pulled from various directions and also one that could bemanipulated by a host of ideological and political forces thatrange from hardened Marxism to fundamentalist Hindutva. AsPaul Zachariah, the famous litt6rateur of Malayalam told me,

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"This is the most confused community about their own identityin Kerala".The identity of the community suffers from a numbercontra-dictions engendered both within and without. The immigrantTamilgoldsmiths consider only themselves to be brahminswhilethey hold their Malayali kins to be an inferior and untouchablejati. Even within the Malayali fold there is no unity. As aninformanttold me this is because of the 'bad ego' deriving fromthe nature of the respective professions of each group. "Thegoldsmith, since he works upon the precious metal, thinks thathe is the most superior. The blacksmith, since he works uponiron, which is the most essential and strongest of metals, thinksthat he is higher. On the other hand the bell metal worker andstonemason since they make human andeven divine forms thinkthatthey are the greatest. The very medium they work upon andthe nature of the profession foment jealousy towards each otherand prevent the community from coming together."Again thecommunity always identified with wrong ideologiesand causes at wrong times, thus thinks many influential ideo-logues of the community. For a long time, to be exact till 1980s,the community identified with communism, which hamperedtheir prospects, according to one of the vice-presidents of theKVS. Almost 70 per cent of the community had always beenLeft Frontsupportersheadedby theCPI(M) [Karmayugain,April2002:6]. But the Left Front never did anything worthwhile toimprove their condition. Similarly the identification with thecommunists also prevented them from participating effectivelyin the freedom struggle led by the Indian National Congress.According to Karamana Balakrishnan, one of the communityleaders, "There were very a few freedom fighters from thecommunity ikeMoothapillai Achari fromChoorakkattupalayam.The community somehow missed the legacy of the Indian free-dom struggle" (interview on March 22, 2003). The communityfailed to organise under an eminent community leader duringthe freedom struggle, which in fact happened to many othercommunities, like the nairs and ezhavas. P R Devadas, thepresident of K V S, cites another interesting incident. Duringthe freedomstruggle, when the outcaste pulayas were organisingunder hecommunity leaderAyyankali, the uppercastes beathimup for travelling in a decorated bullock cart ('villuvandi') whichwas forbidden to the lower castes at that time. In the group thatbeat up this pulaya leader there was one Kesavan Achari fromthe visvakarmacommunity who identified himself with the uppercastes. This, according to Devadas. shows that "thecommunityalways stood with its back turned to history and always failedto imbibe the social changes occurring around it" [ibid:10].We again notice that it is not the paucity of communalorganisations or similar cultural outfits within the communitythat has thwarted the construction and projection of a viablecommunity identity. The first communal organisation of thesmiths in south India was started in 1903 in Madras namely the'Visvakarma Kulabhimana Sabha'. After that we see a numberof communalorganisations budding, growing, splitting, mergingand vanishing among them. The year of India's freedom 1947witnessed the formation of the Akhila ThiruvithamkoreVisvakarmaMahaSabha(ATVMS) in theTravancorearea. After10 years in 1957 it grew into a statewide organisation calledAkhila Kerala VisvakarmaMaha Sabha (AKVMS). Many localassociations coexisted with this frontalorganisation while manyassociations emerged newly due to factional rivalry in this period[Achary 1998:305]. Some of them like Kerala Visva Brahma

Maha abhaKVBMS) ndKeralaVisvakarmalaanghamKVS)emergedas rivals to the MahaSabha.According o VikramanAchary,who wrotea thesison thepoliticalmodernisationf thecommunity, 'RoundTableConference' tselfwasheld n 1966in Aluvaunder he initiativeof the MahaSabha o resolve heseinternecine onflicts(ibid).Then n 1968anentirelynew asso-ciationemergedunderthe name VisvakarmaServiceSociety(VSS). But this groupwas allegedof articulatinghe interestsof onlyonegroupamong hevisvakarmas,hegoldsmiths.Theyear2001 witnessed hemerging f three eparate rganisations,AKVMS,VSS and Tamil Visvakarma amooham TVS) intoa singlefrontaloragnisation,KeralaVisvakarma abha KVS).Also asectionof theTamilgoldsmithswho consider hemselvesdistinct romothers speciallyon thequestion f brahminicurityhave formed heirown oraganisation amely,Visva BrahmanaKulodharanaSangham(VBKS). They also organisedundertwo political partiesof theirown namely ProgressiveDemo-cratic Front PDF)andBharathiya abourParty BLP) n 1980sand 1990srespectively, o negotiatemoreeffectivelywiththegovernment,but failed miserably(interviewswith differentcommunity eaders).The claim to brahminstatus or the equivalenthad alwaysbeenone of themainstays f visvakarmadentity.Theyconsiderthe brahmins whom they call 'go-brahmins'withn air ofcontemptand themselves visvabrahmins' havealwayscon-stituted he 'Other' f thecommunity.8The notionot the'Other'in thecaseof visvakarmasasanidenticalormasthebrahminicone but with a different ontent. n thecaseof thebrahminsheOtherbecomesa mediated ategoryratherhananoppositionalone. The Otherwas alwaysincorporatedhrougha processof'inclusivism'and 'hierarchisation'Jaffrelot1996:4;Dumont1998] The failureto address he Other n terms of oppositioninhibited he growthof the Hinduconsciousness,according othe Hindunationalists f theearly20thcentury.Thisis because:

Hinduism as alwaysrecognisedhe existenceof 'aliens'and'barbarians'mlecchas).But suchgroupswere made heobjectof discrimination,ot on the basisof ethniccriteria utbecausetheydidnot onformotheprescribedituals f which heBrahminsweretheguardians. ncethis obstaclehad been removed herewasnolonger barrierreventingheir ocio-culturalntegration.In thisprocess he internalogicof thecastesystemreveals tscapacityorassimilation:n so far as thehierarchyepresentssystemof gradation asedon the notionof ritualandpurity,everyone an find a place n it, below he Brahmins,ccordingto hisdegreeof conformitywith the exaltedvaluespersonifiedby BrahminsJaffrelot 996:2-3].The Hinducommunity, or nationalists ike Golwalker,s acommunity f 'lack' in the Zizekian erms[Hansen1997:271].Theessenceofthecommunitysemptyand nexpressible.tcouldonlybefeltrather handefinedormeasured. hisemptiness lsopromotespossibilityof the production f more insidiouscom-munal maginaries s 'fantasyconstructs upporting eality', ouse a Zizekian xpressionagain[ibid:181].Thelackperceivedinthepresentmakes he maginaryurveback ofictionalUtopiasandprimordialworlds in whichthe communityn question senvisagedas therulersandmasters.Castoriadisonceptualisesit cogently:It(thesignifier) esignateshecollectivitynquestion, ut tdoesnotdesignatetaspure xtension;tdesignatestatthesame imeas ntention,ssomething,quality raproperty.Weare eopards.Wearemacaws.We are heSonsof Heaven.We are hechildren

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ofAbraham,hechosenpeoplewhomGodwillmakeriumphverhisenemies.Wearethe Hellenes thepeopleof light.We callourselves,r others allusGerman, rank, eutsch, lav.We rethechildren f God,whosufferedor us..., the namewasnotrestrictedo denotinghembut at the sametimeconnoted hemas well- and hisconnotationefers o a signifiedhat s notandcannotbe eitherreal or rational,but imaginary...[Castoriadis1987:148].In the case of Hindu nationalism, he Vedic 'GoldenAge'connotes he primordial randeur,which latercollapsedunderthe incursion f alienOther.Now the retrieval f thisprimordialglorydependson thevanquishing f the Other hroughmilitantnationalism.The visvakarmadentityconstructionmanifestsan identicalhistorical maginary f similar ntensity,but with a construedChronotope9 nd with the sameactors n changedroles.In thetraditionalHinduworldview, o which the Hindu nationalistssubscribed,heVedicworldwasconstructed ithspecificnotionsof territory,anguageand social structure.The Aryansof theVedic times were deemedas thechosenpeopleof godto whomthe formlessgod revealed heperfectknowledgeof the Vedas.Some time afterCreation heycame down to Aryavarta theterritory etweenHimalayas ndVindhyamountains,heIndusandBrahmaputraand then became the mastersof the earth.They nstructedhe inhabitantsn the 'mother f all languages',theSanskrit,efore alling nto dolatry nd uperstitionJaffrelot1996:16]. he egacyof theAryansontinuedhroughhebrahminswho institutedpolytheismand caste system,the pivotsof theHindu ultureater. n theensuinghierarchical rder hebrahminbecame heapexpoint o whosepre-eminence verythingn theHinduworld was subjugated.The visvakarma enditionof the Vedic world andits legacybecomesa mutated ersionof the brahminic ne. Forthemthebrahminsavecompletelymisrepresentedheirrole n theVedictimes,whichwasnothing hortof villainyandmanipulation.oraprominentistorianrom hecommunity, davaSomanathan,10the Hindureligionand brahminicreligion are two differentthings.ThetrueHindureligionwas pre-brahminic, edic andegalitarian. he brahmins nly created he four castedivisionsandalsothefifthdivisionof untouchablesalled hePanchamarslater.SageVyasawhocompiled he Vedas standsat theprove-nance of this contrivance The Jains used to call this Hindureligioncorrupted y brahminsVyasa religion'withcontempt[Somanathan 989:120].The enseof 'lack'atpresent romptshecommunityo ransackthe reasons or it in theVedic milieu as similar o theromantictheorisations f Hindunationalism.As usualtheystrongly eelthat heprimordialworldwas theirsandtheywere the mastersof it.The ocus of thispre-brahminicorldwasAryavartatselfand the civilisationthey gave rise to was the IndusValleyCivilisation. The Vedic Civilisation and the Indus ValleyCivilisation were one and the same. This was an 'ArtisanCivilisation' n contradistinctiono the laterauthenticationhatit wasaryan/brahminic.t was anegalitarianivilisationwithnocastedivisions n it. Theartsandscienceswerehighlydevelopedin thismilieuwith housands f treatises roduced nastronomy,metallurgy,hemistry,geography,physics,textiletechnology,architecturendevenaerodynamics. heymadeevenaeroplanesusinga rarealloycalled'rajaloham'royalmetal)[ibid:24-27].In ancient ndiathe artisanwas an artistparexcellence:the'silpin'or 'silpan'.The productsof arts and crafts were not

consideredas inert or alienatedobjects of their creatorsbutsomething hatcontained he live creativespiritof the artistorthe silpin;moreprecisely nsteadof objects theyweresubject-objects.Thiscreative pirit hatshapedheobjectsof artor craftswas partof the cosmic spiritthat ruledeverything.Hencetheproducts f artsor craftswereequally he vehiclesof Maya, heplayfulexpressions f the Absolute.Andtherefore he exclama-tion of theartistorcraftsman eforehis or her creation"Ohowdid I makeit? [Kramrisch 954:14].Silpawas a complexconceptconstituted f manyaspects ikeart,craft, abour, ngenuity,rite and ritualas well as formandcreation.Therefore ilpi more thana mere technicalperformerbecomes an agentof magicaland divinepowers.The crafts nearly ndia mbracedhewholeof theculture ndethosandhencecameto be classifiedas 64 artsor kalakal. ts variegated angeincludedmundane rafts ike potterymakingandblacksmithy,magicaland occultpracticesandeven agonisticartsof love aslaid downin the Kamasutra.On the otherhand,vidyaor puresciences formedonly halfthe numberof arts: hirty-twon theancientIndia[Kramrischn Miller 1983:59-60].Thesilpinsortheartisans f IndusValleywereoriginallyalled'Vis' or 'Vissa',derived rom thePaliusage'Viskamma'.The

laterbrahminismnd ts language,Sanskrit,orruptedhisorigi-nal Paliexpression. n thisamendationvissa ' became vaisya'which signified a lower status. From 'vaisya' the name'visvakarma'ught o haveevolvedaccordingoscholars.FromthePali 'viskamma' hedravidiankamma' nd kammalar'ookbirth n all probabilitySomanathan 987:28].The vissas wor-shippedBrahma ndhisdemiurge, isvakarma. helatermem-bersof the HinduTrinity,VishnuandSiva were not importantin this originalpantheon.There were a numberof templesforBrahma n this period.Later,cleavagesrendthis Vedic com-munity pecificallyduetotherivalrybetween hesagesVasishtaand Visvamitra.Vasishtaconspiredwith one of the kings,Sudasana,who foughtthe 10 clans of the artisansandfinallydestroyed hem.The Induscivilisationdeclinedeventuallyandtheartisan issas fled todifferent arts f theworld Somanathan1989:76-77;1987]. Vasishtawho was instrumentaln the de-structionof these artisansnurtured notherpriestlyclass whobecame the brahmins ater. The brahmins nstituted he newHinduTrinityn whichBrahmawasgivenaninferiorplace.Allhis templesweredestroyedand the decree was passedthat heshould not be worshipped nywhere n the Aryavarta.Andhowdidthe brahmins oarandtheartisans ink?For thevisvakarmadeologuesa differentchronotopes discerniblenthe pre-history f India.This chronotopes markedby a deepscission in the stretchof Indianhistoryfrom the laterpartofthe Induscivilisationaround2500 BC to 1000 BC. This is theperiod hat s calledthe 'DarkAges' of the Indianhistory.Weget thefaintglimpseof theVedicperiod romVedasespeciallyRigVeda. Thensuddenly here s a gapof 1,500yearswith nohistoricaldocuments.Thenhistory s bornanew around1000BCandJainism ndBuddhismollowsaround 00BC.The1,500darkyearsbetween2500 BC and 1000BC is the criticalperiodfor thevisvakarmas. heyclaim that nthisperiod hebrahminsdid everythingpossibleto deliberately rasethe tracesof theirgloryin the Vedic/Indus eriod[Somanthan 989:42-43].The argument oes as follows. We find evidenceof scriptsandwritingsn theIndusperiod.Thearchaeologists ave foundout around400 letters rom the writingson seals, vessels, etc,retrievedrom heHarappa-Mohanjadaroites. So if writingwas



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knownin the Vedic/Indusperiodhow come the Vedas werepreservedn the oral traditionor thousandsof yearstill theyweretranslatedo Sanskritbornonly around3rdcenturyBC?The answers simple.The brahminswho wanted o destroy hegreat egacyof the artisansandfoist theirown glorydestroyedeverytraceof historicaland culturalrecords hatspokeaboutthe artisans nd heircivilisations.So thethousands f scientifictreatisesof the Indusperiodwere destroyed.But Vedas weresparedince heyunderstoodhatwithproperonstrualheycouldbe used as vehiclesto freight heirown gloryalso. But to keeptheexclusivepreserve f themthey destroyed he written ormsof Vedasand insteadstartedkeepingthemin theirown headsby by-heartinghem.Thus started he oraltradition f SruthisandSmrithishroughwhich Vedas weretransferredromgene-ration to generationfor hundredsof years. Only with thesystematisationf Sanskrit yPaniniaround rdcenturyBCtheVedaswerereproducedn the written orm[ibid:96-101,115]."Sanskritwas the last shroud preadon thecorpseof the VedicGoldenAge"[ibid: 34].This also markedhedescentof Indiafromthe 'AeroplaneAge' of the artisans o the 'Bullock-cartAge' of the brahmins ibid:131].TheoriginalVedicconception fthecosmoswasdifferentromthe laterbrahminic ne. It was called 'Visvabrahmam'reatedbyvisavkarma,hedemiurge fBrahma. t s interestingonoticethatthis cosmos was oragnisedon the principleof 'five' or'pancha'.Accordingly he Brahma/Visvakarmariginallyhadfive faces. Hehadfive children romwhomthe five groupsofthe artisancommunity ook birth.Therewere originallyfiveVedaswith PranavaVeda as the last one. Itwas suppressed ythe aterbrahmins utretainedts essenceas theone-wordmantraof OM.The variousaspectsof mundane ife also cameto be orderedon thisprinciple f five. The landof Induswhere hey ived tselfwasPanjab,the andof five rivers'.They ollowedanegalitarianadministrationasedontheruleof fivecalled panchayat', hichconstitutes he basicunit of civil administrationven atpresentinIndia.1Ipanchagunafivequalities),panchakalyaniapeculiarhorse), 'Panchavadyam' (five musical instruments),'panchakarma'(five practices of Ayurvedic medicine),'panchgavya'a sacred ood madeof thefive products f cow),'pancharatna'fivediamonds),panchangam'the ive-partndianastrologicalalendar),panchamrutam'foodmadeof five sweetedibles), panchadukham'five sorrows), tc, weresome of thefive-based aspects of this prelapsarian eality [Somanathan1989:51-55;Raveendran 998:22-40;Suvarnakar988:13-17].The four aterHindu ife stagescalled 'Varnashramaharma'.were also five in theearlyperiod.Thestageafterdeathwas thefifth one. Death s only a 'homecoming'of the human oul tothe Visvabrahmamo be bornagain according o the Hindutheology;and,therefore,histemporary tagewas alsodeemedas a life stageor AshramaDharma Natarajanl997:17].In contrapositiono this, the later brahmins eorganisedheclassicalworld ntirelyontheprinciple f 'four'or'chatur'.Thefive Vedaswerereduced o four.Among he ive facesofBrahma/Visvakarmanewaschopped ff. From he ourpartsfBrahma'sbodyfour Varnaswere born.There came to be instituted ourDharmas nd ourAshramaDharmasccordingly. ourages, ourdirections,ourarts, ourcraftsall followed rom his reduction.Even cow came to be venerated ince it has four legs. Thiselevationof fourcorrespondinglyebased he orderof five into'panchama'hat ame orepresent verything owlyandpolluted

in the brahminic ideology. Under this tainted category came tobeincludedthe 'mleccha' (foreigner), nishada(squatter),chandala(the untouchable), avarna (casteless) and the adivasi (tribal)[Walker 1968,Vol II: 172-75].12The defeat of artisans and the destruction of Indus civilisationby Sudasanaon the counsel of Vasishta resulted inthemass flightof the Visavakarmas to otherpartsof the world. For Somanathanthe Indus civilisation was the 'mother of all civilisations' andthe artisans who fled to different parts of the world from theIndus became the creators of cultures in other partsof the world.Deploying an incrediblehistorical Chronotope he tries to authen-ticate a fabulous Indus-centric theory of diffusion of worldcultures. He argues that the first temples in the world were builtby the Visvakarmas of Indus, which then spread to other partsof the world with their migration. The sun temples of Egypt andSumer, the temple of Athena in Troy, the Mother Goddess ofPhilistines, etc, were Indian gods and goddesses. But it is note-worthy that they were all Vedic gods of the artisan period likeSun, Varuna, Indra, etc, and not the brahminic gods like Sivaor Vishnu who emerged later. It was not only the areas surround-ing India like Persia or Arabia that came under the influence ofthefleeing visvakarmas but even places as far as Egypt, Polynesiaand America. The Aztec civilisation was built by the artisanswho went there from Indus. The Maya civilisation of SouthAmerica was another one, which inherited the legacy of theVisvakarmas of Indus. The name 'Maya' itself derived from thename of the second son of Visvakarma, Maya [Somanathan1987].Europealso came under the overriding influence of themigrantartisans of Indus. The gypsies and pagans of Europe were theirdescendants. The notion of 'commune' in Europe from whichcommunism evolved in fact originated from the settlements ofthe early artisans. The name 'Viskamma'of earlier artisansshrunkto 'kamma' later. The social order of these artisans wasegalitarian and their settlements were called kammakkudi,kammatheruvu, kammakulam, etc. The notion of egalitarian'commune' derived from these 'kamma'(or Camma)settlementsof the early artisans. Marx and Engels who wrote about theCommunes of Europe failed to take note of this umbilical re-lationship with Indus civilisation and the artisan makers of it[Somanathan 1989:18-21].

IVTheidentityprojectionatpresentevinces a morecritical outlookand negotiatory spirit as necessitated by the political bargainsbased on communal headcount and the worsening employmentconditions. As a result there has been a deliberate effort recentlyto put a check on the fissiparous tendency prevalent among thecommunity organisations earlier and a conscious effort to showunity. This had an initial success when the three communalorganisations AKVMS, VSS and TVS merged into KVS onMarch 14,2001, theeve of the assembly elections. This was doneprimarily to negotiate with both the Left and the United Frontsfor more political spoils in the name of the community. The LeftFront headed by CPI(M) didn't oblige, so KVS declared opensupport o theUnited Frontheadedby theCongress. TheCongressdealt with them better and gave two assembly seats to thecommunity members, one of which they won. The United Frontalso assured them in their manifesto that if they came to powerthey would implement the most importantdemand of the com-



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Figure:Support of Goldsmiths to Different Political Parties3.16per 8.42percent cent46.32per 27.37percent cent

D1.05per 1.05per ent 12.63perentcento UnitedDemocraticFront E3LeftDemocraticFront

1 Bharatia anathaParty O NationalistCongress PartyO JanathaDal O No political artyO No responseSource:Survey onducted nMarch, 002, inTrissur.Thissurvey sconductedamong hegoldsmiths nlyas part f another tudyongoldtrade ntheTrissurcityof Kerala.Thesamplepopulationonssted of hundredandftygoldsmithsfrom hree areas n-Trissurwheremost of the goldsmithsare concentrated:Viyyoor, herp andKzha mpattukar. houghhis e nota folndicatorfthes llbt: sympathiof the Visvakarmaommunitysawhole,yet tshows hegenera rendmunity: hattheyshouldbe declaredas 'traditionalabourers'.Butnothing f thissorthashappenedillAugust2003,aftermorethantwo yearsof United Front n power.It is noteworthyhatthe Visvakarmas ave alignedwith allthe political ronts n the last 20 yearsin the majorelections.It seemsthatwitheverydecade hey changesupport.Except ora short nterludeheywere the supporters f the Left Front nthe 1980s.Early1990s sawher shiftingthe allianceto BJP.They along with a few otherbackward ommunities OBCs)formedBharathiya abourParty(BLP)andalignedwith BJPin the elections.The alliancebrokemiserablyater.Again,aswesaw,thebirth f the newcenturyhad hemshiftingallegianceto the UnitedFrontunderCongress.This alliancehas also notfructifiedn any meaningfulway till now.Their ommunalolitics herefore ecomesarestlesstinerancyfrom one campto the other andgettingmoredebilitatedwitheachswitchover.Theimage hecommunity sawholeconveysisundependabilityndopportunismormany romotherpoliticalparties.All politicalparties n Keralaview them as a taken orgranted otebank hatcouldbe luredon theeve of the elections.Butsuchpoliticalwanderlust,ormally quatedwith deologicaleffeminacy, ould be critical n its long-term ffects when seeninthebackdropf thegrowth urveof Hindunationalismn India.The super-saturated inducore of visvakarma deology inconjunctionwith the lack felt from the continuouspoliticaldebacles ould ncite nethno-religious ovementntheHindutvalinesor make hem dentifywiththe mainstream indutvaorceson bargainedermsandconditions. t seems thatthe Hindutvaideologyis gainingmorepopularityamongthe city-dwellingvisavkarmasndtheyouths.A survey n Trissur,whichhas thelargest oldsmith opulationnKerala, hows BJPcommandingsupportecondonlyto Left FrontwhiletherulingUnitedFrontis pushedto the third place. Accordingto informant romTrivandurm,heHindutvadeology s gainingpopularitymongtheyouthof thecommunitynot as a utilitariannstrument utas a refugeto hold on amidstthe presentconfusions."This sjust becausethey give respectto our symbols.The BMS has

acceptedVisvakarma s thepatron odof craftsand abour.Thepsychology hatwe worship yourgod', therefore,giveusvote'works to a greatextent. Moreover,Hindutvagives a betterpersonaldentity o the otherwise acelessVisavkarmasteepedin poverty oday.Theirkhakishorts, he red vermilionmarkonthe foreheadand the lathi in the handrenderan immediatelyidentifiablendividualityo people".But the leadership ontradicts his. According o one of thevice-presidents f KVS, there is no substantialnfluenceofHindutva n thecommunity.Thecommunitys pragmatic ndwouldonly resort o a political ine thatcouldhelpthem solvetheirproblemsntheoccupationalront."Everybodynows hatin KeralaBJP is nevergoingto come to power.So what s thepoint n supportinghem?Of courseout of suddenresentmentwith the other wo Fronts,whichignored he community,heymight supportBJPtemporarilys in the earlierelection.Whatis the use of an emptyvessel for a man who is hungry?Onlya vessel filled with food makesanysense to him. So peoplearenotgoingto supportBJPwhich cannotdelivergoodsin Keralain the presentsituation" sserted he vice-president.Though here s a tentative wingto the BJPcampthis alsodoesn'tshow a clearpathof progression.Notwithstandingheiridentification ithwhat spotentially egativen theVisvakarmaHinduism,he BJP eadershipefuses o sharepowerwith themin anymeaningfulmanner.They also tryto nurture hem as avote bank.The Left treated hembadlyin the 2001 elections.When heyasked oraspecificnumber fseats orthecommunitymembers n return or politicalsupport he leadership etortedbrazenly.One of themasked,"Who n Keralawill vote for agoldsmithf heis fieldedasacandidaten thepresent ituation?"(interviewwithKaramanaalakrishnann March 8,2003).TheUnitedFrontalsoditched hem afterwinning he last electionswith theirsupport.It seems that herearesomecongenital lawsat workbehindtheirno-escape ituation ndperennial oliticalmarginalisation.Firstly,here s somethingnnate ntheir deologyandworldviewthatpreventshemrom allying nder coherent oliticaldeologyor political eader.Secondly, here s some structurallasticityin theirworldview hatfacilitates heir identificationwithpo-litical deologiesofallhues: rom eft,centrist o farright.Thirdly,though heyare the largestsinglecommunityunder he Hindufold in possessionof a religio-ideological ystempotentially sxenophobic s militantHindunationalismheyhavenever hownanycapacity o rallyunder t ina combativemanner.Fourthly,as acorollaryo theabove, ntheirhands hispotentially xplosivesuper-brahminicdeologybecomesan instrument f subjectionand self-surrender.The symbol parexcellence thatrepresentshe communitystheirpatronordVisvakarma imself.As mentioned reviouslyheis thedivinearchitectwhoas thedemiurge f Brahma reatedtheuniverse ndeverythingnit,accordingo theHindu eligion.But thisgod also suffersfromconfusionsas regardshis statuswithin heHindupantheon.13n an interesting omplementhedestinyof the god andhis peoplecoincide. The god's exaltedpositionin the pre-brahminic edic cosmology, the eventualcutting o size by brahminicheologyas anartisan od,andthepresentmarginalisationith imited ppeal ndnotemples ecomean ronic ommentaryn thedestinyof hispeoplewho alsolivedthrougha similarhistorical rajectory.The god is beingacteduponatpresentbyhemoder forces,which ecreate nd egitimisehim in strange hapesand rolesbackedup by quaint heologies



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andcompulsions f politics.The forms thegod assumeand theincumbentegitimacy ecomes oenjoyalso become hesemioticbarometerf howhispeople are n theirworldlypathatpresent.So let us try to look into this people by gaugingthis divinebarometer.Visvakarmas theHinduVulcan,'theshaper'of thingsbothcelestialand terrestrial.He built the heavensandpalacesof allthegods:Indra'sVaijayanta,Kuberaand Ravana'sLankaandthePandavas'ndraprastha.Helso created abulous nimalsikeIndra'horse,UchchaiSravas.Buthis most amousartefactsweretheweapons fgods:Indra'shunderbolts, artikeya'sanceandShiva's ridentIons1967:88].VisvakarmasBrahma'semiurgeis alsoknownbynames ikeVidhatricreator),Karuworkman),Takshaka carver)and also Sudhavan havinga good bow)[Walker1968.volII:577].With heascendancefbrahminism,aivismandVaishnavismgainedprominence nd Brahma's tatus ell; andalongwithitVisvakarma's lso. Vyasa, the craftycompilerof Vedas dideverythingpossibleto distort heexaltedstatusof Brahma ndhisdemiurgentheeyesof posterity.VyasaportraysVisvakarmain Mahabharathas follows:

Visvakarma.ordof thearts,master f a thousand andicrafts,carpenterf thegodsandbuilder f theirpalaces, ashionerfevery ewel,firstofcraftsmen,ywhoseartmen ive,andwhom,agreat nddeathlessod. hey ontinually orshipMahabharatha1:2592).Visvakarma ecomes hecarpenterndthegoldsmith f godsinVyasa's itany.Thecosmic fabricator ho withhisownhandsmade tarsandmoonsandheavenlypalacescould not withstandtheideological hellingof brahminismwhichruthlesslydown-gradedanysemblanceof physical oil as sign of lowlinessanddecadence rrespective f gods, men or monsters.The result:Visvakarmaot entrappedn a double-bind hanks o the gutcontradiction etween his own ontology and the dismissiveposturesn human abour ybrahminism. ewastruncatedromhis cosmiclargenessandplenitudeas Purusha o a secondarydeityand an artisanparexcellence.Thederogationf hisstatusbybrahminismnthepastassumesnewmodes n modern imes.Inmy fieldtripamongcommunityI wasanxious o see an iconographicallycorrect' igureof thelordVisvakarma. s Igathered,hecorrectigurehasfivetilaka-markedaces.10 armsholdinga bookandwriting tylus,asword,an adze,a citron,a cup, a water-pot,a rosary,a cobra(abouthisneck),a noose,handsbetokeningternness nd beneficence(one closed and one open). and a golden sacred thread[Coomaraswamy979:79].ButIcouldnotfindonethatmatchedall thesedetails.All I could find inmanyhomes,workshops ndwith the wayside Oleographvendors were variationsof thisfigure.The mostpopular ne is thatof a single-headedld man

witha sage-likevisagesurroundedy five boys.Thelatteraresupposedo be thefive forefathers f the Visvakarmartisans.FinallyR S Manian f Pazhayasalaoldmethat hesedaysmostof the communitymembersalso do not know who the trueVisvakarmas. Whatthey all worshipas the truepictureofVisvakarmasadistorted ersiongivenoutbyPidilite ndustries.thecompany hatsells adhesiveand tools. (Thiscompany ellsthe adhesiveFevicoland thecompany s knownbytheproductthan ts name tself.)On a closer look I foundhis version o becorrect.Visvakarma.upposedly he creatorof the cosmos sitson a thronebordered y chisels,hammers, aws, tapes,etc, asanadvertisementiecefor tools andpaints.On further nquiry

I foundout that his version s followedin north ndiawhilethesouthIndianversion s different.AgainwhatPidiliteCompanygaveouthas beenacceptedbyBMSastheimageof theirpatronlord of artsand crafts.Visvakarma ecomes ubjecto another egemonic ppropria-tion in the milieuof present actionalpolitics.Thisis expeditedbyanotherntrinsic mbivalencen his essence.Like othergodsVisvakarmas also attributed putativebirthday y theHindureligion.This becomesconjecturalaccording o many in thecommunity.The more philosophicalmindedarguethat it isimpossible or the originalCreator f everythingo be bornona particular ay.It is a contradictionn termssince thatpresup-poses anothercreator or Visvakarma.But amongthose whobelievethatthere s a birthday lso there s no agreement. t iscelebrated n two differentdaysunderdifferentnames:'RishiPanchamiDinam'andVisvakarmaayanthi. heRishiPanchamiDinam iterallymeans 'thedayof the solidarityof five rishis'.Thosewhocelebrate hisdaybelieve hatVisvakarma idn'thavea birthdayike the mortalsbutonly a commemorationay inwhich his five children supposedly ive rishis)cametogetherto declare heir olidarity ndpray o their llustrious ather.Thisdayfollows the rulesof HinduAlmanacandchangeswitheveryyear [Achary1995:221].Followingthe practiceof theirsageforefathers he five groupsamongthe Visvakarmaommunityalso celebrate his as an auspiciousday in commemorationftheirpatrongod at present.Another group celebrates September 17 every year as'Visvakarmaayanthi',or 'as the birthday f Visvakarma'.This convention s also rife withcontradictorynterpretationssusual n the community.The versiongiven by V NatarajanfAlappuzhas interesting ccording o him, September17 hasimportancether han heVisvakarmaayanthi.t s an mportantday n theritualAlmanac fIndiaknownas'Kanni ankrantham'.It was on thisparticular ay that the forefathers f the presentVisvakarma eopleinventedploughandgiftedit to humanity.Plough represents oth the artisan radeas well as agricultureand thereforebecomes the most representativeymbolof theancient ndian ivilisation. tchangedhecourseof human istoryaltogether. hiswasachange rom localmobcultureouniversalhuman ulture'and Visavkarmas f Indiapioneeredt. Coinci-dentally,this becomes the birthdayof Visvakarmaalso. SoIndiansn thepastcelebrated hisdayof many llustrious on-junctionsas anoccasion o honourVisvakarma nd hisdescen-dents [Natarajan001:9-10].Politicsenters n thisconjuncture. harathiyaMazdoorSangh(BMS),thetradeunionwingof BJP,has takenon theonusoflate to honourVisvakarma ndcelebrateSeptember 7bothasthebirthdayf Visvakarmand he'NationalLabourDay'.(Formany n thecommunity, uch a LabourDay or ArtisanDay intheIndianultures unheardf.) AccordingoPuliyara entlgopal,an ideologuewho supportshe BJP,all other estivalsin Indiaarerelated o a particularommunityor religion.VisvakarrnaJayanthis theonlysecular estival n thisregard elebrated yall peoplein India.He also resents hefactthatnogovernmenthas taken nitiative o declare t as a nationalholidaytill now(Mathrubhumi, September 17, 2002).Among the many attributesof Visvakarma there arealso thosethathaveentitledhim to the office of thepatronof the 'IndianLabourer',sBMShasmadehimof late.Foracommunisteaderfromthe community whodoesn't wantto divulgehis name),therearesubtlemanipulationsyBMS n thisregard, Whathey

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are trying to foist is a Hindutva duplicate of the revolutionaryworking class ideology of Marxism. This process of ridiculouscloning forces the scientific and ground-breaking principles ofMarxism into motley apparels of reactionary Hindutva". "Nowonder the revolutionaryconcepts of dialectical materialismputon flesh and body in the archaic symbols of BJP painfullydisinterred from those recesses of Indian history marked bybrahminicoppressionandcruelty. Visvakarma becomes ahaplessvictim of this reactionary exhuming", supplements theoreticalminded Gopi, an active member of AKGWU.The celebration of Visvakarma Jayanthi is emerging as anIndian alternative to the May Day celebrations of the worldproletariatunder the aegis of BMS, according to many Marxistsupporters from the community. There are some interestinginterconnectionsdiscernible n thisregard.The word'Visvakarma'could be split into 'Visvam' which means 'world' or 'universe'and 'Karma' which means either 'action' or in certain parlance'labour'. Hence Visvakarma is translated as 'world actor ' or'world labourer'. This is certainly in ideological and conceptualpropinquity to the 'world proletariat' of Marxism. HenceVisvakarmabecomes the centralpivot of anideological apparatusthat can combat Marxism in its own discursive terms. Tellsanother Visvakarma leader, "The May Day celebrations alsoresulted from the actions of the Visvakarma brethrenof America.It started n Chicago with the strike of carpenters for stipulatingthe eight-hour per day job schedule."The image of Visvakarmais pregnantwith more meanings thatalso represent the existential dilemmas of the community atpresent.The diminutionby brahminismmade him a dispossessedgod assigned to the statusof a rishiorrenouncerwithin the divinepolis. But in the Hindu ideology 'renouncer' is the most exaltedposition. For Dumont caste order places human beings withina system of relations and they have no 'being' beyond it. Butat another level this 'ultramundaneity' is compensated by asalvation based on transubstantiationand rebirths.This provisionfor escape from the mundane bonds of world and its rigid socialorder is epitomised in the figure of the rishi or the archetypalrenouncer. He might exist within the society, yet is beyond allthe relations within it. He represents universality, transcendenceand detachment [Dumont 1998: 184-86, 267-76].

Again, from their claim as brahmins (visvabrahmins) also thetheory of renunciationholds, if we look at it from the theoreticalperspective of Heesterman who holds that brahmins are alsorenouncers like the rishis. According to him, the brahmin in thepre-Classicalor Vedic periodofficiated sacrifices and also imbibeditspollution.Once the brahmingot disengaged fromthe pollution-imbibing process of thesacrificial rituals later,other lower casteshadto take this role. As a result washermen and barbers startedperformingtheofficiating roles in Hindurituals, especially thoserelated to death and impurity. This was, therefore, the momentof the birth of the caste system also [Quigley 1993:58]. So forHeesterman, the brahmin attained such a position of worldlyrenouncer in the Classical period itself once he got dissociatedfrom the conduct of sacrifices. Hence nothing could affect himin his new status;he is beyond the pure-impure complementarityof exchange [Heesterman 1985:43-44]. But on the other hand,he shows this detachment within society, not outside it like therenounceror rishi as Dumont visualises. Hence this detachmentmakes the 'pure brahmin a poor brahmin' also.V Natarajanof Alappuzha, a mystic and scholar from thecommunity, highlights this aspect of Visvakarma in his book

VisvakarmaOruJathiyude Peralla ('Visvakarma is not the nameof a Jati'). According to him Visvakarma had always been aselfless andhigh thinkinggod detached from wealth or comforts.He created all the celestial palaces, divine machines andweaponsfor other gods. But for himself he built nothing worthwhile, noteven a house to live.1 4 He is therenouncerparexcellence amongthe celestial hierarchy Natarajan1999:74]. Natarajan ationalisesthe relative deprivation of the majority in the Visvakarma com-munity also on this basis, as the reflection of their own god'sself-denial. He argues that though the Visvakarma people hadbeen the true architects of the Indian civilisation they neveramassedanymaterialpossessions for themselves. They builtgreattemples, palaces and all thenoteworthymonumentsof this culturelike theirpatronin the celestial world. If they wanted they couldhave built the most ostentatious temples for themselves. In thematter of worship also they in turn identified with the simplicityandauthenticityof nature.Hencethey follow an animisticworshipknown as 'vaccharadhana'.They are therefore the trueupholdersof the renouncer tradition of the sages and rishis of India. Sothey have no jati, caste or even religion. He asserts, "to whichjati rishis belonged, to thatjati visvakarmas also belong; to whichreligion rishis belong, to that religion visvakarmas also belong"[ibid:8]. On the otherhand,the brahmins hough they make claimsto renunciation and austerity, still follow temple worship andpromote materialistic institutionalisationof devotion [Natarajan1997:50-54].Without being able to identify with either the upper castes orthe lower castes on caste questions, or with left ideologies orrightist forces in the political front the Visvakarmas of Keralaaimlessly straddle one shelter to another. Theoretically theybecome important as their case gives some important leadsregardingthe manufacturingof community identity by castes inthe middle level especially caught up in the economic throes ofpost-capitalism andglobalisation atpresent. We should end withthe words of venerable Visvavani Natarajan, the first Englishprofessor from the community: "The people who once madepalaces, temples, great monuments and some of the wonders ofthe world in Indiaaretoday making septic tanks and toilets. Theygrow like the snake-gourds, downwards". [I3Address or correspondence:[email protected]

Notes[I am thankful o theCentre or DevelopmentStudies,Universityof Bergen,Norway, for giving the financial assistance for this study. I gratefullyacknowledge heableguidanceandhelpgivenbyBruceKapferer ndGunnarHaalandof the Departmentof Social Anthropology,Universityof Bergen,Michael Tharakan f CDS, Thiruvananthapuramnd P J Cherianof KCHRin this study.I also thankPrabhash f the Departmentof PoliticalScience,KeralaUniversityCentre,Kariavattom,DevikaofCDS,ThiruvananthapuramandTK Vinodan f Kollam orarrangingeminars, nd or heirencouragementand extending criticism.]

1 He made this observation in a community meeting in AlappuzhainOctober 2001.2 The totalstrengthof the visvakarma ommunityin the absenceof exactcensus data s aconjecturedssue. It is gettingrevisedby thecommunityleadership every time according to VikramanAchary, who wrote aseminal hesis on thepoliticalmodernisation f thecommunity.Thecasteassociation, Akhila KeralaVisvakarma Maha Sabha (AKVMS) cameout with differentestimates from time to time. In the year 1991 theestimate was 2 million. But by the middle of 1990s the figure became



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2.5 million [Achary 1998:152,n 55]. At present the apex communalorganisationKeralaVisvakarmaSabha(KVS) claims the community'stotal strength o be 12 per cent of Kerala'spopulationand4.3 millions[Karnayugam, April 2002:7; November 2002:7[. Vikraman Acharycalculates t to be 2.5 million andI think that is the more reliablefigure.3 This claim is made in the official monthly of the apex communityorganisationKVS [see Karntayugam,November 2002:3].4 Perhaps it starts with their filing of a petition in the court of theVijayanagaraking to ratify their Brahminic statusin the 17'h entury.They got a favourableverdict n 1678. WiththeBritishestablishing heirrule ust after,the Sanskritisation fforts of manylower castesgot a newfillip .The colonial census recordsgave them a chance to changetheirtaintedcastenames and social attributes ndtherebymove upthesocialhierarchysymbolically. The Tamil Kammalans utilised this chanceopportunely;heywho hadalready hanged heircastename o 'VisvakarmaBrahmins', entered the British records in this new name [Srinivas1962:69].5 According o ThengamomBalakrishnan, prominent ommunist eaderfrom the community,the service of the communityis 'basic' since itis boundup with the life cycle of humanbeings. " The scissors thatcut the umbilicalcord with which the humanlife begins to the coffinin whichone is interred fterdeatharemadeby the Visvakarma rtisans".Accordingto Padmalochanan, tradeunion leader from Kollam, "thetraditional rtisan'scraft is like the mother's milk since it is verybasic.The mechanised mprovisationsarejust like the artificialmilk powderproducedwhen the mother's milk is in short supply".6 Anotherpopularinterpretation f 'Kannalar' s that the artisans makethings so pleasing that it 'opens the eyes' of people who are therebypersuadedobuythem. Yet anotherone is that Kammalan'derived rom'Karmmalan'meaning one who rulesoverthe Karma'or'thepractitionerselfless acts'7 The distancepollutionwith its preciseorbitalpositionsfor othercastesvis-a-vis the NamboodiriBrahminbecomes an ultramundanegloss totheideological hierarchy f Dumont[Dumont1998]. Thephysical spaceitself was chargedwith the sacred on the touch of the Brahmin andreverted o the non-sacredwith his withdrawal8 Though he caste system theoreticallydifferentiatesall othercastes fromone's own it is only certain castes that are more or less in closerpropinquity n the pollution- purity scale that become the perceived'Other' o one's owncaste.InKerala his is evidentlyat work.The famousopposition n this case is between nairs and ezhavaswho consider eachother as the archetypal Other' to each other. A nair or ezhava mightnot feel thegut oppositionto othercastes as theyfeel towardseach other.In the case of visvakarmas hey never mentionany othercastes as their'Other' ther han hebrahminswhom heybelieve haveusurpedheirglory.9 The conceptis borrowed from Mikhail Bakhtinwho uses it to analyseliterary arratives,speciallythenovel. 'Chronotope'means space-time'and heuses both time andspacein theKantian ense as absoluteapriorisof perception.His argument s that in narrativesalso thereis a specificway in which time and space are integratedwhich facilitates a specifickindof readingof thetexts[Bakhtin1981:84].Liketheliterarynarrativeshistoricalnarratives lso can be enframedwithinspecific Chronotopes,especiallyif theycontainfictional elementsas in thecase of visvakarmahistoricising.10 EdavaSomanathans one of the organicintellectualsof thecommunityin theGramscian ense. His histories of thecommunityarewritten roma pro-community erspective.Therefore,there are lot of exaggerationsand anti-brahminiradesin them. They are noteworthyfor phantasmsand thewayVisvakarma ommunity s portrayed s a globalcommunity.He is heavilyreliedupon n thisanalysissincethereare no otherhistorieswritten of the community.11 The visvakarmasof Tamil Nadustill follow this patternof communityadministration ccordingto G S Ghurye [Ghurye 1994:392].12 ForPrabhatiMukherjee pancha'was a sourceof 'irritation, onjectureandspeculation' n the early ideology especially in the case of Rigveda[Mukherjee1981:19].ForGeorges Dumezil 'five' was very importantforVedicworld; t wasVedicformula tself.Divisions bycertainpreferrednumbersoccur n manyculturesas a sort of motif. Seven was a preferrednumber n the earlyIndo-Iranianulture while Irishpreferred o dividetheir encompassingreality with five like the Vedic India [Dumezil1973:9-15].13 It wasBenjaminWalkerwhoobservedsomewhere hat hecelestial worldwith its 33 croregods andcelestialbeings is much morepopulated han

the earth over which it rules. So as a characteristic ubstructure f theIndian deology the heavenlyworldalso should have its caste hierarchywith gods occupying differentasymmetricstations.14 But as usual thereare so many interpolationsand false interpretationsabouthis status.One is regardinghis abode. Accordingto PayyannorN.Kesavanachari is abode is the Mount Meru the cosmic centre of theHindu universe [Malayala Manorama, September 17, 2002, p 8).References

Achary,SubramanianMatathinkal1995):VisvakarmajarRigvedathil,awrajPrintingand PublishingCompany, Aluva.Achary, Vikraman (1998): 'Effects of Modernisation on BackwardCommunities n Kerala:A studyof VisvakarmaSociety', UnpublishedDoctoral Thesis Submitted to the University of Kerala,Thiruvananthapuram.Bakhtin,Mikhail 1981):InMichaelHolquist ed),TheDialogic Imagination:Four Essays, Universityof Texas Press, Austin.Castoriadis,Cornelius(1987): tr)Kathleen lamey,The maginary nstitutionof Society, Polity Press, Cambridge.Coomaraswamy,AnandaK(1979):MedievalSinhaleseArt,PantheonBooksINC, New York.Dumezil, Georges(1973): TheDestiny of a King,theUniversityof ChicagoPress, Chicago.Dumont, Louis (1998): Homo Hierarchicus: The Caste System and itsImplications,OxfordUniversity Press, Delhi.Ghurye,G S (1994): CasteandRace in India,PopularPrakashan,Bombay.Hansen,Thomas Blom (1997): TheSaffronWave: DemocraticRevolutionand the Growthof Hindu Nationalism in India, Vol II, InternationalDevelopmentStudies, Roskilde University,Denmark.Heesterman,J C (1985): The InnerConflict of Tradition:Essays in IndianRitual,KingshipandSociety,the Universityof ChicagoPress,Chicago.Hutton,J H(1969):Caste nIndia:ItsNature,Function,andOrigins,OxfordUniversityPress, London.Ions, Veronica (1967): Ildian Mythology, Paul Hamlyn,London.Jaffrelot,Christophe 1996): The'HinduNationalist Movementand IndianPolitics,1925 to the 1990s: Strategiesof Identity-Building,mplantationand Mobilisation (with special referenceto CentralIndia), Hurst andCompany, London.Kramrisch,Stella (1954): The Art of India:Traditionsof IndianSculpture,Painting and Architecture,the Phaidon Press, London.Miller, BarbarraStoller (1983): ExploringIndia's Sacred Art: Selected

Writings of Stella Kramrisch,the University of PennsylvaniaPress,Philadelphia.Mukherjee,Prabhati1981) 'Some Notes on Panca anHistoricalEnigma',Journal of Indian AnthropologicalSociety, 16:19-26.Natarajan,V (1997): VisvakarmaSamskarikaPaithrukam,VisvakarmaService Society, Alappuzha.- (1999): VisvakarmaOruJathiyudePeralla, VisvakarmaServiceSociety,Alleppey.- (2001):VisvakarmaDinam,Vishvakarma amskarika amithi,Alappuzha.Quigley, Declan (1993): The Interpretationof Caste, Clarendon,OxfordUniversityPress, Oxford.Ramakrishnan,Sobha (2003): 'SavarnadhipathyavumCyberyugavumVisvakarmajarudeSvathvaroopeekaranavum'n P R Devadas (ed),Karmayugam,March, KVS, Chengannoor.Raveendran,Edayappuram1998): VisvabrahmaVamsaprakasika,warajPrintingand PublishingCompany, Alwaye.Singer, Milton (1972): When a Great Tradition Modernises: AnAnthropologicalApproachoIndianCivilisation,PallMallPress,London.Somanathan R, Edava (1987): Bharatiya Visvakarmajar: ManavaParishkarathinteSilpikal, BharathBhavan.- (1989): Bharata CharithrathinteruladanjaEdukal,Kala Publications,Edava.Srinivas, M N (1962): Caste in Modern India and other Essays, AsiaPublishingHouse, Bombay.Suvarnakar,A K V (1988): PanchaManushyaMoola VargaNjanam,AKVSuvarnakar,Trissur.Thurston,Edgar 1909): Caste and Tribesof Southern ndia,Vol III,CosmoPublications,Delhi.Walker,Benjamin(1968): The Hindu World:An Encyclopedic Survey ofHinduism,Vol II, Frederick A Praeger,Publishers,New York.


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