Kala pani (taboo)

2021-06-21T04:26:45Z

2603:8000:9B03:144E:B44C:5938:AFD9:9991: change "Indian religion" to "Hinduism" ... no indication that the taboo applies to any Indian religion other than Hinduism... certainly not to Buddhism (also an Indian religion)

{{short description|Taboo of the sea in Indian culture}}
{{Other uses|Kala Pani (disambiguation)}}
The '''kala pani''' (lit. ''black water'') represents the proscription of the over reaching seas in [[Hinduism]].<ref>{{cite web | url = http://aha.confex.com/aha/2013/webprogram/Paper11135.html | title = Crossing the Kala Pani to Britain for Hindu Workers and Elites | publisher = American Historical Association | date = 2012-01-04 | accessdate = 2012-02-02 }}</ref> According to this prohibition, crossing the seas to foreign lands causes the loss of one's social respectability, as well as the putrefaction of one’s cultural character and posterity.<ref name="Daniel2012">{{cite book | author=Daniel Bass | title=Everyday Ethnicity in Sri Lanka: Up-country Tamil Identity Politics | url=https://books.google.com/books?id=ivFuK_asOzcC&pg=PA27 | accessdate=2 February 2013 | date=27 November 2012 | publisher=Routledge | isbn=978-0-415-52624-1 | pages=27 }}</ref>

== History ==

The offense of crossing the sea is also known as "Samudrolanghana" or "Sagarollanghana". The [[Baudhayana#The Dharmas.C5.ABtra|Dharma Sutra of Baudhayana]] (II.1.2.2) lists sea voyages as first of the offenses that cause the loss of [[varna (Hinduism)|varna]].<ref name="Charles1998">{{cite book | author=Charles Eliot | title=Hinduism and Buddhism: An Historical Sketch | url=https://books.google.com/books?id=vfC1006rObsC&pg=PA102 | accessdate=2 February 2013 | year=1998 | publisher=Curzon | isbn=978-0-7007-0679-2 | page=102 }}</ref> The Dharma Sutra suggests a person can wipe away this offense in three years by eating little at every fourth meal time; bathing at dawn, noon and dusk; standing during the day; and seated during the night.<ref name="Patrick1999">{{cite book | author=Patrick Olivelle | title=The Dharmasutras : The Law Codes of Ancient India: The Law Codes of Ancient India | url=https://books.google.com/books?id=QIu70fYvxKIC&pg=PA168 | accessdate=2 February 2013 | date=2 September 1999 | publisher=Oxford University Press | isbn=978-0-19-283882-7 | page=168 }}</ref>

The reasons behind the proscription include the inability to carry out the daily rituals of traditional Hindu life and the sin of contact with the characterless, uncivilized [[mleccha]] creatures of the foreign lands.<ref>[http://www.hinduismtoday.com/modules/smartsection/item.php?itemid=3065 Crossing the Ocean] by Vrindavanam S. Gopalakrishnan. [[Hinduism Today]], July/August/September 2008.</ref> An associated notion was that crossing the ocean entailed the end of the [[Reincarnation and Hinduism|reincarnation cycle]], as the traveler was cut off from the regenerating waters of the [[Ganges]]. Such voyages also meant breaking family and social ties. In another respect, the inhabitants of the land beyond the "black water" were ''hougli''s, bad-spirited and monstrous swines who could sometimes mask their true ugliness by presenting an illusion of physical beauty or superiority. The [[mleccha]] people were spawned by immoral reprobates and blasphemously held religious belief in ''[[Āstika and nāstika|nāstika]]'', albeit in different forms. They are understood to have rejected the [[Vedas]] and have ceased to worship Bhagavan, the divine Vedic God, in favor of concocted false religions and irreligions with contemptible manners of reverence. Their societies are immoral and built on deceit, subjugation, and corruption. Therefore, it was thought that true Hindus should not come under their influence or embrace their beliefs, as they will be just as deserving of contempt as a mleccha.<ref name="Marina2002">{{cite book | author=Marina Carter | title=Coolitude: An Anthology of the Indian Labour Diaspora | url=https://books.google.com/books?id=V073gYvBrlcC&pg=PA164 | accessdate=2 February 2013 | year=2002 | publisher=Anthem Press | isbn=978-1-84331-006-8 | pages=164 }}</ref>

During the Portuguese [[Age of exploration]], Portuguese sailors noted that Hindus were reluctant to engage in [[maritime trade]] due to the kala pani proscription. In the eighteenth century, the [[bania (caste)|banias]] of [[North India]] even considered the crossing of the [[Indus River]] at [[Attock]] to be prohibited, and underwent purification rituals upon their return. However, not all Hindus adhered to the proscription, so as to gain monetary wealth. For instance, Hindu merchants were present in [[Burma]], [[Muscat, Oman|Muscat]], and other places around Asia and Africa, as well as Australia.<ref name="DonnaDirk">{{cite book | editor = [[Donna Gabaccia|Donna R. Gabaccia]] and Dirk Hoerder | title=Connecting Seas and Connected Ocean Rims: Indian, Atlantic, and Pacific Oceans and China Seas Migrations from the 1830s to the 1930s | url=https://books.google.com/books?id=xBzLGFT6hk8C&pg=PA84 | accessdate=2 February 2013 | date=11 April 2011 | publisher=BRILL | isbn=978-90-04-19316-1 | pages=84–86 }}</ref>

== British period ==

=== Mutinies ===

The [[East India Company]] recruited several upper-caste [[sepoy|soldiers]], and adapted its military practices to the requirements of their religious rituals. Consequently, the overseas service, considered polluting to their caste, was not required of them.<ref>{{cite book | author = Barbara D. Metcalf and Thomas R. Metcalf | year=2006 | title=A Concise History of Modern India | url = https://archive.org/details/concisehistorymo00metc | url-access = limited | edition=2nd |publisher=Cambridge University Press | isbn=0-521-68225-8 | page = [https://archive.org/details/concisehistorymo00metc/page/n96 61]}}</ref>

During the [[First Anglo-Burmese War]] (1824–26), the [[Bengal Army]] was ordered to go to [[Chittagong]]. Since no [[bullock cart]]s were available and since sea voyage was a taboo, the Indian soldiers were asked to march to Chittagong by land. The soldiers were concerned about the difficulty involved in a land march, and were also afraid that their superiors might force them to take a sea voyage if the march failed. As a result of these fears, the 47th Regiment refused to march.<ref name="Spencer1890">{{cite book | author=[[Spencer Walpole]] | title=A history of England from the conclusion of the great war in 1815 | url=https://archive.org/details/ahistoryengland06walpgoog | accessdate=2 February 2013 | year=1890 | publisher=Longmans, Green | page=[https://archive.org/details/ahistoryengland06walpgoog/page/n291 279] }}</ref> This resulted in a [[Barrackpore Mutiny of 1824|mutiny on 2 November 1824 at Barrackpore]].<ref name="Indu2000">{{cite book | author=Indu Ramchandani | title=Students' Britannica India | url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Kpd9lLY_0-IC&pg=PA165 | accessdate=2 February 2013 | year=2000 | publisher=Popular Prakashan | isbn=978-0-85229-760-5 | page=165 }}</ref>

The General Services Enlistment Act of 1856 required the new recruits to serve overseas if asked. The serving high-caste sepoys were fearful that this requirement would be eventually extended to them.<ref name="Philip2004">{{cite book | author=Philip Mason | title=A MATTER OF HONOUR: An Account Of The Indian Army, Its Officers And Men | url=https://books.google.com/books?id=1QqzAgAACAAJ | accessdate=2 February 2013 | year=2004 | publisher=Natraj Publishers | isbn=978-81-8158-012-2 | page = 261 }}</ref> Thus, the Hindu soldiers viewed the Act as a potential threat to their faith. The resulting discontent was one of the causes of the [[Indian rebellion of 1857]].<ref name="John2006">{{cite book | author=John F. Riddick | title=The History of British India: A Chronology | url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Es6x4u_g19UC&pg=PA53 | accessdate=2 February 2013 | date=1 April 2006 | publisher=Greenwood Publishing Group | isbn=978-0-313-32280-8 | pages=53 }}</ref>

[[Image:Viper New Jails Construction.JPG|thumb|250px|right|The [[Cellular Jail]] was known as Kala Pani, as the overseas journey to the Andaman islands threatened the convicts with the loss of caste, resulting in social exclusion.]]
[[Cellular Jail]], the British Indian prison on the [[Andaman and Nicobar Islands]] was known as Kala Pani: an incarceration in this jail threatened the convicts with the loss of caste and the resulting social exclusion.<ref name="AlisonCarolyn2012">{{cite book | author1=Alison Bashford | author2=Carolyn Strange | title=Isolation: Places and Practices of Exclusion | url=https://books.google.com/books?id=z72MP1zc4KgC&pg=PA37 | accessdate=2 February 2013 | date=12 November 2012 | publisher=Psychology Press | isbn=978-0-415-30980-6 | page=37 }}</ref>

=== Indentured laborer diaspora ===

When slavery was abolished in British colonies (such as [[Mauritius]] in 1834), the authorities looked for [[unfree labor|indentured labor]] to replace the slaves who had been emancipated. The emissaries sent to India for this purpose were astute in attracting so-called "[[coolies]]" to the countries such as South Africa, Mauritius, Fiji and the Caribbean that required cheap labor, which were often presented as "promised lands." But many prospective candidates for the distant colonies expressed their fears of crossing the Kala Pani. So the British often employed a stratagem to dispel the doubts of the indentured: they placed water from the Ganges in large cauldrons on the ships, to ensure the continuity of reincarnation beyond the Kala Pani. The sea voyage was then seen as less fearsome.

The Kala Pani theme features prominently in the [[Indo-Caribbean]] history,<ref name="Khan2004">{{cite book | author=Aisha Khan | title=Callaloo Nation: Metaphors of Race and Religious Identity Among South Asians in Trinidad | url=https://books.google.com/books?id=A-ASYIjzdEkC&pg=PA123 | accessdate=2 February 2013 | date=11 October 2004 | publisher=Duke University Press | isbn=978-0-8223-3388-3 | page=123 }}</ref> and has been elaborately discussed in the writings of [[V. S. Naipaul]].<ref name="Ojwang2012">{{cite book | author=Dan Ojwang | title=Reading Migration and Culture: The World of East African Indian Literature | url=https://books.google.com/books?id=nQoGH1Vm15sC&pg=PA55 | accessdate=2 February 2013 | date=15 December 2012 | publisher=Palgrave Macmillan | isbn=978-1-137-26295-0 | page=55 }}</ref> Mauritian poet and critic [[Khal Torabully]], who is partly of [[Indo-Mauritian]] descent, describes the Kala Pani as a source not only of the dissolution of [[Identity (social science)|identity]], but also of beauty and reconstruction, leading to what he terms a "coral imaginary."

== Modern India ==

The [[Tirumala Venkateswara Temple|Tirupati Temple]] does not allow a priest who has crossed the seas to enter the temple's [[sanctum sanctorum]].<ref name="DNA_Udupi_pontiff">{{cite web | url = http://www.dnaindia.com/india/report_foreign-trip-may-cost-udupi-pontiff-ascension_1135925 | title = Foreign trip may cost Udupi pontiff ascension | publisher = [[DNA (newspaper)|DNA]] | accessdate = 2012-02-02 }}</ref>

In 2007, the [[Paryaya#Paryaya ritual at Udupi|ascension]] of [[Puttige matha guru parampara|Sugunendra Tirtha]] to the [[Udupi Sri Krishna Matha|Udupi Krishna Temple]] was opposed by some [[Ashta Mathas of Udupi|seers]], because he had visited foreign countries, thus committing the offence of ''saagarolanga'' (crossing the sea).<ref name="TheHinduShiroor">{{cite web | url = http://www.hindu.com/2007/11/29/stories/2007112959760300.htm | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20071201183216/http://www.hindu.com/2007/11/29/stories/2007112959760300.htm | url-status = dead | archive-date = 2007-12-01 | title = Shiroor seer backs Puttige swamiji | date = 2007-11-29 | work = [[The Hindu]] | accessdate = 2012-02-02 }}</ref> In 2008, a court verdict formally allowed his ascension.<ref name="TheHinduRight">{{cite web | url = http://www.hindu.com/2008/01/15/stories/2008011556610400.htm | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20080116090728/http://www.hindu.com/2008/01/15/stories/2008011556610400.htm | url-status = dead | archive-date = 2008-01-16 | title = Paryaya is my right: Puttige swamiji | date = 2008-01-15 | work = [[The Hindu]] | accessdate = 2012-02-02 }}</ref> In 2012, both he and his opponent [[Vishwesha Teertha]] announced [[fasting|fasts]] to pressure each other on the issue.<ref name="TheHinduIrrational">{{cite web | url = http://www.thehindu.com/news/cities/Mangalore/article2808191.ece | title = Shiroor Math seer terms fear of swamijis' foreign visits as irrational| publisher = [[The Hindu]] | date = 2002-01-17 | accessdate = 2012-02-02 }}</ref>

[[Vishnunarayanan Namboothiri]], a noted poet who served as a priest at the [[Sreevallabha Temple]], was not allowed to enter the temple after he returned from an overseas trip to [[London]]. The temple authorities, led by the [[thantri]] (chief priest), asked him to go a thorough cleansing, penance and ''punaravrodha'' (reinstallation) before he would be allowed in again.<ref>{{cite web | url = http://www.rediff.com/news/jul/15jose.htm | title = Kerala priest loses his job 'cos he went to London | publisher = [[rediff.com]] | accessdate = 2012-02-02 }}</ref> Namboothiri was asked to purify himself by reciting the [[Gayatri Mantra]] 1008 times, which he refused to do. The [[Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh]] supported him, calling the taboo an "outdated ritual".<ref>{{cite web | url = http://www.rediff.com/news/jul/22priest.htm | title = Kerala temple tamasha leaves two jobless, many angry and a few laughing | publisher = [[rediff.com]] | accessdate = 2012-02-02 }}</ref> The [[Travancore Devaswom Board]] also supported him, and fired two of its officials for refusing to his reinstatement. After the board served the thantri a show-cause notice, Namboothiri was allowed back after purification by sprinkling of holy water ([[theertham]]).<ref>{{cite web | url = http://www.rediff.com/news/jul/26kerala.htm | title = And thus ended the temple tamasha... | publisher = [[rediff.com]] | accessdate = 2012-02-02 }}</ref>

==References==
{{Reflist}}

==External links==
* Lomarsh Roopnarine, [https://web.archive.org/web/20061030025926/http://www.guyanachronicle.com/supplement.html The Long Journey to Today: East Indians in Guyana]. ''Guyana Chronicle Online''
* [https://web.archive.org/web/20070706221532/http://ignca.nic.in/id_indentured_003.htm Crossing of Kala Pani], from the exhibition [https://web.archive.org/web/20070607004753/http://ignca.nic.in/id_exhib001.htm ORIGINS: Creative Tracks of Indian Diaspora]

[[Category:Cultural history of India]]
[[Category:Mauritian culture]]
[[Category:Indian diaspora]]
[[Category:Taboo]]
[[Category:Hindu culture]]

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Kala pani (taboo)