Kala pani (taboo): Difference between revisions

What links here Related changes Page information Get shortened URL
Created by 2603:8000:9B03:144E:B44C:5938:AFD9:9991
Last edited January 31, 2026
VisualWikitext
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)
 
Rrajani (talk | contribs)
26 edits
No edit summary
 
Line 1: Line 1:
{{short description|Taboo of the sea in Indian culture}}
{{short description|Hindu religious prohibition}}
{{Other uses|Kala Pani (disambiguation)}}
{{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>
{{Lead too short|date=November 2025}}
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> Nowadays this practice is not followed by most Hindus who see it as backwards.


== History ==
== 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 offence 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 offences that cause the loss of [[varna (Hinduism)|varna]].<ref name="Charles1998">{{cite book | author=Charles Eliot | title=Hinduism and Buddhism: An Historical Sketch, vol. 3 | url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Us4oAAAAYAAJ&pg=PA102 | accessdate=3 October 2023 | year=1921 | publisher=Edward Arnold & Co. | page=102 }}</ref> The Dharma Sutra suggests a person can wipe away this offence in three years by eating little at every fourth meal time; bathing at dawn, noon and dusk; standing during the day; and sitting 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>
In [[Shastra|Shastra literature]] sea voyage was generally considered a "marginal issue" and is one of many actions that result in the loss of ''varṇa''. Sea voyage is considered polluting due to the eating of forbidden food and for involving close interactions with non-Hindus ("''mlecchasamparka''"). The Shastras are not uniform in their injunction against the practice (some permit it under certain conditions) and the expiation is also variable.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Clémentin-Ojha |first=Catherine |title=Brill's Encyclopedia of Hinduism Online |publisher=Brill |year=2018 |editor-last=Jacobsen |editor-first=Knut A. |chapter=Travel Regulations |editor-last2=Basu |editor-first2=Helene |editor-last3=Malinar |editor-first3=Angelika |editor-last4=Narayanan |editor-first4=Vasudha}}</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>
An associated notion was that crossing the ocean entailed the end of the [[Reincarnation and Hinduism|reincarnation cycle]], as the traveller was cut off from the regenerating waters of the [[Ganges]]. Such voyages also meant breaking family and social ties. According to another belief in the pre-modern India, the Kala Pani (sea water) was inhabited by the ''hougli''s, bad spirits and monsters.<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>
 
Similar anti-maritime attitudes could be found throughout the [[Indo-Mediterranean]] in pre-medieval times. The [[Spread of Islam|rise of Islam]] from the 7th century onward attracted various communities involved in maritime trade throughout the region; for example, the maritime traders of [[Malabar Coast|Malabar]], treated as lowest-caste Hindus, rapidly Islamised and were thus looked down upon.<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Wink |first=André |date=2002 |title=From the Mediterranean to the Indian Ocean: Medieval History in Geographic Perspective |url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/3879375 |journal=Comparative Studies in Society and History |volume=44 |issue=3 |pages=435 |doi=10.1017/S001041750200021X |jstor=3879375 |issn=0010-4175|url-access=subscription }}</ref>
 
The 13th century Venetian explorer, [[Marco Polo]], would note in his travelogue, for Malabar:<ref>{{Cite web|title=The Travels of Marco Polo/Book 3/Chapter 17 - Wikisource, the free online library|url=https://en.wikisource.org/wiki/The_Travels_of_Marco_Polo/Book_3/Chapter_17|access-date=2022-01-12|website=en.wikisource.org|language=en}}</ref>
 
{{Blockquote
|title="The Travels of Marco Polo, ch:17 Province of Malabar"
|text="They are very strict in executing justice upon criminals, and as strict in abstaining from wine. Indeed they have made a rule that wine-drinkers and seafaring men are never to be accepted as sureties. For they say that to be a seafaring man is all the same as to be an utter desperado, and that his testimony is good for nothing."
}}
 
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.<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> The [[Chola Empire]] under [[Rajendra I]] was also renowned for conducting [[History of Indian influence on Southeast Asia|maritime trade across Southeast Asia]].


== British period ==
== British period ==
Line 15: Line 27:
=== Mutinies ===
=== 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>
The [[East India Company]] recruited several upper-caste [[sepoys]], 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>
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>
The General Service 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.]]
[[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>
[[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 ===
=== Indentured labourer 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.
When slavery was abolished in British colonies (such as [[Mauritius]] in 1834), the authorities looked for [[unfree labour|indentured labour]] 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 labour, 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."
The Kala Pani theme features prominently in [[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."{{Cn|date=November 2022}} [[Indo-Guyanese]] poet [[Shana Yardan]] also discussed this cultural issue in her work.<ref>{{Cite book |last1=Mahabir |first1=Joy Allison Indira |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=VTm580PJIEQC&dq=shana+yardan&pg=PA7 |title=Critical Perspectives on Indo-Caribbean Women's Literature |last2=Pirbhai |first2=Mariam |date=2013 |publisher=Routledge |isbn=978-0-415-50967-1 |language=en}}</ref>


== Modern India ==
== 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>
The [[Tirumala Venkateswara Temple|Tirupati Temple]] does not allow a priest who has crossed the seas to enter the temple's [[Garbhagriha|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| work = [[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 undergo 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 | work = [[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 | work = [[rediff.com]] | accessdate = 2012-02-02 }}</ref> The [[Travancore Devaswom Board]] also supported him, and fired two of its officials for refusing to support 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... | work = [[rediff.com]] | 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>
==List of people affected by Kala pani==
List of notable people who were expelled from their caste for travelling across the seas.


[[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>
* [[Mahipatram Rupram Nilkanth]]<ref>{{cite book |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=gnAdEAAAQBAJ&dq=crossing+the+seas+india+%22excommunicated%22+%22caste%22&pg=PT170 |title=Women and Missions: Past and Present: Anthropological and Historical Perceptions |publisher=Routledge |year=2020 |isbn=978-1-000-32322-1 |editor-last1=Bowie |editor-first1=Fiona |editor-last2=Kirkwood |editor-first2=Deborah |editor-last3=Ardener |editor-first3=Shirley}}</ref>{{page number needed|date=March 2025}}
* [[Karsandas Mulji]]<ref>{{cite book |last1=Yagnik |first1=Achyut |author-link= |url= |title=The Shaping of Modern Gujarat: Plurality, Hindutva, and Beyond |last2=Sheth |first2=Suchitra |date=2005 |publisher=Penguin Books |isbn= |location= |page=79}}</ref>
* [[Motilal Nehru]]<ref>{{cite book |last=Gopal |first=Sarvepalli |author-link= |title=Jawaharlal Nehru: A Biography |date=1975 |publisher=Jonathan Cape |isbn= |volume=One, 1889-1947 |location= |page=16-17 |url=https://archive.org/details/dli.bengal.10689.13225/page/n19/mode/2up}}</ref>
* [[Mahatma Gandhi]]<ref>{{cite book |last=Roberts |first=Elizabeth Mauchline |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=De2oDwAAQBAJ&dq=crossing+the+seas+india+%22expelled%22+%22caste%22&pg=PT15 |title=Gandhi, Nehru and Modern India |publisher=Taylor & Francis |year=2019 |isbn=978-1-000-63959-9|page=10}}</ref>
* [[Tanguturi Prakasam]]<ref>{{Cite book |last=Chandrashekhar |first=S. |title=Colonialism, Conflict, and Nationalism: South India, 1857-1947 |date=1995 |publisher=Wishwa Prakashan |pages=270}}</ref>


==References==
==References==
Line 46: Line 67:


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

Latest revision as of 19:56, 31 January 2026


For other uses, see Kala Pani (disambiguation).

The Kala Pani (lit. black water) represents the proscription of the over reaching seas in Hinduism.[1] 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.[2] Nowadays this practice is not followed by most Hindus who see it as backwards.

History[edit | edit source]

The offence of crossing the sea is also known as "Samudrolanghana" or "Sagarollanghana". The Dharma Sutra of Baudhayana (II.1.2.2) lists sea voyages as first of the offences that cause the loss of varna.[3] The Dharma Sutra suggests a person can wipe away this offence in three years by eating little at every fourth meal time; bathing at dawn, noon and dusk; standing during the day; and sitting during the night.[4]

In Shastra literature sea voyage was generally considered a "marginal issue" and is one of many actions that result in the loss of varṇa. Sea voyage is considered polluting due to the eating of forbidden food and for involving close interactions with non-Hindus ("mlecchasamparka"). The Shastras are not uniform in their injunction against the practice (some permit it under certain conditions) and the expiation is also variable.[5]

An associated notion was that crossing the ocean entailed the end of the reincarnation cycle, as the traveller was cut off from the regenerating waters of the Ganges. Such voyages also meant breaking family and social ties. According to another belief in the pre-modern India, the Kala Pani (sea water) was inhabited by the houglis, bad spirits and monsters.[6]

Similar anti-maritime attitudes could be found throughout the Indo-Mediterranean in pre-medieval times. The rise of Islam from the 7th century onward attracted various communities involved in maritime trade throughout the region; for example, the maritime traders of Malabar, treated as lowest-caste Hindus, rapidly Islamised and were thus looked down upon.[7]

The 13th century Venetian explorer, Marco Polo, would note in his travelogue, for Malabar:[8]

"They are very strict in executing justice upon criminals, and as strict in abstaining from wine. Indeed they have made a rule that wine-drinkers and seafaring men are never to be accepted as sureties. For they say that to be a seafaring man is all the same as to be an utter desperado, and that his testimony is good for nothing."

— "The Travels of Marco Polo, ch:17 Province of Malabar"

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 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, and other places around Asia and Africa.[9] The Chola Empire under Rajendra I was also renowned for conducting maritime trade across Southeast Asia.

British period[edit | edit source]

Mutinies[edit | edit source]

The East India Company recruited several upper-caste sepoys, 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.[10]

During the First Anglo-Burmese War (1824–26), the Bengal Army was ordered to go to Chittagong. Since no bullock carts 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.[11] This resulted in a mutiny on 2 November 1824 at Barrackpore.[12]

The General Service 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.[13] 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.[14]

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.[15]

Indentured labourer diaspora[edit | edit source]

When slavery was abolished in British colonies (such as Mauritius in 1834), the authorities looked for indentured labour 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 labour, 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 Indo-Caribbean history,[16] and has been elaborately discussed in the writings of V. S. Naipaul.[17] 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, but also of beauty and reconstruction, leading to what he terms a "coral imaginary."[citation needed] Indo-Guyanese poet Shana Yardan also discussed this cultural issue in her work.[18]

Modern India[edit | edit source]

The Tirupati Temple does not allow a priest who has crossed the seas to enter the temple's sanctum sanctorum.[19]

In 2007, the ascension of Sugunendra Tirtha to the Udupi Krishna Temple was opposed by some seers, because he had visited foreign countries, thus committing the offence of saagarolanga (crossing the sea).[20] In 2008, a court verdict formally allowed his ascension.[21] In 2012, both he and his opponent Vishwesha Teertha announced fasts to pressure each other on the issue.[22]

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 undergo a thorough cleansing, penance and punaravrodha (reinstallation) before he would be allowed in again.[23] 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".[24] The Travancore Devaswom Board also supported him, and fired two of its officials for refusing to support his reinstatement. After the board served the thantri a show-cause notice, Namboothiri was allowed back after purification by sprinkling of holy water (theertham).[25]

List of people affected by Kala pani[edit | edit source]

List of notable people who were expelled from their caste for travelling across the seas.

References[edit | edit source]

  1. ↑ "Crossing the Kala Pani to Britain for Hindu Workers and Elites". American Historical Association. 2012-01-04. Retrieved 2012-02-02.
  2. ↑ Daniel Bass (27 November 2012). Everyday Ethnicity in Sri Lanka: Up-country Tamil Identity Politics. Routledge. p. 27. ISBN 978-0-415-52624-1. Retrieved 2 February 2013.
  3. ↑ Charles Eliot (1921). Hinduism and Buddhism: An Historical Sketch, vol. 3. Edward Arnold & Co. p. 102. Retrieved 3 October 2023.
  4. ↑ Patrick Olivelle (2 September 1999). The Dharmasutras : The Law Codes of Ancient India: The Law Codes of Ancient India. Oxford University Press. p. 168. ISBN 978-0-19-283882-7. Retrieved 2 February 2013.
  5. ↑ Clémentin-Ojha, Catherine (2018). "Travel Regulations". In Jacobsen, Knut A.; Basu, Helene; Malinar, Angelika; Narayanan, Vasudha (eds.). Brill's Encyclopedia of Hinduism Online. Brill.
  6. ↑ Marina Carter (2002). Coolitude: An Anthology of the Indian Labour Diaspora. Anthem Press. p. 164. ISBN 978-1-84331-006-8. Retrieved 2 February 2013.
  7. ↑ Wink, André (2002). "From the Mediterranean to the Indian Ocean: Medieval History in Geographic Perspective". Comparative Studies in Society and History. 44 (3): 435. doi:10.1017/S001041750200021X. ISSN 0010-4175. JSTOR 3879375.
  8. ↑ "The Travels of Marco Polo/Book 3/Chapter 17 - Wikisource, the free online library". en.wikisource.org. Retrieved 2022-01-12.
  9. ↑ Donna R. Gabaccia and Dirk Hoerder, ed. (11 April 2011). Connecting Seas and Connected Ocean Rims: Indian, Atlantic, and Pacific Oceans and China Seas Migrations from the 1830s to the 1930s. BRILL. pp. 84–86. ISBN 978-90-04-19316-1. Retrieved 2 February 2013.
  10. ↑ Barbara D. Metcalf and Thomas R. Metcalf (2006). A Concise History of Modern India (2nd ed.). Cambridge University Press. p. 61. ISBN 0-521-68225-8.
  11. ↑ Spencer Walpole (1890). A history of England from the conclusion of the great war in 1815. Longmans, Green. p. 279. Retrieved 2 February 2013.
  12. ↑ Indu Ramchandani (2000). Students' Britannica India. Popular Prakashan. p. 165. ISBN 978-0-85229-760-5. Retrieved 2 February 2013.
  13. ↑ Philip Mason (2004). A MATTER OF HONOUR: An Account Of The Indian Army, Its Officers And Men. Natraj Publishers. p. 261. ISBN 978-81-8158-012-2. Retrieved 2 February 2013.
  14. ↑ John F. Riddick (1 April 2006). The History of British India: A Chronology. Greenwood Publishing Group. p. 53. ISBN 978-0-313-32280-8. Retrieved 2 February 2013.
  15. ↑ Alison Bashford; Carolyn Strange (12 November 2012). Isolation: Places and Practices of Exclusion. Psychology Press. p. 37. ISBN 978-0-415-30980-6. Retrieved 2 February 2013.
  16. ↑ Aisha Khan (11 October 2004). Callaloo Nation: Metaphors of Race and Religious Identity Among South Asians in Trinidad. Duke University Press. p. 123. ISBN 978-0-8223-3388-3. Retrieved 2 February 2013.
  17. ↑ Dan Ojwang (15 December 2012). Reading Migration and Culture: The World of East African Indian Literature. Palgrave Macmillan. p. 55. ISBN 978-1-137-26295-0. Retrieved 2 February 2013.
  18. ↑ Mahabir, Joy Allison Indira; Pirbhai, Mariam (2013). Critical Perspectives on Indo-Caribbean Women's Literature. Routledge. ISBN 978-0-415-50967-1.
  19. ↑ "Foreign trip may cost Udupi pontiff ascension". DNA. Retrieved 2012-02-02.
  20. ↑ "Shiroor seer backs Puttige swamiji". The Hindu. 2007-11-29. Archived from the original on 2007-12-01. Retrieved 2012-02-02.
  21. ↑ "Paryaya is my right: Puttige swamiji". The Hindu. 2008-01-15. Archived from the original on 2008-01-16. Retrieved 2012-02-02.
  22. ↑ "Shiroor Math seer terms fear of swamijis' foreign visits as irrational". The Hindu. 2002-01-17. Retrieved 2012-02-02.
  23. ↑ "Kerala priest loses his job 'cos he went to London". rediff.com. Retrieved 2012-02-02.
  24. ↑ "Kerala temple tamasha leaves two jobless, many angry and a few laughing". rediff.com. Retrieved 2012-02-02.
  25. ↑ "And thus ended the temple tamasha..." rediff.com. Retrieved 2012-02-02.
  26. ↑ Bowie, Fiona; Kirkwood, Deborah; Ardener, Shirley, eds. (2020). Women and Missions: Past and Present: Anthropological and Historical Perceptions. Routledge. ISBN 978-1-000-32322-1.
  27. ↑ Yagnik, Achyut; Sheth, Suchitra (2005). The Shaping of Modern Gujarat: Plurality, Hindutva, and Beyond. Penguin Books. p. 79.
  28. ↑ Gopal, Sarvepalli (1975). Jawaharlal Nehru: A Biography. Vol. One, 1889–1947. Jonathan Cape. p. 16-17.
  29. ↑ Roberts, Elizabeth Mauchline (2019). Gandhi, Nehru and Modern India. Taylor & Francis. p. 10. ISBN 978-1-000-63959-9.
  30. ↑ Chandrashekhar, S. (1995). Colonialism, Conflict, and Nationalism: South India, 1857-1947. Wishwa Prakashan. p. 270.

External links[edit | edit source]

Retrieved from "https://en.bharatpedia.org/w/index.php?title=Kala_pani_(taboo)&oldid=471801"
Discover more