In
recent days, this debate has reached a crescendo with one section backing
Tippu as a freedom fighter and brave warrior and another pointing
out to his harsh treatment of Hindus and the wanton destruction of temples.
A
little known fact about Tipu is that he indeed did give generous gifts to Hindu
temples and Hindu religious institutions such as the temples in Sringeri, the
Cheluvanarayana and Yoga Narasimha temple in Melkote, the Ranganatha temple in
Srirangapatna and the Nanjundeshwara temple in Nanjangud.
However,
there are also records of the manner in which Tipu massacred people in Kerala
and also massacred nearly 800 Brahmins in Melkote in Mandya
district and this happened on Naraka Chaturdashi more than two centuries ago. All the massacred Brahmins in Melkote
belonged to what is popularly known as Mandyam Iyengars and they all belonged
to a single gotra-Bharadwaja. These people as per
one theory have said to have migrated
from tirupathi . I will come back to
you on mandyam iyengers and how they
were massacred but before that
It is intresting & desirable to know something about this place Melkote.
Situated in Pandavapura taluk,
.Melkote
is famous as one of the four places:considered as abode of
Lord vishnu the remaining three being Sriranga, Tirupati and
Kanchipuram. Melkote has antiquity going back to mythological times wherein it
was referred to as Narayanadri, Vedadri, Yadavadri etc. During the Treta Yuga,
Lord Dattatreya performed vedic discourses and it became famous as Vedadri. In
Dwapara Yuga, Sri Krishna lived here and hence it became famous as Yadavadri
and in the Kali Yuga it became famous by the consecration of Vishnu temples. In
inscriptions it is referred to as Thirunarayanapura and Vaikuntavardhana
Kshetra..
According to history the Cholas who
were ruling most of Taml nadu were champions of Saivism. They
were not well disposed towards Ramanujacharya who propagated Vaishnavism.
Fearing for life, Ramanujacharya is said to have left Tamil Nadu and came to
Karnataka. First he came to Tonnur or Tondanur where some disciples joined him.
Subsequently, he went to Melkote. Where he stayed for twelve years.
The
Cheluvanarayana Temple is the most important temple here with an enclosure of
290 feet with many Mantapas. The Navaranga in front of the garbhagriha has
three entrances. It also has a shrine for Ramanujacharya and the image therein
is said to have been consecrated by his disciples when Ramanujacharya left for
Srirangam. It is of importance to note that rituals and worship are done here
as per the regulations and rules as promulgated by Ramanujacharya himself.
. coming back to
Mandyam iyengers who were
masters of Sanskrit. also spoke a distinct dialect of Tamil called
Mandyam Tamil. All the Mandyam Iyengars belonged to the Thenkalai sect of
Iyengars. It was time of the last Anglo-Mysore war between Tipu on one hand and
the British and Nizam of Hyderabad on the other hand.Tipu has been seething
with anger at what he considered humiliating and unfair terms of the treaty
that brought an end to the third Anglo-Mysore war. He was particularly harsh on
his detractors and critics.
One
day, Tipu received news that one of his Hindu or rather Brahmin ministers,
Shamaiah Iyengar had allied himself with the Dowager Queen of the Wodeyars,
Lakshmammani, and had joined hands with the British to oust him.Unlike
his father, Hyder Ali, who had respected the Mysoreroyal family, Tipu had
shown scant regard and respect for them. He had a rather strained relationship
with the Mysoreroyals.
Queen
Lakshammanni, the Dowager Queen of Mysore, began trying to regain the
throne when Hyder Ali usurped power. She started negotiating with the British
in the 1760's with the help of Tirumala iyenger and Narayana iyenger .
She had assured the two brothers of the pradhanship of Mysore and
one-tenth of the income of the state as their salary in perpetuity. When Hyder
came to know of this agreement, he imprisoned all their relatives.
After
Hyder’s death, the Queen intensified her efforts to place a Wodeyar back on the
throne of Mysore. Though Tipu maintained a safe distance from the
Wodeyars, he kept a wary eye on them.
When
news of the Dowager Queen interacting with the British with help from Shamaiah
Iyengar reached Tipu, he decided to take revenge. Earlie to this
the agreement signed between the British General Harris of Madras and
Tirumaliyengar further infuriated Tipu. Tirumaliyengar was often referred to by
the British as Tirumala Row. He was the Pradhan of Mysore. . Finding
Iyengars against him, Tipu thought of destroying the Iyengars who were
living in Melkote. The day he selected for this was Naraka Chaturdashi. When
all Mandyam Iyengars were immersed in Deepavali celebrations, Tipu’s men
entered Melkote and massacred at least 800 persons.
The
slaughter was on the day when the Mandyam Iyengars were getting ready to
celebrate Naraka Chaturdashi. But the celebrations turned into
mourning.The slaughter literally led to the death of Melkote. All
people abandoned the temple city and it soon turned into a ghost
town. The 29 Kalyanis in Melkote went to dust, water shortage became endemic
and the hills browned and of course Sanskrit lost a home.
To
this day, the Mandyam Iyengars of Melkote do not celebrate
Deepavali. Unfortunately, there is no mention of the despicable incident
in any history book, but even now local folklore and a few accounts of the
horrifying event still exist.
Recent
research on the incident by Dr MA Jayashree and MA Narasimhan who
were originally from Melkote and belonging to
bharadawaj Gotra Mandyam iyengers sect have proved that
the incident did take place and among those massacred were women. The research
was also presented at a seminar at Dhvanyaloka, Mysore.
Another
lopsided fact of history is that the heroic role Queen Lakshammanni in
protecting her family and her relentless battle for the restoration of the
throne during the period of Hyder Ali and Tipu Sultan, is not adequately
mentioned. The only acknowledged account is the three-volume History of Mysore
by Hayavadana Rao.
Unfortunately, the Queen and the Pradhans are a forgotten chapter of history.
It is only during Deepavali that the sacrifice of the Pradhans come to light
and that too only among the Mandyam Iyengars. .
As one historian aptly remarked, most
historians write that Tipu killed a tiger though they never saw it, but do not
write about the massacre of Mandyam Iyengars though they have seen it or heard
of it from authentic sources. Just for information, one of the most important
Mandyam Iyengars today is the chief Minister of Tamil Nadu J. Jayalalithaa.
