Ilankumaranar: A scholar who solemnised weddings the ancient Tamil way

Renowned Tamil scholar Ira Ilankumaranar, breathed his last on the night of July 25 at his residence in Madurai, due to age related health issues. He was 91. He was known for conducting nearly 5,000 marriages in the ancient Tamil traditional way, which he called ‘Aadhi Tamil Murai Thirumanam’.

Ilankumaranar was born in Vaazhavandhal Puram, a village in Tirunelveli district in 1930, to Padikkaramar and Vaazhavandha Ammaiar. He was the eighth and last child of his parents. Though his maiden name was Krishnan, he changed it to IIankumaranar, after being attracted by the ‘Thani Tamil Iyakkam’ (Pure Tamil Movement).

Participating in oratory competitions from the age of 5, he became a Tamil teacher  at the age of 16. He stood first in the ‘Tamil Pandit’ exam conducted by the University of Madras in 1951. He also served as a guest lecturer in Madurai Kamaraj University for some time.

Having written more than 500 books on Tamil history, literature and grammar, one of his greatest achievements was to retrieve the work ‘Kakkaipadiniyam’. It was the only grammar work done by a woman Tamil poet named Kakkaipadini in the 6th century AD. In fact, it is claimed that it was the first grammar work done by a woman in any language in the world. At a time when many of the scholars thought that the work had vanished, Ilankumaranar found and republished it.

In 1963, one of his works ‘Thirukkural Katturai Thoguppu’ (Thirukkural Essay Collection) was released by the then Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru. In 2003, the then president APJ Abdul Kalam too released his book ‘Sanga Ilakkiya Varisaiyil Purananooru’.

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Fondly called as ‘Tamil Kadal’, Ilankumaranar has also built a library-cum-residence named ‘Thiruvalluvar Thava Salai’, where researchers can stay and conduct their research on Tamil studies, at Allur in Trichy district. The library has nearly 17,000 books.

Ilankumaranar used to say that for cultural development he followed Gandhi, for economic development, Karl Marx, and for social development it was Periyar he had revered.

Ancient Tamil way weddings

It was Ilankumaranar who revived ancient Tamil marriage rituals naming it as ‘Aadhi Tamil Murai Thirumanam’. He even published a book on how to conduct such marriages. According to him, every celebration like house-warming, birthday, etc., can be performed the Tamil way.

In the marriages performed in the ancient Tamil style, there is no place for any kind of religious rituals like setting a homa (a fire ritual) or having a Brahmin priest or any other grand decorations or materials. Just four flower garlands, a photo or small idol of Thiruvalluvar, a lamp and a mike were enough to conduct the marriage ceremony.

At first, the bride should be seated on the right side of the groom. Then the people who are presiding over the wedding ceremony should come to the stage and the bride and groom will read or sing a prayer in the Tamil language. It could also be a prayer on nature.

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Secondly, both the garlanded bride and groom should honour their parents by seeking their blessings. Thirdly, the bride and groom should exchange flower garlands with each other and the groom would tie the nuptial knot. Now, the bride should sit on the left side of groom and finally, they light the lamp.

“In one of the Sangam text ‘Akanaanooru’, (a compilation of four hundred poems on love), songs 86 and 136 have references about conducting marriages in the Tamil tradition. The modern day style of marriage like having a priest, etc., came to existence only in ‘Silappathikaram’ (another ancient Tamil text) period (circa 5th or 6th century AD).

In an interview, Ilankumaranar had said that he had started to conduct this kind of a marriage from 1951. “At first, there was some opposition and rejections but over a period of time, it has been accepted,” this great Tamil scholar had once said in an interview.