Lord Karunanidhi: God of the Tamil Atheists

The Vellore District (Tamil Nadu) pachayat counselor, G.R. Krishnamurthy has decided to build a temple to honor the Chief Minister of Tamil Nadu M. Karunanidhi.  Both the counselor and the Chief Minister belong to the DMK party that is currently ruling the state.   Karunanidhi is a legendary figure in Tamil Nadu.  He is just not a politician.  He would have ruled the state continuously since the early seventies but for his friend and political rival MGR (MGR passed away in the late eighties).  Only MGR is more popular in Tamil Nadu than Karunanidhi in recent memory.

G.R. Krishnamurthy explained that “The temple is almost in the finishing stages in five cents of land I own at Samireddipalli near Gudiyatham at a cost of about Rs. 2 Lakh (about $4000)”.  He added “Though our leader is an atheist, we accept him as our ‘God’ as he has saved the lives of thousands of poor, not only from my region but also throughout the state through the free insurance scheme”.  The state of Tamil Nadu is of course the pioneer in India when it comes to giving away things for free irrespective of the damage that it does to the state budget (recently the government announced that it is giving away free television sets to some poor people).  You may be poor and might go hungry but you will still get to watch your favorite TV shows!!

For most people outside of India building an idol for a living person and worshiping him might see a little outrageous.  But this is India and India has a much more liberal approach when it comes to belief in the almighty or for that matter who or what this almighty could be.  This open attitude is the reason behind the thousands of gods and goddesses within the Hindu pantheon (these multitudes of gods and goddesses are also found in other religions practiced in India including Buddhism and Jainism).  And the Almighty need not be human-like in nature.  It could be animals, plants, air or rocks. We certainly do not discriminate when it comes to who our god is.

Monotheistic religions (particularly Christianity and Islam) have placed a moratorium on who could elevate to the level of god.  It is acceptable in these religions for human beings to decide whether another human being can become a saint.  But a human being or a saint cannot become god.  I never understood why.

This decision by the counselor to build a temple for Kalaignar (as Karunanidhi is known as) has been criticized by the media and many believers.  Most of these criticisms are hypocritical. It is perfectly legal for anyone in India to believing in or worship whoever or whatever they choose.  But criticism mostly comes from those who are very uncomfortable with the fact that a living person whom they are very familiar with and whose policies they disagree with are considered as a god by others.  But this is how most religions and their gods came in to existence.

Can god only be a person or an entity that is no longer alive and with whom we cannot communicate with but just blindly believe that it is there?  What about newer religions like Sikhism, Mormonism or Scientology all of which were formed in recent history?  I think that “doubt” about the religion, the founder or the gods is very prevalent among people during formation.  But this doubt disappears as time passes by.  Doubt in many cases over time is replaced by blind faith.

Have we considered the possibility that the individuals whom we consider gods today could have been human beings like Karunanidhi with a fanatical fan following?  In many of these cases the gods/founders specifically informed their followers not to idolize them (as in the case of Buddhism and Christianity).  But we do.

G.R. Krishnamurthy brought up one more interesting point.  He said “God will give only if you ask, but Kalaignar will give you without being asked”.  A god who will give and look after us and take care of our needs whether we want to or not.  Why didn’t anybody think of such a god before?

“He was a wise man who originated the idea of God” – Euripides (ancient Greek writer).

Related posts:

1. We Are All Atheists
2. Tamil is Part of Indian Heritage
3. New Brahmins of Tamil Nadu
4. Incredible India: The Koovagam Festival In Tamil Nadu
5. Promoting and Preventing the Tamil Language From Extinction

Tags: Atheists, Buddhism, Christianity, Islam, Kalaignar, Karunanidhi, Krishnamurthy, MGR, Mormonism, Panchayat, religion, Scientology, Sikhism, Tamil Nadu, Vellore

Category: Culture & Religion