Vishwakarma community

The Vishwakarma community, sometimes referred to as Vishwabrahmin in some parts of India, is however composite group of five communities of artisans and craftspersons in India. The five sub-groups—carpenters, blacksmiths, bronze smiths, goldsmiths and stonemasons— trace their descent from Vishvakarman, a Hindu deity. Viswakarmas today worship various foms of this deity as well as other deities of the Hindu pantheon.

Name

The use of Viswakarmas as an umbrella term for the five groups is of fairly recent origin .^[1] The British Raj viewed the Indian caste system as being an inflexible system based on varna, ignoring all evidence of caste creation and disintegration caused by processes of social fission and fusion. This interpretation, formed in part by heeding the work of Brahmin scholars, resulted in many communities aspiring to official recognition of a higher social status than was traditional, based on claims of descent from elite groups such as the Brahmins or Kshatriyas. Among the changes that occurred during this period, the census administrator John Henry Hutton recorded in 1931 a caste called the Vishwakarma, which was an administrative creation defined as a community of artisans who were geographically disparate but shared fairly similar occupations. The Vishwakarma comprised numerous previously diverse castes.^[2]

The community prefer the new name, which has evidential support in 12th-century inscriptions that refer to smiths and sculptors belonging to the Vishwakarma kula, although Vijaya Ramaswamy notes that "... the Vishwakarma community is obviously cutting across caste lines" and "... comprises five socially and economically differentiated jatis". Prior to the Raj period, these communities were referred to by names such as Kammalar in present-day Tamil Nadu and Kerala, Panchalar in Karnataka, and Panchanamuvaru in Andhra Pradesh, while there are also medieval inscriptions that refer to them as the Rathakara and Kammala-Rathakarar.^[3] Anthropologist Jan Brouwer used the term 'makers of the world' in positive affirmation of the artisanal practie of the carpenter, smiths, sculptors and stone masons. He also took note of the fact that the Viswakarmas had no clear classification in the Varna System. (In Conversation with Jan Brouwer, Sreekala Sivasankaran Sahapedia)

Origin

The god Vishwakarma is considered by followers of the Hindu faith to be the divine architect or engineer of the universe. He had five children — Manu, Maya, Tvastar, Shilpi and Visvajna — and these are believed by the Vishwakarma community to have been the forebears of their five sub-groups, being respectively the gotras (clans) of blacksmiths, carpenters, bell metalworkers (metal casters), stonemasons and goldsmiths.^[1] It is not known whether these five subgroups historically practiced endogamy, which is a frequently-found feature of the Indian caste system.^[3]

History

While many sources refer to the five sub-groups of the Vishwakarma as artisans, Ramaswamy believes that the Vishwakarma of the medieval period should be distinguished as craftsmen, arguing that "... while every craftsman was an artisan, every artisan was not a craftsman". Ramaswamy notes that the socio-economic and geographic stability of a medieval village-based maker of ploughs differed considerably from that of the various people who banded together as Vishwakarma and lived a relatively itinerant lifestyle that was dependent on the "temple economy" that waxed and waned as dynasties such as the Vijayanagar Empire were formed and disintegrated. The latter group, who did work in proximity to each other while constructing and embellishing temples, had opportunities for socio-economic advancement but also bore the risks of withdrawal of patronage and changes in religious focus.^[3]

Interestingly, Ananda Kumaraswamy's book displaying plates of south asian sculptures was named Viswakarma, which remains an inspiring volume for art historians.

Position in society

The Vishwakarma have held a higher social status for many years, and believe that the vocations which they traditionally follow are superior to the work of a manual labourer because they require artistic and scientific skills as well as those of the hand. According to George Varghese, their claim to high status is "one of the mainstays of Vishwakarma identity" in what is otherwise a fragmented, incoherent community that has often suffered from internal differences of opinion.^[1]

One reason for the lack of political patronage or effective leadership for the community until recently could be the diversity of the skilled works of the groups within and also, for a group which has a heritage of artistic, artisanal and crafts production haven't perhaps felt the need for such an agency.

The Viswakarma claim has been voiced by Edava Somanathan, a member of the community and its only historian in Kerala in the written word. Somanathan's works, according to Varghese, "... are written from a pro-community perspective. Therefore, there are some exaggerations and anti-brahmin tirades in them". Somanathan argues that the artisanal groups were a part of the Indus Valley Civilisation, pre-dating the arrival of Brahmins and their caste-based division of society. He claims remarkable achievements are evidenced in both the arts and sciences during that egalitarian pre-Brahmin era, including the construction of aeroplanes.^[1]

This claim to Brahmin status is not generally accepted outside the community, despite their assumption of some high-caste traits, such as wearing the sacred thread, and the Brahminisation of their rituals. For example, the sociologist M. N. Srinivas, who developed the concept of sanskritisation, juxtaposed the success of the Lingayat caste in achieving advancement within Karnataka society by such means with the failure of the Vishwakarma to achieve the same. Their position as a left-hand caste has not aided their ambition.^[4]

Synonyms

Tamil Nadu

In Tamil Nadu, Tamil Achari, Acharya or Asari are known as Tamil Kammalars. They are goldsmiths, Carpenters, Blacksmiths and landlords.^[5]

Karnataka

The Vishwakarma caste of south Karnataka, is composed of several sub-castes: Kulachar, Uttaradi (goldsmiths), Matachar (founders), Muulekammaras, and Chikkamanes. Sub-castes do intermarry, and have a hierarchy among themselves.^[6]^{[verification needed]}

Notable people

Pothuluru Veerabrahmendra ^[7]

References

^ ^a ^b ^c ^d Varghese K., George (8–14 November 2003). "Globalisation Traumas and New Social Imaginary: Visvakarma Community of Kerala". Economic and Political Weekly. 38 (45): 4794–4802. JSTOR 4414253.
^ Bhagat, Ram B. (April–June 2006). "Census and caste enumeration: British legacy and contemporary practice in India". Genus. 62 (2): 119–134. JSTOR 29789312. (subscription required)
^ ^a ^b ^c Ramaswamy, Vijaya (2004). "Vishwakarma Craftsmen in Early Medieval Peninsular India". Journal of the Economic and Social History of the Orient. 47 (4): 548–582. doi:10.1163/1568520042467154. JSTOR 25165073. (subscription required)
^ Ikegame, Aya (2013). "Karnataka: Caste, dominance and social change in the 'Indian village'". In Berger, Peter; Heidemann, Frank (eds.). The Modern Anthropology of India: Ethnography, Themes and Theory. Routledge. p. 128. ISBN 9781134061112.
^ Ramaswamy, Vijaya (2007). Historical dictionary of the Tamils. Scarecrow Press. pp. 107–108. ISBN 978-0-8108-5379-9. Retrieved 16 January 2012.
^ Brouwer, Jan. "The Latecomers: A case study of caste and sub-caste of goldsmiths in Karnataka, South India". In van den Hoek, A. W.; Kolff, D. H. A.; Oort, M. S. (eds.). Ritual, State, and History in South Asia: Essays in Honour of J. C. Heesterman. BRILL. pp. 442–455.
^ Pillai, R.N. (1991). Veerabrahmam : India's Nostradamus saint. New Delhi: Abhinav Publications. p. 9. ISBN 8170172799. Retrieved 11 Jan 2014.