KUNDRAKUDI ADIGALAR: ROCHDALE OF TAMIL NADU

Kundrakudi Adigalar has chosen to be autocratic, but patiently listen to the ordinary people and has liberal in outlook. After he visited Russia, he wanted to change the life style of village people to become entrepreneurs.  He has organized Planning Forum, he got ideas from the elite group for suggestions, and on the other side he seeks the active participation of village people for implementation of village development programmes. When he was a lay man, he was very much attracted by the high thoughts of Ulaga Podhumarai Thirukural became his Pothuneri even at the age of 8 years old, since he was encouraged by the Tamil Professor Sethupillai and recite and received quarter anna (25 paise) as appreciation gift every day.  After completed his school education, he was joined as a bus conductor, a school teacher and an unpaid apprentice in a paper factory for some time. But his heart was nerve in such jobs his heart inclined towards spiritual, so he joined as a Accountant in Dharmapuri  Aatheenam in 1944 at the age of 20 years old.  His holiness of high thoughts and practical thinking administrative skill made him to became the head of the Aadheenam in 1947, where Aranganathan became the Kandasamy Thambiran. His innovate schemes at Kundrakudi attract the iron lady of the world Mrs. Indira Gandhi, who has sent the planning commission representatives Dr. K.V. Sundaram, Joint Advisor and Shri K.V. Palanidurai, Senior Research Officer to made a case study of Kundrakudi village, a brain child of Kundrakudi Adigalar.

AIMS AND OBJECTIVES

Success stories in rural development are few in India. Wherever the success story have occurred, it is necessary to document the experience, analyse the factors that have contributed to the success and consider their relevance to the country as a whole in terms of their replicability, This approach is likely to yield valuable insights for evolving a model for rural development for the country. "This is what I should like for all other villages", was the observation made by our late Prime Minister, Smt. Indira Gandhi after going through a report under the caption "Gains at the Grass Roots" published in "The Hindu" dated, 9th September, 1984. The report related to the accomplishments in rural development made by the Village Planning Forum (VPF) in Kundrakudi, an interior village in Tamil Nadu State. The Planning Commission received a note from the P.M.'s Secretariat with the above observation on the Kundrakudi Experiment for further possible action.

     The objectives of the present study are to analyse the Kundrakudi experience as all example of local-level planning for rural development; and to familiarize Kuntrakudi  Adigalar, a trend setter like Rochdale of England. To made the readers to understand the powers and functions as a head of Matt, who are not only spiritual head, but also social reformer, philanthropist, pioneer of planning commission of India, extends into the realms of economics, sociology and every walk of human progress, which is the cornerstone of the rural development strategy.

To enable the readers and researchers to understand these founding persons’ contribution, included a social and religious leader, popularly known as 'Adigalar' and a group of dedicated scientists from Central Electro Chemical Research Institute, located in proximity to Kundrakudi.

To understand the significant development works undertaken in Kuntrakudi industrial units sponsored by the Village Planning Forum, the Community Wells, the Mulberry garden, orchard etc. and held discussions with a wide spectrum of community—farmers, industrial workers and women as well as various officials and non-officials.

HISTORIC INCIDENT TO BECOME A HEAD OF THIRUVANNAMALAI ADHEENAM

As he was a renowned scholar,  Kuntrakudi Adigalar’s intellectual refined thoughts attracted Thiruvannamalai Pontiff’s eyes fell on him, later he was selected as 45^th head of the Kundrakudi Thiruvannamalai Adheenam in the year 1952.  He was a trend setter and began transformation period in Matt’s activities. He changed the regular recruitment order, practices in temples.

The Mutt was headed by His Holiness Srilasri Deivasigamani Arunachala Desiga Paramacharya Swamigal (popularly known as Thavathiru Kundrakudi Adigalar). Sri Adigalar was a great scholar and a powerful orator and above all a religious reformer with progressive views. He was a follower of Gandhiji, an admirer of socialism and a staunch supporter of the cooperative movement. He has widely travelled both in India and abroad and visited the Soviet Union, China, Japan, SriLanka and Malaysia. The rural development movement around Kundrakudi is closely inter-twined with the social and spiritual activities of the Mutt.

Sri Adigalar was deeply moved by the poverty and 'unemployment among the people living in Kundrakudi, and the nearby villages. He realised that preaching spiritualism to semi-starved citizens would not help propagate the objectives of the religious institution of which he is the head. Being a firm believer in Gandhiji's ideals, he wanted the village to be self-sufficient at least in food grains and other essential items.

ABROAD VISIT BROADEN HIS THINKING:

Adigalar visited  to some foreign countries, particularly the Soviet Union, influenced his thinking and ideas on the socio-economic upliftment of the villagers. He became convinced that organising the villagers for collective self-reliance and utilising the local natural resources of the area in the most optimal manner constituted the essential strategy of rural development. In order to give shape to these ideas, he launched a Village Planning Forum in Kundrakudi on 2nd October 1977, the birthday of Gandhiji.

OBJECTIVES OF VPF:

The main objective of the Village Planning Forum, as envisaged by him, is the achievement of self-sufficiency and eradication of unemployment in the village. In this task, he decided  to bring together the three essential actors in the development drama, viz., The Government, the financiers (represented by the State Bank of India) and a third party planner (represented by the scientists of CECR1) for mutual interaction/cooperation in the development process. The idea was to primarily revolve around the government development programmes, modify them according to local' requirements and to facilitate their implementation in a successful' way by bringing about access to capital (provided through the commercial banks) and the scientific inputs and knowhow (provided by CECRI, the third party planner).

The main aims of the village-planning forum, as stated. in its constitution, are quite comprehensive, consisting of some 15 items as follows :— 1. To uplift the economically weaker sections of the society. 2. To improve the skills of the local artisans. 3. To impart training to the local people for self-employment. 4. To train the local people for leadership through formation of cooperative society, task assignment, participation in discussions etc. 5. To utilise the available resources in the village for the development. 6. To improve the awareness of villagers and to educate them in better health and family welfare measures, sanitation and clean environment. 7. To introduce modern methods of agriculture. 8. To encourage cooperative movements and to train villagers for different functions in cooperative society like Directors, Presidents, Vice-Presidents. 9. To improve irrigation facilities. 10. To improve cattle wealth. 11. To bring the entire wasteland under cultivation. 12. To create an atmosphere conducive to formation of integrated society free from race, religious and caste-differences. 13. To take Science and Technology to the village.

14. To improve the academic performance of students in-villages. 15. To make the villages self-sufficient in all aspects in paddy, vegetables, milk, meat, fish, etc.

 MEMBERS OF PLANNING FORUM:

The Planning Forum is broad-based in composition with different interests represented in it. Sri Adigalar is the coordinator of the Planning Forum. The following are the-other members: 1. Selected village citizens (including women). 2. Presidents, Vice-Presidents and Secretaries of the various, cooperative societies. 3. Local industrial interests. 4. Representatives of commercial and cooperative banks. 5. Panchayat Union Officials. 6. Scientists from CECRI, Karaikudi. 7. Officials of the Agricultural Department. 8. Officials of the Animal Husbandry Department. 9. Officials of Agricultural Engineering Department. 10. Officials of Education Department. 11. Officials of Electricity Board.

12. General Manager of District Industries Centre, Ramnad. 13. Officials of Khadi and Village Industries.

14. Village officials.

During the planning commission members  visit, they saw extensive tracts of barren and degraded wasteland in the area. A sizeable portion of the land must be government land, probably with the forest department. A concerted effort should be made to profitably use this land. Such lands on which there are no plans for afforestation in the next twenty years or so, may be given on lease to registered cooperatives of landless labourers and small and marginal farmers who live around such lands (for a period ranging from .20—25 years) so that they may be put to appropriate economic use. The Government of Gujarat has a scheme like this for the development of the wasteland.

The VPF in Kundrakudi that have contributed to the success story in Kundrakudi. Re-stated in terms of broad principles at the level of generality, these are: (a) Building up a responsible and responsive Receiving Mechanism which will be a people's institution for planning and development, to provide a forum for various people to interact and to prepare an acceptable framework for planning. (b) Ensuring a willing, understanding and adaptive Delivery Mechanism which, in effect, implies bringing about attitudinal changes among the functionaries engaged in development administration. (c) Bringing into existence a 'Think-tank' or 'Third Party Planner' which can play both an advisory role in planning on a continuous basis, as Well as a catalytic motivational role in implementation With some degree of involvement (not mere association) in the planning and implementation process, (d) Identifying a local leader of high personal integrity who is respected by all sections of the people and who can integrate the functions mentioned in (a), (b) and (c). (e) Ensuring a style of functioning (of the planning mechanism) which will be informed by an informal group dynamic approach to decision making and which Would be neither compelling nor absorbing in its performance and which Would be able to eliminate any conflicts fluctuations arising during the planning process. (f) Adopting flexible procedures and consensus building techniques as well as healthy conventions in the working process.a dynamic role in the transformation of wastelands in the area.

The factors that have contributed to the success story in Kundrakudi were as follows:  Re-stated in terms of broad principles at the level of generality, these are: (a) Building up a responsible and responsive Receiving Mechanism which will be a people's institution for planning and development, to provide a forum for various people to interact and to prepare an acceptable framework for planning. (b) Ensuring a willing, understanding and adaptive Delivery Mechanism which, in effect, implies bringing about attitudinal changes among the functionaries engaged in development administration. (c) Bringing into existence a 'Think-tank' or 'Third Party Planner' which can play both an advisory role in planning on a continuous basis, as Well as a catalytic motivational role in implementation With some degree of involvement (not mere association) in the planning and implementation process, (d) Identifying a local leader of high personal integrity who is respected by all sections of the people and who can integrate the functions mentioned in (a), (b) and (c). (e) Ensuring a style of functioning (of the planning mechanism) which will be informed by an informal group dynamic approach to decision making and which Would be neither compelling nor absorbing in its performance and which Would be able to eliminate any conflicts fluctuations arising during the planning process. (f) Adopting flexible procedures and consensus building techniques as well as healthy conventions in the working process.  (g) Devising a network of informal consultative groups outside the regular institutional mechanism for group action, which would expand the scope of public participation and also ensure, voluntary agency participation. (See Annexure IV) (h) Imparting Training both formal and informal for the local youth inducted into the development projects to provide both the skills as Well as moral qualities. 5.23 The principles stated above need to be interpreted appropriately to suit every situation. There can be no fixed rules of the game. Each situation is unique in itself and demands a different approach.

CONCLUSION

Department of Central and State Governments are implementing numerous schemes in every part of the country. Unfortunately, these have tended to acquire a certain uniformity because of Central/State direction and guidelines provided by the State/Central Governments. Although these guidelines provide for flexibility of operation with reference to area peculiarities and specificities, the normal government machinery at the lower levels does not exercise this prerogative for various reasons, which we may not go into. It is only when an enlightened local body is present, which is in a position to intervene and can articulate the local area specificities and needs, that these considerations enter explicitly into the formulation of plan schemes and appropriate modifications in these schemes are made to suit local resources, local peculiarities and local needs of the village. 3.2 Part of the success of the Kundrakudi experiment may be ascribed to the fact that the Village Planning Forum was able to exercise some thinking as to the choice of schemes relevant to the village area and in this way rendered the government schemes both area— specific and people-specific. It is proposed to discuss here only a few of those schemes which may be considered significant from the point of view of their 'trigger potential' for area development. The emphasis in this discussion is not so much on the physical details of a particular scheme, as on its social dynamics, i.e. the part played by the people in its formulation and implementation.   He was not only a village development  planner, but also work for inter religious harmony during Mandaikadu riot, and work for social justice at keelvenmani incident in Tanjore district, active participant in Bhoodan Movement for land for landless.  He lived as a saintly life and thought what a saint can do as a servant of God for social justice with humanity. He is a man of multifaceted personality lived for peace, harmony by shown his love on humanity and being a pioneer of Indian Planning commission by spreading his service as social movement like Rochdale of  England in Tamil Nadu.  Hence, rightly called him as  Rochdale of Tamil Nadu.

HISTORY IS A DWELLING HOUSE OF ALL SUBJECTS WITH SPECIAL REFERENCE TO ARCHAEOLOGY

History is a dwelling house of all subjects because without documented the past events, no other discipline known its development of their own discipline.  But for writing history of the pre history, it depends upon other subjects for writing analytical way of inquiry is necessary to write objective history.  Pre history is writing with the archaeological evidences found in the excavated sites. Hence, it depends on scientific techniques to adopt for excavation, preservation, and finding truth based on scientific methods to fix the date, contacts, metals and its manufacturing skills are proved with scientific systematic investigation required.   Hence, history is an art or science a question raised on its nature. The word ‘History” is derived from ‘ historia’ a Greek term, which means inquiry or research.  Aristotle regarded history as a systematic account of a set of natural phenomena, whether or not chronological ordering was a factor in the account.  History is to be applied to accounts of events that are narrated in a chronological order, and deal with the past mankind.

AIMS AND OBJECTIVES

Aims and objectives of this paper is to emphasis the value of history and how history helps other disciplines by documenting daily incidents systematically. But at the same time give insight into how archaeology and history are twin eyes to write history scientifically.  History enables the readers and researchers to understand the value of history to enrich our national pride.  To understand the techniques used for archaeological site excavation and data analyses. To enable the researchers to know the scientific techniques applied for deriving facts on field survey, and inquiry about the past to rewrite history.

VALUES OF HISTORY AND ARCHAEOLOGY

Studying history is important because it allows us to understand our past, which in turn allows us to understand our present. People often say that “history repeats itself,” but if we study the successes and failures of the past, we may, ideally, be able to learn from our mistakes and avoid repeating them in the future. Studying history can provide us with insight into our cultures of origin as well as cultures with which we might be less familiar, thereby increasing cross-cultural awareness and understanding. Whereas Archaeology is the study of people in the past, their activities and actions, cultural practices, tools and technological development, their superstitious and religious practices, expression of their cultural identity and other beliefs about themselves or the world around them. Aracheaological survey mostly search material remains in the past, later evolved to examine landscapes, topography, human geography, Environmental studies. For the first time in  Europe made an attempt to studying ancient monuments and sites for the purpose of discovering artifacts and treasures. Its purpose may changed over the period of time, now the archaeologists are working as an anthropologists to study of the prehistoric and the historic period. However, these two disciplines are differs from paleontology in that this area studies fossils of extinct species and not humans or human ancestors. 

 DIFFERENCE BETWEEN ANTHROPOLOGY AND ARCHAEOLOGY

Anthropology is the study of people of the past, their culture and practices, the locations of habitation, how they survived or thrived in the landscape, what they ate, what they believed  and  practices. With this, anthropologists attempt to build a narrative of human culture in the past. Whereas Archaeology is the study of the material remains of the human past – artifacts like weapons, tools and jewelry,  technology, buildings and structures like graves, grave markers and grave goods, how humanity altered a landscape or other natural feature. Some archaeologists study modern technologically primitive peoples to understand the beliefs and practices of the past the studying or investigate their materials and technology by using the ruins left by the people of the past.

During the Roman Empire, archaeology as a discipline of “antiquarianism” for keeping of artifacts as cultural or historical curiosities, but not  considered politically valid or as a sense of national pride. Humans have always placed value on objects of its own family historical importance. Even during the medieval society, interested people were collected images of ancient stone texts, sketches of curious monuments and other artifacts of archaeological interest. The antiquarianism later cause for the foundation of nation- state and birth to local historians as well as archaeology.

TRANSFORMATION OF IDEOLOGY

The fundamental changes of the European powers, cause for the changes were made fueled by the idea of national cultural identity or cultural destiny, which gave way to the idea of a sense of the uniqueness of one’s own country.   A sense of cherishing previous generations cause for the   preserving the idea of the importance of descendants through lineage.

ORIGIN OF MODERN ARCHAEOLOGY

Archaeology began as a natural and necessary progress from the enlightenment  but it was still largely influenced by a sense of national identity and local pride by opening museum to propagate their antiquities. For instance, The British Museum opened its doors in 1753; The Egyptian Museum of Antiquities opened in Cairo in 1835 with the current building in 1851 to house all later finds. The National Archaeological Museum of France was opened by Napoleon III in 1862.

DEVELOPMENT OF ARCHAEOLOGY

Thomsen, who proposed the first “three age” system like Stone Age, Bronze Age, and Iron Age  for the relative dating of artifacts’ and their stratigraphic relationships. Sir John Lubbock divided these stages further, for example dividing the Stone Age period into Paleolithic or Old Stone Age, Mesolithic or Middle Stone Age  and Neolithic or New Stone Age.Stratigraphic theory was already in development and based partly on the older idea of the three-age system. William Cunnington⁸ excavated Stonehenge in the early 1800s along with many other prehistoric monuments. He largely categorized into those belonging to the Stone Age, Bronze Age or Iron Age using a meticulous system of stratigraphy that still informs archaeology today. Later, a more complex system and one adapted based on regional variation was applied.

GOLDEN AGE FOR EARLY ARCHAEOLOGY

The Father of Archaeology is William Flinders Petrie⁹ was the first to investigate the Great Pyramid of Giza in Egypt, many finds in Memphis in Egypt and extensively in the Levant¹⁰ In each case he meticulous recorded each artifact no matter how seemingly insignificant, its location and relationship with other finds and the landscape. This was a golden age for early archaeology with the discovery of Troy in modern Turkey and the investigation of Knossos in Crete.

SCIENTIFIC EXCAVATION

During 20^th century Sir Mortimer Wheeler introduced a scientific excavation method still in use. By 1950s Archaeological excavation was a professional academic discipline requiring high-level education and long-term study all over the developed world.  Colleges and universities offered degrees and post-graduate courses before the 1960s.

By the 21^st century, practically all archaeologists which including manual labour excavators had archaeology degrees to get theoretical and practical knowledge about archaeological activities like identify the area, using scientific technology to locate the site, finding result of the objects found in excavation, gather data, excavate, report on findings and preserve artifacts. There are many tools at the disposal of archaeologist from excavation and associated tools, documentation research, aerial photography, cartography, soil sampling with the technical support of other subject experts. Based on excavated artifacts has proved one nations pride.

ARCHAEOLOGICAL THEORIES

Archaeology is not simply about digging up past human remains and preserving it for people to enjoy, wonder at and feel a sense of shared identity. Academic archaeology is about interpreting, its uses and purpose of the objects, technical skill of that product.  There are four types of theories developed viz.  Antiquarianism, Culture-Historical Archaeology, Historical Particularism and  National Archaeology

Computational Archaeology uses for data analyses uses of digital technology which includes technology like Geographic Information Systems,¹¹surveying and satellite data for spatial analysis. It also involves the study, use and application of statistical models for big data analytics in human behavior, probability models, intra site analysis like digitized data of stratigraphic relationships 3D modelling, artifact concentration and distribution, predictive modeling and heritage conservation.

An Archaeological Investigation  usually involved variety of methods followed before and after excavation.  Archaeologist aims and objectives are find the site with a site surveyed based on literary evidences, archaeological features buried underneath, the data collected from the excavation is studied and evaluated in an attempt to achieve the original research objectives of the archaeologists. It is then considered good practice for the information to be published so that it is available to other archaeologists and historians.

REMOTE SENSING INSTRUMENTS

There are two types of remote sensing instruments helps the excavators that the sites are located for larger area or provide more information about the regions. 

1.       Passive instruments detect natural energy that is reflected or emitted from the observed scene. Passive instruments sense only radiation emitted by the object being viewed or reflected by the object from a source other than the instrument.

2.       Active instruments emit energy and record what is reflected. Satellite imagery  is an example of passive remote sensing.

There are two active remote sensing instruments

·         Lidar(Light Detection and Ranging) uses a laser to transmit a light pulse and a receiver with sensitive detectors to measure the backscattered or reflected light. Distance to the object is determined by recording the time between the transmitted and backscattered pulses and using the speed of light to calculate the distance travelled.

·         Laser altimeter uses to measure the height of the instrument platform above the surface. By independently knowing the height of the platform with respect to the mean Earth's surface, the topography of the underlying surface can be determined.

SURVEY METHODS  - FIELD SURVEY

Identify the site with the help of literary evidences, or more pottery found any region on the surface of the region, or digging well or any other purpose, if the people doubted about that region have more product found underneath, any structure found, then site survey is attempted by archaeologist systematically.

Initially sampling methods followed to ensure before processing large volumes of soil to search for artifacts, to avoid unwanted expenses and save time. During field survey to gather information about the site whether it has any ethical issues.  Try to find out the form of settlement patterns and settlement structures, distribution of artifacts in that site.

SURFACE SURVEY

Surface survey is the simple survey technique, bywhich combing that site on foot or sometimes by mechanized transport to search for features or any artifacts found on the surface.  Some surface are fully covered with vegetation, where the archaeologist made mini-excavation techniques like shovel test pits or augers.  If nothing found means stop survey that site.

AERIAL SURVEY

Aerial photographs are useful for quick mapping of large and complex sites, which helps to detect many invisible objects from the surface, plants growing over the tomb or a stone wall, photographs of ripening grain, which changes colour rapidly at its growth etc. Aerial survey uses ultraviolet infrared which penetrating radar wavelengths, Lidar and thermography at different times of day will shows the outlines of structures by changes in shadows.

GEOPHYSICAL SURVEY

Geographical survey is the most effective methods to study underneath of earth by using Magnetometers to identify minute deviations in the Earth’s Magnetic field by iron artifacts, kilns or stone structures.  Generally electrical resistivity contrasts with that of surrounding soils can be detected and mapping archaeological features like stone or brick have higher resistivity than typical soils, and to have lower resistivity on organic deposits or unfired clay. For instance marine magnetometer, side-scan sonar or sub –bottom sonar are the geophysical remote sensing devices uses in underwater archaeological survey.

POST –EXCAVATION ANALYSIS

Once artifacts and structures have been excavated, or collected from surface surveys, it is necessary to investigate, which  is time consuming, this process is known as post – excavation analysis. The final excavation reports for major sites to take years to be published.

At a basic level of analysis, artifacts found are cleaned, catalogued and compared to published collections. This comparison process often involves classifying them typologically and identifying other sites with similar artifact assemblages. However, a much more comprehensive range of analytical techniques are available through  archaeological science, meaning that artifacts can be dated and their compositions examined. Bones, plants, and pollen collected from a site can all be analyzed using the methods of zooarchaeology, paleoethnobotany, palynology and deciphered text .  

ENVIRONMENTAL ARCHAEOLOGY¹³

Environmental Archaeology is divided into three broad areas like Archaeozoology, Archaeobotany, and Geoarchaeology.

·         Archaeozoology, the study of how humans interacted with animals in the past. This examines ancient hunting practices and the transition to farming. Archaeozoologist will spend a lot of time looking at bones and apply spatial analysis, distribution models and animal husbandry

·         Archaeobotany is the study of past human relationships to plants. Similarly, they will look at ancient farming practices, land clearance, examine landscape changes as indicators of human action, study palynology and phytoliths. Archaeobotanists experience some overlap with archaeozoology in that they may examine entomology as indicators of plant type change

·         Geoarchaeology is the study of the matters of the Earth as it pertains to the human past. Palaeoclimate data from a time of human interaction with the environment.  For instance the last Ice Age is classified as geoarchaeological. It looks at broad distribution data such as pottery and flint tools and tries to calculate the spread of a technological culture

CONCLUSION

 History is about reconstructing the past throughevidences.  Archaeology examines stone tool, the development of early bronze and iron smelting and mining, how to construct a building and making clothing. Archaeology always had a sense of historic landscapes and places. Without Archaeological evidences, ancient India has no pre-historic period. Kizhadi excavation result will change the history of India that civilization originates from Tamil Nadu in South India.  Aathichanallur excavation proved that earlier than Indus valley civilization by excavated bronze miniature artifact from that region.  History documented geneses of growth and development of each and every department.  But at the same time history proved with scientific methods to find date of an object by using chemistry, for calculating year by mathematics, find the archaeological site by physics, for data analysis using computational analyses.  However, without documentation, there is no other way to know about our past history of development of any department.  Hence, history is the dwelling house of all subjects including archaeology.  Without history, other subjects are unable to scaling the growth and development of their own departments.  History is the record of the past, guide the present and future.