Uthiramerur: A model of Indian democracy

Kailasanathar temple at Uthirameur

There are three important temples. The three temples have a large number of inscriptions, notably those from the reigns of Raja Raja Chola (985-1014 A.D.), his son Rajendra Chola, and the Vijayanagar Emperor Krishnadeva Raya.

During the period of Parantaka Chola [907-955 A.D.] village administration was honed into a perfect system through elections. In fact, inscriptions on temple walls in several parts of Tamil Nadu refer to village assemblies. “But it is at Uthiramerur on the walls of the village assembly (Mandapa) itself that we have the earliest inscriptions with complete information about how the elected village assembly functioned,” says R. Sivanandam, epigraphist at the Tamil Nadu Department of Archaeology.

It testifies to the historical fact that nearly 1,100 years ago, a village had an elaborate and highly refined electoral system and even a written constitution prescribing the mode if elections. The details of this system of elective village democracy are inscribed on the walls of the village assembly (grama sabha mandapa), a rectangular structure made of granite slabs

“It is an outstanding document in the history of India. It is a veritable written constitution of the village assembly that functioned 1,000 years ago,” says Dr. Nagaswamy, famous archeologist.

The inscription, gives astonishing details about the constitution of wards, the qualification of candidates standing for elections, the disqualification norms, the mode of election, the constitution of committees with elected members, the functions of those committees, the power to remove the wrongdoer, etc…”. The villagers even had the right to recall the elected representatives if they failed in their duty.

What were the salient features? The village was divided into 30 wards, with one representative elected for each. Those who want to contest must be above 35 years of age and below 70. Only those who owned land that attracted tax could contest elections. Such owners should possess a house built on a legally owned site (not on public poromboke). A person serving in any of the committees could not contest again for the next three terms, each term lasting a year. Elected members who accepted bribes, misappropriated others' property, committed incest, or acted against the public interest suffered disqualification.

The entire village, including infants, had to be present at the village assembly mandapa when elections were held. Only the sick and those who had gone on a pilgrimage were exempt.

This is not mentioned in our history textbooks. The information about this is available in the book of Kanchi Kamakoti Paramacharya that contains his teachings. In fact, T. N. Sheshan, the former election commissioner was a bit dejected when he was appointed as Chief Election commissioner. He then met Paramacharya.

The Paramacharya, who was 97 when a visibly disappointed Seshan came to meet him, immediately sensed the cause of his disappointment and counseled him to treat the transfer as an opportunity granted by God to serve the Indian public.

He had suggested that Seshan visit the Uthiramerur temple and read through the details of electoral regulations prevalent in India about 1000 years ago, including qualifications of candidates that can contest elections.

In the words of Seshan, ‘The credit for Electoral reforms must go to Kanchi Mahaswami, but for whom this would not have been possible. At 97, he had such clarity and described minute details of the electoral rules embossed on the northern walls of the Uthiramerur temple. He mentioned to me that even implementing a tenth of these reforms, would be a great service to India”.

The rest is history. In the words of columnist TJS George, “Seshan showed what one man could do to ensure that democracy did not become a hydra-headed monster. In time Seshan retired. And the monster was set free.”

How many of our present-day politicians know about this? How many politicians and historians of Tamil nadu have knowledge about this? It was wonderful that our Prime Minister had shared this on national stage so that everyone across the country could know the richness of our culture.

The Vishnu temple in Uthiramerur is very unique since the same was built by Vishwa Karma and it's the first Ashtanga Vimana to be constructed. The Vimana in Ashtalakshmi temple in Besant nagar, Chennai was designed and built copying this Vimana only. Uthiramerur is certainly a place to visit to know and understand our richness.