Black and Bright and Beautiful

[Samar Abbas]

On Thu, 9 Nov 2000, N. Ganesan wrote:
> Lord Ramar is described as Black, Bright and Beautiful
> by our own KambanaTTalvar.
>   veyyOn2 oLi tan2 mEn2iyin2 viri cOtiyin2 maRaiyap
>   poyyO en2um iTaiyALoTum iLaiyAn2oTum pOn2An2;
>   maiyO! marakatamO! maRikaTalO! mazai mukilO!
>   aiyO! ivan2 vaTivu en2patu or aziyA azaku uTaiyAn2.

 This is very interesting (could we have a translation of the above verse
for the non-Tamils please), and apparently confirms the claim put forth by
the Revival Movement for Dravidian Religion
(http://geocities.com/Athens/Ithaca/1412/) that Rama and Krishna were
Dravidian gods/leaders, and that Vishnu was hence a Dravidian. It sounds
bizarre because Rama is nowadays so generally depicted as Caucasian (see
the TV serials Jai Hanuman and Mahabharata) that nobody seems to question
that he was an `Aryan God', but it does seem that Rama was always depicted
as a Black in the ancient period. How is this apparent paradox resolved ?
Have the TV producers explained their usage of lily-complexioned boys for
Krishna and Rama ? Surely, they must be aware of the incongruity - at
least for Krishna. Do the likes of Mr. Murli Joshi accept such theories?

  Also, Gupta statues generally depict the Buddha with thick lips, wide
nose and curly hair; likewise I have made a rough count and found that
most icons even of this late period seem to be of Dravidians. Being
patrons, they would naturally depict the ruling class. Were these persons
dark-skinned ? Generally, Guptas are portrayed as revivers of Aryan
Hinduism, and the Amar Chitra Katha comics portray Harsha and the
Guptas as Caucasians. How does one resolve this apparent contradiction ?

 Even now, seeing the predominance of Negroid physical types in ancient
Indian sculptures gives an eerie feeling that perhaps we don't know how
or when this change-over took place (or why).

Rajesh Kochhar wrote:
> In the Hindi movies and songs, the heroine is gori, while the
> hero is Sanvaria.

 Strangely, this is even true for Tamil films - eg. see Jayalalitha.
Ascribing the modern preference for light complexion to European
influence seems too simplistic. That light-skinned Hindus are all Huns is
also far-fetched. What then is the ethnicity of the Madhuris, Mamatas and
Raveenas of Bollywood ?

Samar