Channar revolt: Kerala
This is a collection of articles archived for the excellence of their content. |
A brief history
The Hindu, April 8, 2016
Sartorial assertions for change
G.S. Jayasree
Channar Revolt revolved around the violation of sartorial norms imposed by caste practices.
The Channar Revolt or the Upper Cloth Movement that took place in 19th century Travancore posed an audacious challenge to social hierarchies based on caste. In the Channar Revolt, women of the Nadar or Channar caste, who were converted to Christianity, started wearing the upper-cloth in the fashion commonly adopted by the Hindu Nair women. In Kerala, till the late 19th century, women belonging to lower castes were not allowed to cover their breasts. When the lower caste Channar women started wearing the upper-cloth, they were attacked for two reasons: firstly, for covering their breasts and secondly, for emulating the styles of attire used by privileged upper caste Nair women.
The agency of Channar women, who were instrumental in bringing about a significant social change, is grievously underestimated in all these accounts.
2016: CBSE removes mention of Channar revolt from textbook
In December 2016, the Central Board of Secondary Education issued a circular removing a chapter named "Caste Conflict and Dress Change" from its curriculam in the textbook of Social Sciences in Class IX.
