An incident that took place in 1844 shook Tiruchi. Though widow remarriage was common among some sections of the intermediate communities and Dalits, it was an anathema to Brahmins and other caste Hindus, including Vellalas. Rev. John Baptiste Trincal, a French Jesuit, temporarily in charge of St. Mary’s Church, secretly presided over the marriage between a widow and a youth in the Vellala community. This paved the way for remarriage and rehabilitation of widows.
Trincal himself was taken aback when the youth approached him with a request since widow remarriage was not prevalent among the caste Hindus. He realised that Christianity too could not bring about a change among those who have converted to the new faith. It was a question of who will bell the cat? “Why should I not bell the cat? An enthusiasm engulfed Trincal. God has given an opportunity to bless such a marriage,” thought Trincal, the real-life character as portrayed in the Tamil biographical novel Munnathi, penned by Fr. Mark Stephen.
Records on ‘sati’
Before blessing the marriage, Trincal went through the records of Rev. Peter Martin, a Jesuit, on the practice of ‘sati’ (burning the wife in her husband’s pyre), which was widely prevalent in the Madurai region, especially the ‘sati’ of the 47 wives of Kizhavan Sethupathi, the ruler of Ramanathapuram. The novel gives a graphic account of the incident.
Muthammal, wife of Muthuveerappa Naicker III, the ruler of Madurai, who was pregnant at the time of his death, waited till the birth of the child and ended her life. When Tirumalai Naicker died, his 200 wives threw themselves into his pyre. The incidents disturbed Trincal and he wondered why the missionaries could not put an end to the practice. Fr. Mark explains why he selected the title Munnathi, which means pioneer or leader. When fields are ploughed, all ploughs will follow one plough which is called Munnathi. “Father Trincal was the Munnathi of the New Madurai Mission, where he had worked for 48 years, from 1844 to 1892,” he says.
Trincal, who assumed the Tamil name Arulappa Samy, was the first missionary to start a de-addiction programme for the Irish army men stationed in Tiruchi. Instead of persuading them to give up alcohol altogether, he advised them to reduce their daily intake, reformed many of them and created a church band by bringing together the musically talented Irish army men. Wherever he went he bought land that became a permanent source of income. He also started schools, especially one for Dalit students in Pudupatti near Watrap in Virudhunagar district.
While the old Madurai Mission had some outstanding missionaries like Francis Xavier, Veeramamunivar and Roberto de Nobili, who were great scholars, Trincal, who was part of the New Madurai Mission, turned his focus on social reforms, including widow remarriage and eradication of untouchability. A scene in the novel captures his commitment to the cause of Dalits. When told about the establishment of St Joseph’s College, his first question was whether Dalits had been admitted there.
Fr. Mark, a Jesuit himself and a native of Pudupatti, developed an affinity for Trincal, the first parish priest of Pudupatti. Trincal worked there from 1875 to 1892, till he died in Madurai in the same year. “I was born in the first house on the street where the church is. Children would spend the whole day on the church premises and go home only to have food,” Fr. Mark recalls in his introduction to the novel.
Touched by Revolution
Trincal, who was born in France in 1815, was greatly influenced by the ideals of the French Revolution: Liberty, Equality, and Fraternity. “He strongly felt his country witnessed revolution and bloodshed because Christianity deviated from its original goal,” Fr. Mark recalls.
His ideas of Christianity are explained in the first chapter of the novel when Trincal began his journey in the ship Congrade with a few Jesuits from Italy. All of them were keen on working in the Madurai Mission, from where the Jesuits were banned by the Pope in the 18th Century. “I am firm in my decision that I should not return to France. I am leaving my parents, kith and kin, relatives, friends, my native place, country and language. Only my body is here but my heart is in the Madura Mission in India,” Trincal would tell the captain of the ship.
The narration of the novel moves back and forth in time to capture the life of Trincal in France, his formative years and his missionary work in Madurai, Tiruchi, Nagapattinam, and finally in Pudupatti. In Nagapattinam, he stayed and dined with the Dalits and their children so that he could learn Tamil quickly. His command of the language is explained by the fact that he became the first missionary to translate The New Testament in Tamil. In Pudupatti, he built the church for the Dalits and made possible what was thought to be impossible. Dalits could walk through the streets of caste Hindus to reach the church. He constantly fought the local Zamindars, who targetted the Christians and burnt their churches. Though he wished to be buried at Pudupatti, he changed his mind while in Madurai for treatment of stomach ache. The novel movingly portrays Trincal’s thoughts on the subject. He did not want his followers to worship him. Moreover, he was against the idea of getting an exalted place which could be denied to Saverimuthu, who worked closely with him in his mission among Dalits; Arulappan, who was instrumental in spreading Christianity in the western region of Madurai; and Sanniyasi Michel, because they were not white men. He was buried at Viyakula Annai Church in Madurai.
