Upper cloth controversy

The Channar Lahala or Channar revolt, also called Maru Marakkal Samaram, refers to the fight from 1813 to 1859 of Nadar climber women in Travancore kingdom for the right to wear upper-body clothes to cover their breasts. This right was previously reserved for Nair women, who were higher-class Hindu women.

In 19th century Travancore lower-class women were not allowed to wear clothes that covered their breasts. Baring of chest to higher status was considered a sign of respect, by both males and females. Higher-class women covered both breasts and shoulders, whereas Nadar climber women were not allowed to cover their bosoms, as most of the non-Brahmin women, to punctuate their low status. Uneasy with their social status, a large number of Nadar climbers embraced Christianity, and started to wear "long cloths," at the request of the missionaries. When conversion further spread, the Nadar women started to wear the Nair breast cloth.

The Nadar and Izhava women successfully campaigned to be allowed to cover their breasts. In 1813, Colonel John Munro, British dewan in the Travancore court, issued an order granting permission to women converted to Christianity to wear upper cloth. The order was withdrawn when pindakars, members of the Raja's council, complained about this, arguing that this right would obliterate caste-differences, and lead to widespread pollution in the state. Nadar women were forbidden to wear the Nair sharf, and instead were allowed to wear the kuppayam, a type of jacket worn by Syrian Christians, Shonagas, and Maplas. The Nadas and Izhava women were not satisfied, continuing to fight for the right to wear upper cloth "like any other woman in the higher castes," and preferring breast-clothing in the Nair-style. This led to increasing violence in the 1820s against Nadar women, and also the burning of schools and churches. In 1828 the Travancore government again forbid Nadar-women the Nair-style breast-clothes, but permitted the wearing of the jacket. In 1829, the rani (queen) issued yet another proclamation, which denied the right of Nadar women to wear upper cloths.

In 1858, new violence broke out in several places in Travancore. On 26 July 1859, under pressure from Charles Trevelyan, the Madras Governor, the king of Travancore issued a proclamation proclaiming the right for all Nadar women to cover their breasts, either by wearing jackets, like the Christian Nadars, or tie coarse-cloth around their upper-body, like the Mukkavattigal (low-caste fisher-women). Yet they were still not allowed to cover their breasts in the style of the higher-class women. This solution was not satisfactory to the missionaries, who regarded the Christian Nadar women to be of a higher status than the Mukkavattigal women. The Nadar continued to ignore the restrictions, developing an upper-wear style that resembled the style of the higherclass Hindu women, but offended some Hindus as a provocation by the missionaries. The code was still discriminatory until 1915-1916, and the challenge was supported by Mahatma Ayyankali.

...
Wikipedia