Jump to content

Vengal Chakkarai

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
(Redirected from V. Chakkarai Chettiar)

Vengal Chakkarai Chettiar
வெங்கல் சக்கரைச் செட்டியார்
11th Mayor of Madras
In office
November 1941 – 1942
Preceded byG. Janakiram Chetty
Succeeded byC. Tadulinga Mudaliar
President of
All India Trade Union Congress
(Tamil Nadu unit)
In office
1943–1945
President of
All India Trade Union Congress
In office
30 May 1954 – 29 Dec 1957
Preceded byS.A. Dange
Succeeded byS.S. Mirajkar
Personal details
Born(1878-12-12)12 December 1878 or
(1880-01-17)17 January 1880
Madras, Madras Presidency, British India
(now Chennai, Tamil Nadu, India)
Died(1958-06-14)14 June 1958 (aged 78-79)
Madras, Madras State (now Chennai, Tamil Nadu), India
Political party Indian National Congress Justice Party
Relations
Parent(s)Andal Ammal (mother)
Kesavalu Chettiar (father)
EducationB.A., Law degree
Alma materMadras Christian College
Madras Law College
OccupationLawyer, trade unionist, politician, social activist, theologian
Known forFounder of Chennai Labour Union, Indian independence activist

Vengal Chakkarai Chettiar (17 January 1880 – 14 June 1958) was an Indian Christian theologian, missionary, independence activist, politician and trade unionist.[1] He was the former president of AITUC.

Early life

[edit]

Chakkarai was born to a Hindu Chettiar family.[1][2] He was educated at the Scottish Mission School, Madras Christian College, graduating in 1901 after majoring in philosophy.[1] He then studied at Madras Law College, and practiced for some time as a lawyer.[3]

Career

[edit]

In 1913, Chakkarai joined the Danish Mission Room as a Christian preacher and worked as a missionary for twenty years. During these years, he also became a disciple of Mahatma Gandhi and participated in the Indian independence movement. He served a thes Mayor of Madras from 1941 to 1942. He was the president of the Tamil Nadu unit ofAll India Trade Union Congress (AITUC) from 1943 to 1945, and as the all-India president of AITUC from 30 May 1954 to 29 December 1957.

Theology

[edit]

Chakkarai was baptised as a Christian on February 22, 1903.[4]

He was a member of the Rethinking Christianity group[5] along with his brother-in-law, Pandipeddi Chenchiah. He believed in the Indianisation of Christianity, although the anti-colonial feeling of the time led many people to feel that an Indian could not be a Christian without abandoning their Indian culture.[6] Instead he suggested that Christians should refuse allegiance to earthly states and overcome their nationalistic behaviour.[7]

He tried to explain the Christian faith through the Hinduism point of view.[1] This can be seen when he tried to find the meaning of the Christian cross for the followers of Christianity in how it could bring moksha.[1][3]

Some of the Chakkarai's views about Christianity included:[1][8]

  • Jesus is truly human (sat purusa).
  • The Holy Spirit is Christ himself, who continues to exist and work until now.
  • God cannot be seen as the creator of sin.
  • Humans themselves are responsible for the sins that they commit.
  • Knowledge of God is not something that is intellectual (jnana), but a personal experience of God (anubhava).
  • Sin is seen as the handcuffs (pasa), which prevents the human soul (pasu) to reach God.
  • The essence of sin is the desire to find "the mystery of the forbidden".

Publications

[edit]
  • Jesus the Avatar (1927)[9][10][11]
  • The Cross and Indian Thought (1932)[12]
  • A selection (Library of Indian Christian theology)[13]

Death

[edit]

He died on 14 June 1958.[14]

Descendants

[edit]

His daughter's daughter, V. Vasanthi Devi is an educationist and social activist. She served as Vice-Chancellor of Manonmaniam Sundaranar University (1992–98) and as Chairperson of the Tamil Nadu State Commission for Women (2002–05).[15]

References

[edit]
  1. ^ a b c d e f Yewangoe, Andreas Anangguru (1987). Theologia crucis in Asia: Asian Christian views on suffering in the face of overwhelming poverty and multifaceted religiosity in Asia. Amsterdam studies in theology. Amsterdam: Rodopi. ISBN 978-90-6203-610-3.
  2. ^ (in Indonesian) FD Wellem.1993.Riwayat Hidup Singkat Tokoh-Tokoh Dalam Sejarah Gereja. Jakarta: PT BPK Gunung Mulia. p. 75-77
  3. ^ a b Google Books, Theologia Crucis in Asia: Asian Christian Views on Suffering in the Face of Overwhelming Poverty and Multifaceted Religiosity in Asia, by Andreas Anangguru Yewangoe (1987), page 59
  4. ^ Brill Reference Works website, Religion Past and Present: C
  5. ^ Oxford Reference website, Chakkarai, Vengal
  6. ^ JStor website, Nation as Nostalgia: Ambiguous Spiritual Journeys of Vengal Chakkarai, article by M. S. S. Pandian, published in Economic and Political Weekly, Vol. 38, No. 51/52 (Dec. 27, 2003 - Jan. 2, 2004), pp. 5357-5365
  7. ^ Google Books, Theologia Crucis in Asia: Asian Christian Views on Suffering in the Face of Overwhelming Poverty and Multifaceted Religiosity in Asia, by Andreas Anangguru Yewangoe (1987), page 81
  8. ^ Google Books, Theologia Crucis in Asia: Asian Christian Views on Suffering in the Face of Overwhelming Poverty and Multifaceted Religiosity in Asia, by Andreas Anangguru Yewangoe (1987), pages 59-82
  9. ^ Indian Culture website, Rare Books website, Jesus the Avatar
  10. ^ Brill website, Jesus the Avatar
  11. ^ Bee Zone website, Jesus the Avatar
  12. ^ WorldCat website, The Cross and Indian Thought
  13. ^ Amazon website, Vengal Chakkarai
  14. ^ "'தொழிற்சங்க தந்தை' சக்கரைச் செட்டியார்!". www.keetru.com. Retrieved 6 June 2025.
  15. ^ வாசகசாலை (21 April 2020). "அடையாளம்: 4- வசந்திதேவி". வாசகசாலை | இலக்கிய அமைப்பு | சென்னை, தமிழ்நாடு. Retrieved 6 June 2025.
  • Schouten, Jan Peter (2008). Jesus as Guru: The image of Christ among the Hindus and Christians in India. Rodopi. pp. 117–119.
Preceded by Mayor of Madras
1941-1942 		Succeeded by
Retrieved from "https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Vengal_Chakkarai&oldid=1294301278"