LAUSR

ABSTRACT There are four conspicuous tombs with impressive monuments at a significant spot opposite to the harbour on the Marina Beach in Chennai (Madras), the capital city of Tamil Nadu, one of the southern most states of India. They contain four chief ministers of the state, from 1968 to 2017. The construction and maintenance of these tombs have been shrouded with controversies and the major factors are political power, piety of the people and the implicit ideological battles. The decisive moment was the formation and development of the Dravidian movement in opposition to the Brahmanic hegemony with the ancient Vedic cult, supremacy of Brahmin priests, the persistent caste system and various degrees of superstition. How the Dravidian force has been neutralized in a complex nexus is the fundamental question.