| Passions of the Tongue |
| Acknowledgments |
| Note on Transliteration |
| Preface |
| • | “Between Homes, Between Languages” |
| 1. Introduction |
| • | Language and Devotion |
| • | Language, Colonialism, and Modernity |
| • | Language and Gender |
| • | Preview |
| • | Notes |
| 2. One Language, Many Imaginings |
| Religiously Tamil: The Language Divine |
| • | The Polarization of Tamil and Sanskrit |
| • | Being Religious, The Tamil Way |
| Civilizing Tamil: The Language Classical |
| • | The Tyranny of Civilization |
| • | The Contest with Sanskrit |
| • | Opposing Orientalism |
| • | Tamil and the Nostalgia for Civilization |
| Language and the Nation: Indianizing Tamil |
| • | Indianism and Divine Tamil |
| • | Indianism and Classical Tamil |
| • | Indianism and the “Mother Tongue” |
| • | Indianism and Hindi |
| • | The Congress and Indianized Tamil |
| Language of the Nation: Dravidianizing Tamil |
| • | Dravidianism and India |
| • | Dravidianism and Hinduism |
| • | Dravidianism and the Tamil Family |
| • | The DMK and Dravidianized Tamil |
| • | Dravidianism and its Discontents |
| • | The Many Faces of Tamil |
| • | Notes |
| 3. Feminizing Language |
| • | The Poetics and Politics of Praise |
| Tamil as Deity: Pietistics of Tamil Devotion |
| Tamiḻtteyvam: Portrait of a Goddess |
| • | “You were there, even before the mighty Himalayas emerged, and Kumari Nadu submerged!” |
| • | “There is no one like you! This is indeed the truth” |
| • | “She encircles the resounding world” |
| • | “You are sovereign of the fine Tamil world” |
| • | “You are knowledge itself” |
| • | “She is the goddess who commands the gods who guard us” |
| • | “The supreme one who has no beginning and no end, ardently desires you” |
| • | “I am your devotee; you are my refuge” |
| • | Profiling the Pious Devotee |
| • | The Ideology of Pious Devotion |
| Tamil as Mother: Somatics of Tamil Devotion |
| • | Tamiḻttāy: Portrait of a Mother |
| • | The Violated Body of Tamiḻttāy |
| • | The Fertile Womb of Tamiḻttāy |
| • | The Nourishing Milk of Tamiḻttāy |
| • | The pitiful Tears of Tamiḻttāy |
| • | Profiling the Filial Devotee |
| • | The Ideology of Somatic Devotion |
| • | Tamil as Maiden: Erotics of Tamil Devotion |
| • | On the Feminization of Language |
| • | Visualizing Tamiḻttāy |
| • | Notes |
| 4. Laboring for Language |
| • | Worshipping with Tamil: Language and Liturgy |
| • | Cleansing Tamil: Language and Purity |
| • | “What’s in a Name?”: Rechristening Madras State |
| • | Enthronement of Tamil: Dilemmas of Rule |
| • | Battling the Demoness Hindi |
| • | Notes |
| 5. To Die For |
| • | The Woman Devotee |
| • | The Missionary Devotee |
| • | The Brahman Devotee |
| • | The Poet Devotee |
| • | The Scholar Devotee |
| • | The Devotee as Publicist |
| • | The Devotee as Patron |
| • | The Warrior Devotee |
| • | The Devotee as Martyr |
| • | The Anti Devotee |
| • | Notes |
| 6. Conclusion |
| • | Notes |
| Abbreviations |
| Plates |
| References |