It is a piece of cloth, a gesture of respect among Tamils. But over the years, melthundu (“mel” meaning upper, “thundu” meaning cloth) has come to mean much more than that. Once banned by certain communities, later repurposed as a symbol of protest and now redesigned in party colors, the simple shoulder cloth has become central to political culture. tamil nadu.From DMK president MK Stalin to ADMK’s Edappadi K Palaniswami, Netas of all parties have been wearing plaid thunder in party colors of late, as opposed to the more familiar stripes. But this isn’t the first time shoulder cloths have made a political statement.
The first significant moment when thundu became a center of politics and identity in Tamil Nadu was in 1924, when Periyar EV Ramasamy, the pioneer of the self-respect movement, participated in a nadaswaram performance. In those days, people from lower castes were prohibited from wearing shawls or cloths on their shoulders; only those from the dominant castes were allowed to do so.At the event, a musician took off the towel from his waist, wiped his face, and then put the towel on his shoulders. Event hosts from dominant castes objected, saying people from “lower castes” should not wear thundu on their shoulders. Thereafter, Periyar introduced the practice of placing shawls on people’s shoulders during rituals as a symbol of dignity. Periyar’s followers also started wearing Melthundu as a political statement. “Periyar turned the thunderbird into a symbol of equality. It became a way of saying, ‘You are my fellow man,'” says Tamil writer Olivannan G.“Since then, Dravidian politicians started insisting that people on stage wear thunderbirds on their shoulders as a way of rejecting the caste hierarchy,” said advocate V Kannadasan. “It started as a social equalizer and evolved into a way for leaders to project their political image.”This evolution can be seen in the styles adopted by different politicians. DMK founder CN Annadurai always wears a long white shawl. Former DMK president M Karunanidhi first wore white and later changed to yellow. MDMK founder Vaiko is famous for his black thunder, which was worn as a symbol of protest against issues related to Tamil Eelam (during the Sri Lankan civil war).“Clothes are considered one of the main tools used by Dravidian parties in politics. Veshti shirts and Melhundu are the traditional attire of Tamil men,” said political anthropologist Nisar Kannangara. “That’s why Prime Minister Modi always wears one when campaigning in Tamil Nadu. He wore it during a meeting with Chinese President Xi Jinping in the state in 2019 to evoke sentiments among Tamil people. “In the 1970s, thundu was used as a film device. Actor and ADMK founder MG Ramachandran, who himself rarely wears a shoulder cloth and instead cultivates an iconic image in sunglasses and fur hats, has used thundu in films like “Idhayakkani”, allegedly to satirize his DMK rival Karunanidhi. Political science professor Subramaniam Chandran said in a 2023 paper that characters in these films wear long shawls and have lengthy dialogues.However, Purushu Arie, a fashion designer who tracks the evolution of political attire, says, “Differences are emerging now. Sometimes, within political parties, simpler cotton towels are reserved for cadres, while silk shawls are reserved for the elderly. Ironically, fabrics designed to remove hierarchy seem to be reviving it.”In recent years, most party members in the state no longer wear thundu regularly. But in the run-up to the 2026 polls, “melhundu” is making a comeback. This time, it’s less about symbolism and more about branding and standing out from the crowd.“We want to try a new design,” a DMK source said, referring to the black and red checkered Thunderbirds that debuted. “The strategy team first used Frogbird in a party engagement program with Hamlet’s secretary. It became popular and this time, most workers and elderly people decided to wear it instead of the usual striped clothes. “
A tortuous history
white to yellow
In 1989, after M Karunanidhi returned to office, Pattali Makkal Katchi (PMK) founder S Ramadoss presented a yellow shawl, denoting the Vaniya flag, to commemorate his policy of providing 20% reservation to the community. He has worn this yellow cape and sunglasses as part of his signature style for decades. He later gave various explanations for this, including a comparison with the Buddha’s yellow Agavastra.
In Karnataka, the uniform of ‘political fixers’
In a 2000 article in Asia Survey, political scientist James Manor said the term “underarm towel” was used to describe Karnataka’s petty political fixers – middlemen who move between villages and government offices and wield “informal power.” Mano said that while often imitated, they played an important role in elections in most southern states.
When Prabhakaran rejected Thunder
Swarnavel Eswaran Pillai, a professor at Michigan State University, said in a 2011 article in Sanglap magazine that pressure from the West forced LTTE leader Velupillai Prabhakaran Abandoning the guerrilla uniform for a modern “overcoat suit” or a “traditional white veshti-thundu” he could project a more “acceptable” political image. Prabhakaran refused.
MGR shawl controversy
In 2020, an MGR statue in Puducherry was found draped in a saffron shawl, sparking political protests. While leaders condemned the act as an attempt to “demean” the Dravidian idol, CCTV footage later revealed that a woman saw it as a gesture of respect, unaware of the political implications.
