Krishnammal Jagannathan: a symbol of Gandhian model of empowerment

Explore Krishnammal Jagannathan’s inspiring journey as a Gandhian advocate for landless empowerment in Tamil Nadu.

The images of the 100-year-old Krishnammal Jagannathan sitting under a peepal tree at Gandhigram, Dindigul, at the beginning of the documentary, and her standing beside a well without a drop of water at the end, quietly trace the arc of her life’s journey.

The movement she spearheaded, along with her late husband Jagannathan, spread like the peepal tree itself, taking root across villages and securing land for the landless. Yet, the dry well reflects another reality — the growing scarcity of idealism-driven movements, both political and non-political, in Tamil Nadu.

A Gandhian who draws inspiration from Vallalar Ramalinga Adigal — the saint who could not bear even the sight of a withering plant — Ms. Krishnammal turns to prayer with disarming simplicity. Standing beside the parched well in Gandhigram, she seeks divine grace, hoping it will, one day, brim with water again.

“The well remains dry and my mind is in agony. There will come a time when the well will be desilted. Ayya, by your mercy, let the well overflow with water,” she prays in a trembling voice in the documentary Nilam+Needhi=Krishnammal Jagannathan, directed by Ravi Subramanian.

She represents one of the two major strands that fought for the empowerment of landless labourers in Tamil Nadu — the Gandhian movement inspired by Mahatma Gandhi and Vinoba Bhave, and the Communist-led agrarian struggle.

Though emerging from different ideological traditions, the two movements often intersected at several moments in history. The film captures one such meeting point through a long conversation between Ms. Krishnammal and K. Balabharathi, former CPI(M) MLA and a full-time worker of the party.