Dinkan is a fictional

anthropomorphic Anthropomorphism is the attribution of human traits, emotions, or intentions to non-human entities. It is considered to be an innate tendency of human psychology. Personification is the related attribution of human form and characteristics to ...

superhero A superhero or superheroine is a fictional character who typically possesses ''superpowers'' or abilities beyond those of ordinary people, is frequently costumed concealing their identity, and fits the role of the hero, typically using their ...

mouse A mouse (: mice) is a small rodent. Characteristically, mice are known to have a pointed snout, small rounded ears, a body-length scaly tail, and a high breeding rate. The best known mouse species is the common house mouse (''Mus musculus'' ...

who appears in an eponymous

Malayalam Malayalam (; , ) is a Dravidian languages, Dravidian language spoken in the Indian state of Kerala and the union territories of Lakshadweep and Puducherry (union territory), Puducherry (Mahé district) by the Malayali people. It is one of ...

comic story series in children's magazine '' Balamangalam''. Some modern day

rationalists In philosophy, rationalism is the epistemological view that "regards reason as the chief source and test of knowledge" or "the position that reason has precedence over other ways of acquiring knowledge", often in contrast to other possible s ...

Kerala Kerala ( , ) is a States and union territories of India, state on the Malabar Coast of India. It was formed on 1 November 1956, following the passage of the States Reorganisation Act, by combining Malayalam-speaking regions of the erstwhile ...

use Dinkan to mock

organized religion Organized religion, also known as institutional religion, is religion in which belief systems and rituals are systematically arranged and formally established, typically by an official doctrine (or dogma), a hierarchical or bureaucratic leadership ...

and

religious intolerance Religious intolerance or religious bigotry is intolerance of another's religious beliefs, practices, faith or lack thereof. Statements which are contrary to one's religious beliefs do not constitute intolerance. Religious intolerance, rather, ...

History

Dinkan (ഡിങ്കൻ) was created by story-writer N. Somasekharan and artist Baby in 1983. Dinkan was one of the earliest superhero characters created in

India India, officially the Republic of India, is a country in South Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by area, seventh-largest country by area; the List of countries by population (United Nations), most populous country since ...

and it quickly became popular among children. Like

Terrytoons Terrytoons, Inc. was an American animation studio headquartered in New Rochelle, New York, which was active from 1929 until its closure in December 1972 (and briefly returned between 1987 and 1996 for television in-name only). Founded by Paul Te ...

created

Mighty Mouse Mighty Mouse is an American animated character created by the Terrytoons studio for 20th Century Fox. He is an anthropomorphic superhero mouse, originally called Super Mouse, and made his debut in the 1942 short ''The Mouse of Tomorrow''. Th ...

and several other superhero characters, Dinkan borrowed a few traits from the iconic

DC Comics DC Comics (originally DC Comics, Inc., and also known simply as DC) is an American comic book publisher owned by DC Entertainment, a subsidiary of Warner Bros. Discovery. DC is an initialism for "Detective Comics", an American comic book seri ...

character

Superman Superman is a superhero created by writer Jerry Siegel and artist Joe Shuster, which first appeared in the comic book ''Action Comics'' Action Comics 1, #1, published in the United States on April 18, 1938.The copyright date of ''Action Comics ...

. He also had characteristics of

Iron Man Iron Man is a superhero appearing in American comic books published by Marvel Comics. Co-created by writer and editor Stan Lee, developed by scripter Larry Lieber, and designed by artists Don Heck and Jack Kirby, the character first appearan ...

Character biography

Dinkan was born in Pankila forest, somewhere in

. He was a naughty mouse, who wasn't disciplined. During one of his escapades, Dinkan was abducted by aliens from an unknown planet. They conducted experiments on him which ended up giving him superior strength, enhanced senses and the ability to fly. Somehow Dinkan found himself back in the Pankila forest and he decided to use his powers for the well-being of animals in the forest.

Dinkoism

Dinkoism has emerged as a

parody religion A parody religion or mock religion is a belief system that challenges the spiritual convictions of others, often through humor, satire, or burlesque (literary ridicule). Often constructed to achieve a specific purpose related to another belief sys ...

on social networks organized by some atheists in

, India. This religion celebrates Dinkan as their God in an attempt to bring awareness of the fallacies and practices of traditional religions.

BBC The British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) is a British public service broadcaster headquartered at Broadcasting House in London, England. Originally established in 1922 as the British Broadcasting Company, it evolved into its current sta ...

covered the Dinkoist religion in its ''BBCTrending'' Programme. BBC reported Dinkoism as an atheist movement with significant growth in the social media.

Growing recognition

On January 3, 2016, a group of dinkoists, calling themselves Mooshikasena (the Rat Army), went to protest in front of actor

Dileep Gopalakrishnan Padmanabhan, better known by his stage name Dileep, is an Indian actor, producer, comedian and entrepreneur who predominantly works in the Malayalam film industry. He has also acted in Tamil, Hindi, and Kannada films. He has ...

's Dhe Puttu Restaurant to protest his film titled ''Professor Dinkan'' on the grounds that it offended their religious sentiments. This was a mockery of similar protests around the world, especially in

. Also in January 2016, a Dinkoist in

California California () is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States that lies on the West Coast of the United States, Pacific Coast. It borders Oregon to the north, Nevada and Arizona to the east, and shares Mexico–United States border, an ...

won the right to have a license plate for his car with Dinkan written on it, in recognition of his belief.

References

External links

News on Dinkan
* {{cite web , url=https://www.asianetnews.com/magazine/interview-with-samusa-thrikonadhyaya-on-dinkoism-split , title= ഡിങ്കോയിസം ശരിക്കും പിളര്‍ന്നോ; സമൂസ ത്രികോണാധ്യായ തുറന്നുപറയുന്നു... , author= Rasheed KP , work=

Asianet News Asianet News is an Indian Malayalam-language free-to-air news channel, operated by the Asianet News Network, a subsidiary of Asianxt Digital Technologies. The channel is based in Thiruvananthapuram, Kerala. Asianet News is currently one of th ...

, date= 29 Jun 2016 , accessdate= 24 December 2019 , language= ml , trans-title= Did Dinkoism really split up; The samosa triangle is frank ... Atheism activism Comics characters introduced in 1983 Hindu new religious movements Indian comics titles Indian comics characters Malayalam comics Religious parodies and satire Parody religion deities Animal superheroes Comics characters with superhuman strength Anthropomorphic mice and rats Parody superheroes Male characters in animation