karnataka: rituals
The Leftover God
A temple's demeaning 'leftovers' ritual has all sides frothing
Sugata Srinivasaraju
Eat, Pray, Roll Over...
During the three-day Champa Shasti festival, Shivalli Brahmins are
served meals at the Kukke Subramanya temple of Karnataka
Once the meal is over, Dalits, backwards and people from the local
tribes are allowed to roll on the leftovers
The belief is the ritual will cure the 'devotees' of ailments
The ritual has got a lot of flak from progressive groups
The state department that administers temples allowed the ritual,
adding to the controversy
***
The annual Champa Shasti festival held over November and December at
the Kukke Subramanya temple in Dakshina Kannada district in Karnataka
has an unusual tradition. On all three days, the Shivalli Brahmins are
served a multi-course meal in seclusion in the temple precincts. And
after they are through, instead of clearing the spread plantain leaves
on which the food's served, Dalits, backwards and local tribespeople
are allowed to roll on the leftovers.
The belief is this ritual will cure the 'devotee' of ailments,
especially skin-related ones, and will gift a child to those praying
for a baby. It's also considered an ideal form of thanksgiving to the
local deity after "wish fulfilment". The ritual, called 'maade snana'
in Tulu and Kannada, is said to be over four hundred years old but
there are no written records to prove such a claim.
As the tradition reinforces and 'enacts' caste hierarchies, where even
a Brahmin's 'jhoota' is bestowed with powers to cure people from
subaltern communities, it had been catching a lot of flak since last
year from progressive groups in the state. Especially as this was
being allowed in a temple that belongs to the muzrai department, a
state-run body which administers Hindu temples.
Last week, though, saw protests heating up more because after the huge
outcry last year, the local administration had promised to end this
ritual which violates basic human dignity. Apparently, under "pressure
from devotees", the administration allowed the practice from November
28 onwards. Nearly 4,000 people joined up to roll over the leftovers.
What took the row beyond the usual temple affairs level was muzrai and
higher education minister Dr V.S. Acharya's statement that it was a
"faith-based ritual and banning it was tantamount to hurting the
sentiments of the people". People immediately started questioning not
only his credentials as a trained medical doctor, but also his RSS
roots. They began asking if he would similarly allow dowry, child
marriage and other social evils as they are also faith-based?
The fact that the Kukke Subramanya temple is in Dakshina Kannada
district has also added political colour to the controversy. The
district has been a hot-bed of Hindutva politics of late (in 2008, it
even saw a number of attacks on churches). Also, many VIP members of
the state cabinet like Acharya, Shobha Karandlaje and CM Sadananda
Gowda hail from the region. A statement by Vishwesha Theertha Swamiji
of the Udupi Pejawar math, a VHP leader himself, has not helped
matters. In a nonchalant manner, he announced that he neither
"vehemently opposed nor strongly supported" the ritual.
The complexity of the issue unravels itself when we take into
consideration the largely illiterate Malekudiya tribe's support for
the ritual. When the local administration hinted at a ban, members of
the ST community went on a rampage, even declaring that they would
stay away from building the deity's chariot, a traditional activity
they have performed for years during the festival season. (If the
chariot is not built, the festival will remain incomplete without the
final procession of the deity.)
K.S. Shivaramu of the Karnataka Backward Class Awareness Forum
believes "the backwards, Dalits and the Malekudiyas are being pushed
by the Brahmins of the region to perform this ritual. They are
exploiting their ignorance. They want to keep the caste divide alive."
Incidentally, Shivaramu, who went on a fact-finding mission to Kukke
on November 30, was thrashed by the temple workers. "Those who
attacked me were all innocent backward class people. After they
attacked me, they were felicitated by the temple's chief priest who is
a Brahmin. One temple worker from the Malekudiya tribe, Nagesh, was
suspended for leading the attack. The irony of the situation is those
who do the ritual are backwards, those who thrash me are backwards,
those who are penalised for it are backwards and those who seek a ban
are also backwards," he says wryly.
Advocate and ex-chairman of the state Backward Classes Commission, Dr
C.S. Dwarakanath, sees clever commercial interests at play here. He
also alleges that the ritual is part of the revivalist agenda of the
Sangh parivar. "The Kukke temple, tucked away in the forests and
controlled by Brahmins, was never as popular as the nearby Dharmastala
temple controlled by the Jains. This controversy has helped them
generate some further popularity for the temple and its powers. In
recent years, the temple has seen VIP visitors like Sachin Tendulkar,
Ravi Shastri and some very big politicians. It's sad that these people
visited a temple which perpetuates such human indignities."
Interestingly, except for the Left parties, no other political party
in the state has so far spoken out against the ritual. "In this case,
the secular parties like the Congress and JD(S) look more dangerous
than the BJP. They are only worried about their votebanks," says a
frustrated Dwarakanath. Writer and activist G.K. Govinda Rao, however,
feels it isn't enough that political parties and the government push
for a ban. The caste maths and pontiffs, who are otherwise so
powerful, should unilaterally demand it. Some years ago, another
heinous ritual called 'Ajalu', practised against the Koraga tribe, was
banned by the government. 'Ajalu' had Brahmins giving leftover food as
alms to them with an added bonus—a strand of their hair and a finger
nail mixed in.
Last Wednesday, after a week-long debate, the state government voiced
an opinion—in a rather feeble voice. Social justice minister A.
Narayanaswamy, incidentally a Dalit, said that they may consider
banning the ritual. Till that happens, it will be a whole social ethic
mucking about in the leftovers.
------------------------------------
----
INFORMATION OVERLOAD?
Get all ZESTCaste mails sent out in a span of 24 hours in a single mail. Subscribe to the daily digest version by sending a blank mail to ZESTMedia-digest@yahoogroups.com, OR, if you have a Yahoo! Id, change your settings at http://groups.yahoo.com/group/ZESTMedia/join/
PARTICIPATE:-
On this list you can share caste news, discuss caste issues and network with like-minded anti-caste people from across India and the world. Just write to zestcaste@yahoogroups.com
TELL FRIENDS TO SIGN UP:-
If you got this mail as a forward, subscribe to ZESTCaste by sending a blank mail to ZESTCaste-subscribe@yahoogroups.com OR, if you have a Yahoo! ID, by visiting http://groups.yahoo.com/group/ZESTCaste/join/
Also have a look at our sister list, ZESTMedia: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/ZESTMedia/Yahoo! Groups Links
<*> To visit your group on the web, go to:
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/ZESTCaste/
<*> Your email settings:
Individual Email | Traditional
<*> To change settings online go to:
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/ZESTCaste/join
(Yahoo! ID required)
<*> To change settings via email:
ZESTCaste-digest@yahoogroups.com
ZESTCaste-fullfeatured@yahoogroups.com
<*> To unsubscribe from this group, send an email to:
ZESTCaste-unsubscribe@yahoogroups.com
<*> Your use of Yahoo! Groups is subject to:
http://docs.yahoo.com/info/terms/
No comments:
Post a Comment