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Untouchability and 'Ayitham' in Guruvayoor Temple!The other day (Sept 2000) Guruvayoor temple authorities conducted a ceremony called 'punyaham' (purification) to remove the impurities to the temple caused by the marriage of Unni, son of Congress leader Vayalar Ravi. Not only that the Temple Thantri Chennas Divakaran Namboodiripad openly said that they have doubts about the religion of Unni and they think he is non-Hindu, the thantri has also asked Ravi to prove that his son is a Hindu! On the other hand why did the Temple allow the marriage to be conducted in the temple at all? Why there was no issue when Unni had a 'thulaabhaaram' on the previous day? The marriage was earlier registered at Vayalar S.N.D.P Yogam, considered as a Hindu Organization. Meanwhile Vayalar SNDP Yogam has issued a statement and is going to High Court. `A-pï->ñ'- F-ªú -J-öû-Œï dñ-Xáê-pù -ET-Œïi ÷&-¦ù -A-bï-Ç-Y-jñ-öT ET-d-Tï -±ð-Eê-jê-i-Xð-i-öj -B-÷&-dï-¼ñ-J-iê-iï-jñ-ªñ-öl-ªê-Xú -lê-aù.- But this is much more than that! [And this forum does not like the terminology 'Sreenarayaneeyer!', since as per Guru there are only human beings ('naran')! This has also become a derogatory term, narrowing down to Ezhavas! And certain instances prompting the vested interests to treat 'Sreenarayaneeyer!' as not Hindus as it has happened now!] What has happened is a clean example of the state of affairs of temples in Kerala today, 75 years after the Vaikom Satyagraha and 53 years after independence! The temples like Guruvayoor have been occupied by counter-reformation and reactionary forces with the support of corrupt politicians from all parties including Congress and CPM. In the discussion on the Vaikom Satyagraha celebration controversies, Kalakaumudi published an article in issue 1230 (April 4, 1999) by P.Sujathan. In that the author complements Vayalar Ravi for giving reply to R.S.S on the issue of Congress's role in Vaikom. Mr Ravi is qualified by Sujathan as a person who hasn't lost the ability to think! Well, we are amazed at Mr Ravi's wisdom to visit Guruvayoor temple at all. Was this following Karunakaran's footprint or for political reasons? What happened at Vaikom in 1925, was an attempt to establish equality and the right for the downtrodden. Neither Guru nor T.K.Madhavan cared a damn about the deities in the temples including Vaikom! The right to walk anywhere and the right to enter any temple were much more important than the deities. Guruvayoor is the second largest money making temple in South India. Devaswam Administrators are corrupt politicians and they do cooperate with the other corruption and malpractices going on in the temple. The temple surroundings are very dirty! Recently the filthy water from the temple area was reaching all the way to Mammiyoor (about 5 km down)! The temple didn't want to invest a penny to clean up the mess! Guruvayoor Devaswom site says The administration of the temple is entrusted to Guruvayoor devaswom managing committee. The Zamorin, Mallisseri Namboodiri and the Temple Tanthri are permanent members of the committee. The other membrs are nominated by the governmnet of Kerala. The members should take an oath before joining the office that they preach Hindu relegion, beleive in temple worship, and do not believe in the practice of untouchability. The Administrator, an officer appointed by the Government, manages the day to day administration. Need for another 'Vaikom'?Superstitions are on the increase in Kerala (and India) since 1947. Now it has reached astronomical proportions. Hindus are after Godmen and Cult leaders. SNDP Yogam and NSS have lost their initial momentum for reformation. Other communities, especially Christians and Muslims have made remarkable economic progress in the last 25 years [This forum congratulates their hardwork]. But a common leadership crisis has affected Hindus and Hindu organizations and their progress has been rather slow. Some backwardlooking fundamentalist Hindus are using this 'vacuum' to their advantage. The net result is that Hindus go even backward! Reactionary and corrupt forces are in control in every organization. Counter reformation forces have practicaly taken control of most religious institutions in Kerala. Both Congress and SNDP are organizations which fought in the Vaikom Satyaagraha. If people like Vayalar Ravi have an iota of sincerity and sense of direction, they should call for a new struggle against the reactionary forces in the society, instead of playing lullaby to the counter-reformation fascists in Guruvayoor as well as in the Congress Party! Tailpiece: all this is happening in a State ruled by Communists! Ha! Ha!! Here is the report as appeared in Mathrubhumi: Mathrubhumi Report Punyaham Incident More on this from other newspapers: Here are the more latest news from Mathrubhumi and
Kerala Kaumudi: Punyaham Newsreal 3 From Oct 15 Punyaham Newsreal 4 N E W From Oct 25 Kalakaumudi Article By E.V.Sreedharan A different viewpoint here We have a letter from a prominent SNDP personnel supporting the thantri's stand. Malayalam
Vaarika Oct 13, 2000 K.P.C
Anujan Bhattathirippad defends the thantri stand in his
article in Malayalam Vaarika |