For the
BJP, Sabarimala Is Not a Place of Worship But a Battleground
By Jawhar Sircar
(The Wire, 5th November, 2018)
Despite the Rs 2900 crore, 182 metre statue of Patel
dedicated to India’s unity, not a week passes when the nation is not split
down the middle, quite bitterly. Sometimes, it is the lynching of Muslims or
Aadhar’s intrusion into our privacy, ‘triple talaq’ or
the national flag. The battle of Sabarimala is the latest on the list of rows.
The
extensive media coverage notwithstanding, most people may be unaware of the
issues central to the Sabarimala controversy. All they see is a large group of
women (and men) fighting an obdurate patriarchy resisting the entry of women of
all ages into the sacred temple. On the other side, they see a large number of
women and men opposing the court-sanctioned right for women in the menstruating
age to enter the temple.
Those unfamiliar with the Sabarimala mythology must know
that Sabarimala is the name of a hill, and not a god. The god’s name in the
narrative at hand is Sastha Ayyappan. Both appellations have interesting
contexts to them. The first name – its full form Dharma-Sastha – is a Malayalam
term used to refer to the Buddha. It’s widely believed that the original god
was Buddhist. Even now, pilgrims in paying homage, chant ‘Sharanam’. The second
name Ayyappan, is derived from Ayy, inspired by the oldest Dravidian tradition
of Ayyanar, the popular Tamil folk god.
Ayyappan
is represented as a thick moustachioed man, keeping vigil outside every
village. Wielding an upright sword, he is seated on a horse. So non-Aryan is
his lineage that none of the 18 Maha Puranas mention
him. But there have been attempts to Brahmanise the tradition, as is evident
from a local upa-purana called Bhootanatha-Upakhyanam,
lauding his Mahatmya.
This
semi-Brahmanised god of the Dravidians has also been appropriated by Nambudiri
Brahmans, who entered Kerala in the eighth century. Their mission was to
Sanskritise any and everything, from language and culture to temples and
worship.
As legend goes, Ayyappan was born out of the union of
Shiva and Vishnu, when the latter assumed the seductive feminine form of
Mohini. We may recall this in this context Kerala’s famous Mohini Attam, which
is recognised as a ‘national classical dance’. Ayyappan’s feats included
defeating Mahishasuri, the buffalo demoness, and crushing the dacoit-king
Udayanan.
The story
goes on to narrate how Ayyappan led his troops in a victory march to Sabarimala
temple, climbing the 18 holy steps. On approaching the idol, however, he was
miraculously merged with Sastha. The Brahmanisation of Kerala’s most popular
folk god was thus completed in one master-stroke. Many customs and rituals
around Sastha-Ayyappan, though, still remain non-Sanskritic.
Each
year, millions of devotees cutting across class and caste from Kerala and
beyond assemble at the foot of the hills. From there, they begin the arduous
trek to the temple. Entry is granted for a limited period. That Muslims and
Christians are among the pilgrims testifies to the pilgrimage’s inclusive
character. In fact, a respected Muslim deity called Vavar resides within the
temple premises, to whom all devotees pray. Most pilgrims also make it a point
to seek blessings at the nearby Arthunkal church.
Before
the landmark Supreme Court verdict, only women above 50 years of age were
allowed entry into the temple. Interestingly, a temple at Chengannur near
Alapuzha in Kerala houses a goddess who has ‘regular
periods’.
On September 28 this year, a five-member
bench of the Supreme Court declared that women between 10 and 50 years cannot be barred
from entering the temple. Such a ban, the court said, violates Article 25 of
the Indian constitution. Surprisingly, Indu Malhotra, the sole woman judge on
the bench, dissented with this majority decision.
Though widely welcomed, Sabarimala’s high priests – guruswamis –
protested the court decision on the grounds that it violated tradition. Large
numbers of Malayali women too protested the decision. They argued that the
entry of “menstruating women” would corrupt the purity of Ayyappan, a naishitika
brahmachari. Rationalists, however, observe that the same logic can
be used to keep men out of the Kanyakumari temple as the devi is
a virgin.
Interestingly,
the Hindu Right, which celebrated the apex court’s triple talaq judgment for
liberating Muslim women, is now protesting the court’s interference in
religious practices.
But their
claim that this ban was always in effect flies in the face of history. Till the
1940s, women of all ages, if they could withstand the pilgrimage rigour, were
allowed to enter the temple.
In 1950,
a mysterious fire in the temple paved the way for the entry bar. Even then,
women of all ages entered the temple, in small numbers. This continued even
after 1965 when rules under the Kerala Hindu Places of Public Worship
(Authorisation of Entry) were framed, prohibiting women of all ages from
entering the temple.
The genesis of the row, however, can be traced to 1983
when a stone cross was discovered in that area. The Christian community had
built a church at Nilakkal near the Mahadev temple. Pluralism and tolerance
took a beating as mobs led by the temple priests fought with policemen. The
Christian committee voluntarily removed the church.
The issue
of women’s entry remained unresolved till as late as 1991. More than two
decades later, the Supreme Court has reversed an earlier Kerala high court
order retaining the ban. Notwithstanding the logic behind the decision, the
court order has given the BJP a window to scramble into Kerala. The party’s
attempts to enter Kerala’s political arena through the front door had come to
nought.
Nominated
Rajya Sabha member Swapan Dasupta has recently castigated the judiciary as “a
self-perpetuating unelected oligarchy”. He criticised the Supreme Court for
bowing to “cosmopolitan wisdom” and “the diktats of modernity”. The court has
“mechanically directed radical change on a Hindu culture that is both eternal
and constantly adaptive,” said Dasgupta. Delivering a veiled threat, the MP has
held the court responsible for “a hardening of attitudes”.
Following
the court’s order, the temple opened for just one week for its monthly worship.
There will be a fresh challenge to implement the court order when the temple
opens on November 6 and 7 for the Sree Chithra Atta Thirunal, and then again
from November 16 to December 27, for the Mandala Pooja. After a two-day
break, the temple will remain open from December 30 to January 14 for the
Makara Vilakku Mahotsavam.
Last
week’s provocative
statements by BJP leaders at Kannur, in the presence of party
president Amit Shah, were aimed at riling up the party base. Shah publicly
called upon party workers to defy India’s highest court. It may be argued that
even more ominous have been the recent frequent
references to Ayodhya. We can only pray that the Sabarimala temple
issue is not turned into an ‘Ayodhya dispute of the South’.
The BJP
must clarify to the people of Kerala and to the women of India its plans for
Sabarimala – as the temple doors open in November. On the other hand,
those determined to execute the order would do well to keep the BJP’s track
record in mind. They must remember that the party will leave no stone unturned
to use the Sabarimala row to its own electoral advantage.
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