Supreme Court verdict on Sabarimala is hailed as a landmark decision in the history of India and one which is against the Hindu Patriarchy and gender inequality. Atheists and Hindu identity politicians alike welcomed the verdict and demanded Hindu renaissance.
But back home in Kerala, where Sabarimala is situated, the story has been different. Women in a large number have turned out on the street for protecting Lord Ayyappan’s wishes. This happened even after major political parties prefer to remain muted concerning their response, still, there have been huge gatherings, huge protest rallies and now you have political parties standing behind these protests and even CPM led “LDF” government now showing signs of caution.
It is important to understand the unity of Hindus in Kerala for Ayyappan, it has never happened before where everyone who believes in Ayyappan is coming forward to protect Ayyappan’s wish at Sabarimala.
Now to understand the significance of Sabarimala and Ayyappan, we need to understand that India has always been a diverse culture. We have not become diverse by the entry of Islam and Christianity. Hindu way of life is all about the freedom to live your life the way you want, it is not necessarily a single method of living.
Kerala’s lifestyle and beliefs are not the same even with neighboring Tamil Nadu forget about the north. Hence without understanding Kerala’s culture, nobody can paint Sabarimala as a place where there is gender inequality.
For all those media personnel who have been equating system at Sabarimala as deep patriarchal should understand Kerala society had a matriarchal system or where women used to be the owner of properties and were the real queens in the family. Like in other southern states, Families in Kerala celebrate menstruation amongst young girls, we don’t consider it as impure as it is said nowadays by a few intellectuals.
Kerala has its branch of Tantra Sastra, based on which Temple buildings, temple rituals are decided. Temples in Kerala are considered energy centers and not prayer halls, hence for every Temple has its rituals and customs, to make Deity as effective as it can be.
Devotees are aware of the fact that Temples are for their benefit, hence it is the devotee’s duty to ensure the energy of the deity is always kept just as per the prescription of Tantri, who is the expert on Tantra Sastra.
If you see large crowds in certain temples, it is the power of deity, as many would have been benefitted by praying or visiting deity in the past, otherwise why should more and more people visit temples year after year.
This is the sole reason why women in Kerala, who are devotees of Ayyappan, are now taking to the street and protesting.
It is all about the belief in the Temple system by Keralites and Ayyappan devotees. In north many temples allows devotees to do puja of deity, if tomorrow someone from North India demands the same right in a Kerala Temple, can we allow this? In Kerala temple sanctum, a priest is only allowed to do puja, now in the name of equality to worship, tomorrow even this may be called patriarchal.
Supreme Court will go by the evidence and arguments, in this case, Kerala Government has taken a stand which is against the ritual and custom, hence it is important that Kerala Government to do a rethink on its stand of not going for review petition, unless this happens Devotees of Ayyappan will have to protest peacefully on the street against the stand of Kerala Government, otherwise this may lead to we losing our great inheritance of Tantra Sastra and Temple system in Kerala.
Our ancestors have not built temples to be tourist spots or prayer hall, it has been developed as an energy center which can pass on positive energy to devotees.
In my opinion, anybody who believes Temples are for their benefit should come out of their home and support protests on the street or you are becoming responsible for losing a great inherited tradition and technique for mankind by our ancestors.
Vijay Shivram Menon 