Devotees will now roll over ‘prasadam’ from the temple sanctum sanctorum
In a move to end the controversy surrounding the centuries-old practice of ‘made snana’ at the Kukke Subrahmanya temple in Dakshina Kannada district, the State government has decided to modify the annual ritual.
Devotees will no longer be allowed to roll over plantain leaves with leftovers of food had by Brahmins. Instead the food offered to the deity will be directly brought from the sanctum sanctorum of the temple to the outer yard in the form of ‘prasadam’ and it will be placed on the plantain leaves.
Any devotee can roll over it as part of their ‘harake’ (offering to god). It has also been decided against serving food to Brahmins or anybody else in the outer yard on the day the ritual is held.
It has also been decided to ensure that the temple does not encourage, sponsor or permit ‘pankthi bedha’ (caste discrimination while serving food).
A submission in this regard was made before a Division Bench comprising Chief Justice Vikramajit Sen and Justice B.V. Nagarathna of the Karnataka High Court on Thursday during the hearing of a public interest litigation (PIL) petition filed by Veerabhadra Channamalla Swami of Nidumamidi Math and others challenging the practice.
Additional Advocate-General K.M. Nataraj made it clear to the court that the practice of ‘made snana’ was part of religious faith and followed since time immemorial and it could not be stopped. The Rajya Dharmik Parishat, the statutory authority to examine religious issues, had held a series of deliberations on the ritual, he said.
“Since it is an issue of the sentiments of thousands of devotees who perform this ritual voluntarily in the belief that they can be cleansed of their sins, and skin diseases, the parishat consulted many religious leaders and took a decision to continue the ritual in a modified form,” Mr. Nataraj stated, while submitting an affidavit in this regard.
As counsel for the petitioners too agreed with the decision taken by the government, the Bench disposed of the PIL petition, stating the matter no longer required the attention of the court.
Started some hundreds of years ago by some and a few more joined the ritual over the years. Thankfully with the present corrective and remedial measures put in place the same will take a sanitized avatar. Now it will be more like a funny annual ritual and not ‘yukki’ anymore. That I can live with. Only a miniscule number of desperate people do this anyways, if you stop it they may do some similar silly act so lets smile and walk away.
@Paul, I agree with your comment. When there are millions struggling get 3 square meals a day, why should food be wasted
Paul:
This is nothing but made up stuff. I'll be surprised if you can find any of these kind
of practices prescribed in the vedas or any other hindu scriptures. Most states in
India, have regional inferences of these scriptures and label it as customs. They are
drastically different from other regions. Its the people who started it and it should
be the same people that should end it. As long as they are ignorant these non-
sensical behaviors will continue. True Sanatana dharma can be followed only by
practicing Karma Yoga as laid out in the Gita by Lord Krishna. Rest of what we do in
the guise of customs is all BS! Please have a laugh at their ignorance and don't
waste your time trying to understand this. Btw, these days very few people in India
actually practice Sanatha Dharma. This explains why we have so much social,
political, physical, meta-physical, dharmic, and religious unrest across the spectrum
and in all walks of life in India.
We are not known for keeping good records. I am not sure if this practice is century old. However, whether it is 1 year old or 1000 year old, this must be stopped, not altered. It is about time we stop asking people to prove their willingness to be slaves in front of 'god' or even worse 'godmen'. We need to let them stand keeping their head high.
Only people with an unquestioning mind can participate in these rituals.
I don't mean to hurt people participating in this as they naively
believe that some good will come out of it. Wake up people! It is not
only ridiculous, it is unhygienic.
It's painful to see that these rituals and repulsive customs are still
in practice and that too in temples.Rolling on the left over leaves of
food eaten by brahmins, to say the least, is unhygienic and uncivilized.
I'm not well informed on vedas and puranas but my common sense tells
that these kind of rituals would not have been suggested in them.Left
over food is a left over one whether by a brahmin or a dalit and it
cannot become sacred.
The Karnataka High Court should view this uncivilized practice as
nothing associated with the god but as an act of perpetrated cast
system.
People are driven more and more every day towards fear of god, astrology, instead of moving forward with scientific/rational approach to life. India is taking 10 steps back for a single step taken forward!.
Don't understand why you need to roll over the food offered to the diety - if there is a point for me to understand - please explain and forgive my ignorance of your customs !!
My intention is not to hurt anyone's feeling but how long we as Indians
will be doing such things to please our gods? If I do such kind of
offering and still go back home and do corrupt things, what is the
point. People should start thinking and focusing their energy on how
they can be a good citizen which will collectively result in an
enlightened society. Please people wake up!
That was one of the most despicable practices in our state.A right move
by the Muzarai and the govt.
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