06-01-2006, 11:52 PM
The road not taken by the tambrams
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The following article is from counter currents , a commie website,
but it shows how in karnataka, by coopting many backward castes, anti-brahminism has been reduced to a much smaller level
Jayendra Saraswati was trying to move in the same direction, but it was probably 50 years too late
http://www.countercurrents.org/comm-menon300304.htm
KARNATAKA -Mutts as political players
The Madhwa mutts in the coastal belt have been vehicles for the spread of Hindutva, both as an ideology and as an electoral force.
The two most prominent mutts that have long been the standard-bearers of the Hindutva cause are the Pejavar and Adamar mutts. The pontiff of the Pejavar mutt, Sri Vishwesa Tirtha Swamiji, is a founder-member of the Vishwa Hindu Parishad (VHP) and has been associated with the Ram Janmabhoomi movement from its inception
Speaking to Frontline from Udupi, the octogenarian head of the Pejavar mutt said he actively propagated the message of Hindutva and spread the aims of the Ayodhya movement by addressing meetings, rallies and samaveshas (mass meetings). "I speak about it and answer questions. If there is any wrong writing on these issues in newspapers, I reply immediately. I know from the reactions at my meetings that the message has spread very well in Karnataka." As a margadarshi for the VHP, he had ensured that his mutt worked with the VHP on many activities, he said, although the mutt also worked through its own organisations, particularly in providing education and healthcare in tribal areas and inaccessible hilly regions.
The Pejavar mutt, in particular, has given active patronage to the samavesha, which has, in recent months, become the most popular method of Hindu mass mobilisation in the coastal belt. Following the Gujarat riots, the samavesha has become a frequent event, spreading now from the cities to small towns and villages of Udupi and Dakshina Kannada districts. "The town or village is first covered with plastic saffron flags of the VHP. The meeting is usually held near a minority-dominated area. Leaders of the VHP, like Pravin Togadia, spit fire and venom in their speeches, which threaten the minorities and exhort Hindus to build a Hindu Rashtra," said H. Pattabhirama Somayaji, Professor of English at University College, Mangalore. "Mutt leaders like the Pejavar Swamiji are frequent speakers at these meetings. In fact, in the last 10 years the mutts have become the standard bearers of Hindutva rather than formal political parties. Political leaders depend more and more upon the Swamijis to get their message across."
With the emergence of the mutts as the rallying points for Hindutva in this region, the distinction between the religious and the political as different spheres of public activity has all but disappeared. "Most religious functions have been saffronised," said Somayaji. Take paryaya, a ceremony held every two years to mark the passing on of the authority to conduct worship in the Krishna temple amongst the pontiffs of the eight Madhwa mutts. From a ceremony confined to a sect of Madhwa Brahmins in Karnataka, paryaya has virtually become a State-level function for all Hindus and a major expression of the power and prestige of the mutt concerned. This year's paryaya ceremony was attended by a galaxy of persons prominent in public life in the State. Even the myriad `little traditions' of Hinduism, like the Bhootakulas - a popular form of spirit worship practised in the villages of Dakshina Kannada district by members of the lower castes - have been permeated by the colour, sound, speech and symbolism of Hindutva, said Somayaji.
"I have lived here for the past 50 years and was saddened to see the Udupi Krishna temple founded 7,000 years ago by the great Madhwacharya, flying the flag of the VHP," said G. Rajashekhar, an employee of the Life Insurance Corporation of India and an active member of the Souharda Vedike, an organisation that has been fighting communalism. According to him, the Pejavar Swamiji welcomed and blessed Pravin Togadia at a mammoth samajotsava held recently in Udupi. The banners at the rally glorified Gujarat Chief Minister Narendra Modi, and Togadia and hailed Dara Singh, the murderer of the Australian missionary Graham Stains and his two sons, as the "saviour of Hinduism". "We protested to the District Commissioner, after which Dara Singh's name was removed from the banners," said Rajashekhar. "The Pejavar Swamiji says he condemns the violence in Gujarat. Why does he then continue to patronise Hindutva outfits that supported it?"
The Pejavar Swamiji told Frontline that though he might share a platform with Modi or Togadia, he did not hesitate to disagree with them publicly on some issues. "I argue with them and oppose them whether it is the Gujarat violence or the issue of war with Pakistan which Togadia supports and I oppose, or with Giriraj Kishore Acharya who recently said that the life of a cow was more precious than the life of a Dalit. I opposed them on all these issues," he said.
Although until very recently each Madhwa mutt had its own location of caste influence, in recent years the mutts have tried to propagate Hindutva across the caste divide. Mahatma Gandhi refused to enter the Krishna temple on a visit to Udupi in the 1930s because untouchability was practised there. Today, however, the mutts realise that for Hindutva to have any relevance for the lower-caste segments of the population, it has necessarily to be given political articulation and distanced, at least in its rhetoric, from Brahminism. The mutts realise that they cannot do this on their own and must associate themselves with the political outfits of the Sangh Parivar, which use the samaveshas as fora to make the call for the unification of Hindu society.
One of Hinduism's attributes was its sanction for a plurality of forms of religious practice. This non-threatening and accommodative element of Hinduism is being erased systematically by the votaries of Hindutva. Today, economically vulnerable castes like fisherfolk, weavers, carpenters, barbers, cobblers and potters are being drawn into the ambit of a militant Hindutva worldview. "It is clear from the attendance at their rallies that the appeal of the Hindutva parties is no longer to elitist Hindus but to Hindu society at large," says Rajashekhar. Here too it is the Pejavar mutt that has shown the way. Its pontiff has considerable influence with leaders both at the Centre and in the State.
---
The following article is from counter currents , a commie website,
but it shows how in karnataka, by coopting many backward castes, anti-brahminism has been reduced to a much smaller level
Jayendra Saraswati was trying to move in the same direction, but it was probably 50 years too late
http://www.countercurrents.org/comm-menon300304.htm
KARNATAKA -Mutts as political players
The Madhwa mutts in the coastal belt have been vehicles for the spread of Hindutva, both as an ideology and as an electoral force.
The two most prominent mutts that have long been the standard-bearers of the Hindutva cause are the Pejavar and Adamar mutts. The pontiff of the Pejavar mutt, Sri Vishwesa Tirtha Swamiji, is a founder-member of the Vishwa Hindu Parishad (VHP) and has been associated with the Ram Janmabhoomi movement from its inception
Speaking to Frontline from Udupi, the octogenarian head of the Pejavar mutt said he actively propagated the message of Hindutva and spread the aims of the Ayodhya movement by addressing meetings, rallies and samaveshas (mass meetings). "I speak about it and answer questions. If there is any wrong writing on these issues in newspapers, I reply immediately. I know from the reactions at my meetings that the message has spread very well in Karnataka." As a margadarshi for the VHP, he had ensured that his mutt worked with the VHP on many activities, he said, although the mutt also worked through its own organisations, particularly in providing education and healthcare in tribal areas and inaccessible hilly regions.
The Pejavar mutt, in particular, has given active patronage to the samavesha, which has, in recent months, become the most popular method of Hindu mass mobilisation in the coastal belt. Following the Gujarat riots, the samavesha has become a frequent event, spreading now from the cities to small towns and villages of Udupi and Dakshina Kannada districts. "The town or village is first covered with plastic saffron flags of the VHP. The meeting is usually held near a minority-dominated area. Leaders of the VHP, like Pravin Togadia, spit fire and venom in their speeches, which threaten the minorities and exhort Hindus to build a Hindu Rashtra," said H. Pattabhirama Somayaji, Professor of English at University College, Mangalore. "Mutt leaders like the Pejavar Swamiji are frequent speakers at these meetings. In fact, in the last 10 years the mutts have become the standard bearers of Hindutva rather than formal political parties. Political leaders depend more and more upon the Swamijis to get their message across."
With the emergence of the mutts as the rallying points for Hindutva in this region, the distinction between the religious and the political as different spheres of public activity has all but disappeared. "Most religious functions have been saffronised," said Somayaji. Take paryaya, a ceremony held every two years to mark the passing on of the authority to conduct worship in the Krishna temple amongst the pontiffs of the eight Madhwa mutts. From a ceremony confined to a sect of Madhwa Brahmins in Karnataka, paryaya has virtually become a State-level function for all Hindus and a major expression of the power and prestige of the mutt concerned. This year's paryaya ceremony was attended by a galaxy of persons prominent in public life in the State. Even the myriad `little traditions' of Hinduism, like the Bhootakulas - a popular form of spirit worship practised in the villages of Dakshina Kannada district by members of the lower castes - have been permeated by the colour, sound, speech and symbolism of Hindutva, said Somayaji.
"I have lived here for the past 50 years and was saddened to see the Udupi Krishna temple founded 7,000 years ago by the great Madhwacharya, flying the flag of the VHP," said G. Rajashekhar, an employee of the Life Insurance Corporation of India and an active member of the Souharda Vedike, an organisation that has been fighting communalism. According to him, the Pejavar Swamiji welcomed and blessed Pravin Togadia at a mammoth samajotsava held recently in Udupi. The banners at the rally glorified Gujarat Chief Minister Narendra Modi, and Togadia and hailed Dara Singh, the murderer of the Australian missionary Graham Stains and his two sons, as the "saviour of Hinduism". "We protested to the District Commissioner, after which Dara Singh's name was removed from the banners," said Rajashekhar. "The Pejavar Swamiji says he condemns the violence in Gujarat. Why does he then continue to patronise Hindutva outfits that supported it?"
The Pejavar Swamiji told Frontline that though he might share a platform with Modi or Togadia, he did not hesitate to disagree with them publicly on some issues. "I argue with them and oppose them whether it is the Gujarat violence or the issue of war with Pakistan which Togadia supports and I oppose, or with Giriraj Kishore Acharya who recently said that the life of a cow was more precious than the life of a Dalit. I opposed them on all these issues," he said.
Although until very recently each Madhwa mutt had its own location of caste influence, in recent years the mutts have tried to propagate Hindutva across the caste divide. Mahatma Gandhi refused to enter the Krishna temple on a visit to Udupi in the 1930s because untouchability was practised there. Today, however, the mutts realise that for Hindutva to have any relevance for the lower-caste segments of the population, it has necessarily to be given political articulation and distanced, at least in its rhetoric, from Brahminism. The mutts realise that they cannot do this on their own and must associate themselves with the political outfits of the Sangh Parivar, which use the samaveshas as fora to make the call for the unification of Hindu society.
One of Hinduism's attributes was its sanction for a plurality of forms of religious practice. This non-threatening and accommodative element of Hinduism is being erased systematically by the votaries of Hindutva. Today, economically vulnerable castes like fisherfolk, weavers, carpenters, barbers, cobblers and potters are being drawn into the ambit of a militant Hindutva worldview. "It is clear from the attendance at their rallies that the appeal of the Hindutva parties is no longer to elitist Hindus but to Hindu society at large," says Rajashekhar. Here too it is the Pejavar mutt that has shown the way. Its pontiff has considerable influence with leaders both at the Centre and in the State.