The reaction of the Guruvayur temple to a non-Hindu's dip in the pond contrasts starkly with the Kanchi math's historical tolerance of people of other religions
This happened in 1920, just seven years after Chandrasekharendra Saraswati, who would later emerge as one of the most revered spiritual stars of modern India, had taken charge of the ancient Kanchipuram math. He was on his first major tour of Tamil Nadu when a Muslim man desired to meet him in person.
Invited by the saint himself, the Muslim reached a local venue in the evening at Mayuram (now Mayiladuthurai), only to find the sage in the middle of a huge crowd relishing an open debate by scholars on the Hindu religion.
Once the event ended, the Swami called the man and asked him to speak about the Islamic religion.
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The visitor explained that all religious paths lead to God, and that he saw the supreme divinity in Chandrasekharendra Saraswati. Many in the Hindu gathering were deeply moved by the Muslim’s beliefs and honesty.
The next year, still on the tour, the saint went to attend the Mahamaham festival at Kumbakonam. Among thousands of devotees who thronged the town were some 300 members of a Madras-based Muslim youth association. Seeing their contribution to a Hindu event, the saint praised them and offered them a prize in appreciation.
The case of Jasmine Jaffar
Fast forward by a century, and we now have the Guruvayur Temple in Kerala, one of the holiest of Vishnu shrines in the country, organising purification rituals after a non-Hindu vlogger dipped a foot in the shrine’s holy pond and videoed the event, triggering angry reactions from many believers.
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Amid the storm, Jasmin Jaffar quickly deleted the reel from her social media handles and tendered a public apology, saying she was not aware of the curbs on non-Hindus and videography and that she never intended to hurt anyone’s religious sentiments.
Clearly, Jasmin had entered an area barred for non-Hindus and also violated a court order banning videography in the outer courtyard, except for wedding functions and religious festivals. To that extent, she was in the wrong.
Hindu temples, particularly in South India, are particular in not allowing any devotee inside the sanctum sanctorum. This rule is strictly applied even in shrines that do not specifically bar non-Hindu visitors.
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What struck me as odd was a news report that said Jasmin had rendered Guruvayur’s Rudra Theertham, the holy pond, “impure” by her action.
What if non-Hindus took plunge in Ganges?
Stunned, I asked myself if the Ganges, the holiest of rivers for Hindus, would shed its religious aura if non-Hindus took a plunge in its waters along its 2,525-km route, from the lower Himalayas to the Bay of Bengal.
Similarly, will the holy Amrit Sarovar or sacred pond at Amritsar’s Golden Temple lose its religious lustre if a non-Sikh were to take a dip in the waterbody?
It is one thing to act against (or perhaps forgive) a person who, knowingly or unknowingly, violates a religious or legal edict in a place of worship. It is quite another to allege that holy waters turn impure by a mere touch of those outside a given religion.
It is one thing to act against (or perhaps forgive) a person who, knowingly or unknowingly, violates a religious or legal edict in a place of worship. It is quite another to allege that holy waters turn impure by a mere touch of those outside a given religion.
Unlike most small and medium-sized temples in North India, where devotees freely touch the deities, this is an absolute no-no in the southern part of the country. And Hindu shrines in Kerala bar even the mildest physical contact between the devotees and priests.
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But in contrast to the times when the saints heading the revered math at Kanchipuram in Tamil Nadu and Sringeri in Karnataka freely received and blessed non-Hindus, those managing many Hindu temples have become narrow-minded in their approach towards members of other religions.
What happened with KJ Yesudas
Nothing illustrates this better than the experience of KJ Yesudas, the celebrated Malayalam singer whose rendering of the devotional lullaby Harivarasanam is played night after night when the doors of the revered Sabarimala Temple close for the day — and in other places too.
The legendary Carnatic music vocalist and playback singer, popularly known as 'Gana-gandharva' (celestial singer), is a committed devotee of Lord Ayyappa. He has sung several songs devoted to Him. But his Christian origin posed him problems from both Christian and Hindu communities in Kerala.
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When he first visited the Sabarimala shrine, there was vocal opposition from members of his community. He was undeterred, though. Yet, there has been consistent opposition to his entering Hindu temples, notwithstanding his total devotion to the Hindu religion.
Is it not a shame?
Although Yesudas has visited Sabarimala several times and is a regular at the ancient Mookambika shrine in Karnataka, it was only in 2017 that he was allowed inside the iconic Sree Padmanabhaswamy Temple in Thiruvananthapuram. This happened after the singer gave it in writing that he was a follower of Hinduism.
Is it not a shame that a highly respected singer who devoted his entire life singing praises of Hindu gods and goddesses had to change his religion, at least in writing, to enter a Hindu temple?
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Yet, Chandrasekharendra Saraswati, who presided over the Kanchi math for 87 long years until his demise in 1994, constantly argued against converting anyone to any religion. He was clear that those born into a religion should remain in its fold. In his lifetime, many non-Hindus expressed a desire to him to embrace the Hindu religion. He advised all of them: Retain your religion. If God put you there, there must be a sound logic.
What Kanchi seer said
“Like a child, a truly religious man sees no difference between the God of one religion or religious sects and that of another,” the saint said.
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“In the matter of religion, one should follow the religion of one’s ancestors. There is no need to give up one religion and adopt another… Inviting a person to join a new religion is a sin against God, who is common to the old religion as to the new. The God of all religions and all religious denominations is the same.”
Those who administer Hindu temples today are pygmies compared to the spiritual giant that Chandrasekharendra Saraswati was. Yet, this respected sage’s teachings are being wilfully ignored. How will Hinduism diminish if non-Hindus who desire to know the Hindu religion better want to enter temples?
They belong to all
Yes, rules, both legal and scriptural, must be followed.
But non-Hindus should be made welcome in Hindu temples if they express a genuine wish. They should not be expected to shed their religion. It is silly to say that a hill or mountain belongs only to Hindus just because of a Hindu temple there, however ancient.
One of my former Muslim colleagues badly wanted to see a Hindu temple from within. I took him to a South Indian shrine. He eagerly accepted the 'aarti' and, copying me, smeared vibhuthi on his forehead. He later accompanied me on one of my frequent trips to Haridwar – and was full of praise for the way the Ganges was maintained there.
If anything, the two visits exposed him to a side of Hindu religion he had no knowledge of.
(The Federal seeks to present views and opinions from all sides of the spectrum. The information, ideas or opinions in the article are of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of The Federal.)
