CPM to forcibly enter Udupi Krishna temple

Activists of the Communist Party of India (Marxist) have decided to forcibly enter the Sri Krishna temple in Udupi on December 27 to protest against discriminatory serving of food at the centuries-old mutt.

“Last year, we tried our best to enter the temple, but the police prevented us. This time around, we have decided to enter the temple forcibly, come what may,” State CPM secretary and former MLA G V Sriram Reddy told reporters here on Saturday.

The CPM has taken serious note of Brahmins and others being fed separately at the mutt, Reddy said and sought an end to the practice.

To create awareness against the practice, the party will launch two jathas - from Kukke Subramanya and Byndoor - on December 19. Both jathas will converge on Udupi on December 27 and CPM members will forcibly enter the mutt established by Madhwacharya in the 14th Century.

The CPM, which has launched a movement against ‘made snana’ (the practice of Dalits rolling over leftover food eaten by people of the upper castes) at the Kukke Subramanya temple, has criticised the government for deciding to continue the practice in another form called ‘yede snana.’

In response to a writ petition filed by Veerabhadra Channamalla Swami against ‘made snana’, the government has filed an affidavit stating that it will ban ‘made snana’ in the present form and continue ‘yede snana’, enabling devotees to roll over banana leaves containing food offered to Lord Subramanya.

“It is unfortunate that the High Court has agreed to it. But we don’t agree. We want a total ban on any such practice,” Reddy said.

He alleged that the concept of ‘yede snana’ was not that of the government, but of Vishveshateertha Swami of the Pejawar Mutt.