Elavoor Thookkam 2004

 

by Swami Bhoomananda Tirtha

3.	ATTEMPTS TO REVIVE THOOKKAM IN 2004   q      Impermissible Resurgance q     Lokasangraha, a clarion call q     Paura Dharma Samity and Uranma Devasvam Board q     Temple Advisory Committee defunct

 

q     The Impermissible Resurgence

A dog never stops licking the bone, even when its tongue has begun to bleed.  Money, greed, prestige and pomp are too powerful to leave the human mind.  Who would want to eschew them? Only the spiritually inclined mature minds would, and to them it would be a full-fledged sadhana. Religion is a powerful sentiment.  It can be nectarine and poisonous alike. Like liquor, tobacco and prostitution, some Temple practices prove difficult to vacate the human mind. This truth surfaced again in Elavoor last March.

Some people came to me on the eve of 10th March ’04.  With sullen faces they related the hidden moves of the Elavoor Temple Advisory Committee to re-hoist the Thookkam this year on 23rd April.  The hired victim was to start his vow on 14th March. 

“So what? If locals are blindly in favour of it, what can we do? In 1987 we rode there, without knowing the route to your village. And Police stopped us both times safely at a distance. None of Elavoorians met or joined us before the Police obstructed us. If the fate is the same, we can hardly do anything!....”.

Though in a subdued tone, the visitors said: “Swamiji, did we not give you a Public Reception  in 1987 after the Thookkam?  Your speech was heard by a large number of people.  At the end when you wanted to go to the Temple for worship, the devotion-mongers obstructed.  It was good that you did not persist to go forward.  If you had, all of us would have been with you. Possibly there would also have been untold law and order crisis.

“This time the issue is different and people also. Then it was stopping a ritual in vogue for centuries. Now the question is of reviving it after its discontinuance for 16 years. Is not the difference substantial?”

“There will be a number of Elavoorians and Parakkatavans with you, but leadership should be from you, not from any other. After you give a public statement and your stand is known, we shall join together to form the local wing of protest.”

 

q     Lokasangraha, a clarion call

A dharmic wrong must be mended by a greater Dharmic Step. Therein lies our strength, success!

Given to lokasangraha ever since my 23rd year, when I find the society relishing to tread the wrong path with a vengeance, can I be mute?  Even if I want, will my mind and heart agree? 

The telephone worked.  Purushothama Swamiji on the other side.  He is 86 years with ill-health too.  On the assurance that the locals would be with us, Swamiji said that right at first we should write to the District Authorities apprising them of the grave plight and urging them to act sternly before the vow itself.  The letter, prepared on my computer, read at the end:

“We heartily urge the authorities to take emergent steps to stop any Thookkam revival movement in Elavoor Putthankavu Bhagavati Temple, keeping in mind the historic background of the 1987 Thookkam Abolition Movement as well as the criminal nature of the derogatory practice.  All concerned with the proposed revival move, needless to say, must be strictly warned by the authorities against any such ill-conceived criminal step.

May I urge you to give personal attention to this grave religious threat and ensure that we are not dragged into any kind of an untoward development in the matter. It is clearly something that the authorities can sternly deal and dispense with”

I asked them to hand the letter personally to the Ernakulam District Collector and Superintendent of Police (Rural) next morning. It was like an SOS message.  We wanted to make sure in writing that the Authorities had the information and that they were also urged to act fast before the proposed Thookkam vow on 14th March ’04.

 

q     Paura Dharma Samity and Uranma Devasvam Board

We can do only our part and they have to theirs.  Meanwhile Elavoorian Thookkam opponents formed Paura Dharma Samity (PDS), rid of all political tinges, to wage the dharmic protest.  Headed by Unnikrishna Menon, an elderly person, suffering from ill-health and unable to be in the sun, it had Prabhakaran as the Secretary and Kumaran as Vice President.

Keeping in constant touch with us, all their moves were quite peaceful but firm.  In number like the Pandava Army they faced a huge rebellion. They, however, lacked the Dharmic vision so indispensable for imbibing the Krishna strength from us, who stood by them. This was a woeful mismatch. 

Meanwhile Uranma Devasvam Board came on the scene.  Using their rights over the Temple, a unit under them, the Board’s Council consisting of 32 members unanimously decided against Thookkam as well as any change in the existing practices in Elavoor Temple.  Its General Secretary Maheswaran Bhattathirippad communicated the decision to their nominee, the Manager, in the Temple. This meant a difference. 

 

q     Temple Advisory Committee defunct

Temple Advisory Committee sought to conduct Thookkam as they had planned and hence needed police protection, adding in their Petition (OP No.12055/2004) that High Court of Kerala should restrict Uranma Devasvam Board from interfering with the proposed step.  Uranma Devasvam Board and the Ankamaly Circle Inspector of Police were the respondents.  Board’s General Secretary sought our help to conduct the case.  Division Bench of the High Court, with the words ...... “You want to conduct the religious function of Thookkam!  This Court will not pass any order” dismissed the petition. At this their advocate withdrew the petition.  “Dismissed as withdrawn” was thus the judgement of the Highest Court of the State.

Temple Advisory Committee had to heed the Board’s instructions, or else they need not have sought redress from HC at all!  Now that the Court dismissed their petition, could the subject raised any more?  But would they heed to reason and dharma?

They spread the news that Uranma Devasvam Board had withdrawn their petition and the Thookkam proponents had won and the hearers took the words to be true!

 

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