Before the curtain rises on the Assembly elections in Kerala, it is witnessing a debut: its very first “Kumbh Mela”.
On the bathing ghats of the Nava Mukunda Temple at Thirunavaya in Malappuram district, where generations have offered prayers to the souls of the dead, a festival is seeing a revival as a surrogate of the Mela from the North. The river that runs next to the ghats, Bharathapuzha, incidentally is known as ‘Dakshin Ganga’.
Tens of thousands have been thronging to the ghats for the 18-day Mela, which ends on February 3. Vedic chants echo round the clock as devotees take the holy dip. By evening, the place is crawling with saffron-clad sadhus, including priests from Kashi Vishwanath Temple who conduct the famous Ganga Aarti at Varanasi’s Dashashwamedh Ghat and are doing a similar version, the “Nila (another name for Bharathapuzha) Aarti”, here.
The chief patron of the Mela is Mata Amritanandamayi, Kerala Devaswom Minister and CPI(M) leader V N Vasavan is one of the patrons, while the organisers include, among others, the Bharatheeya Dharma Prachara Sabha and Mohanji Foundation.
The Mela’s prime mover is Swami Anandavam Bharati, a former leader of the CPI(M) student wing SFI (Students’ Federation of India), who is now a senior monk of the Varanasi-based Shri Panch Dashnam Juna Akhada.
Known as P Salil during his SFI days, Bharati says: “We are reviving a culture and tradition which existed in Thirunavaya in the past. It is a revival of Hinduism and dharma, which had been pushed back in Kerala due to various reasons. We have enacted all rituals of the Mahakumbh Mela at this festival.’’
While thousands of sadhus are already here, “around 750” more are expected, with the Railways running one special train each from Varanasi in Uttar Pradesh and Rishikesh in Uttarakhand to Ernakulam.
An enthusiastic Swami Mukundanandagiri, whose clothes are dripping as he has just taken a dip, says: “Kerala is lagging behind in upholding Sanatan Dharma. This Kumbh Mela will be a game changer.” He is associated with the Brahmmarishi Sri Omkara Swamigal Madalayam Temple, located in Srikalahasti, Andhra Pradesh.
History shows that till about the 18th century, the banks of Bharathapuzha at Thirunavaya used to host another 12-yearly festival – Mamankam or Mahamagham, to mark the bloody battles between two local kings, Zamorin and Valluvakonathiri. Three centuries after Mamankam faded away, in 2016, the Nava Mukunda Temple revived it, as an annual but low-key affair in the month of magh, focusing on river worship.
Last year, the new chapter was added, after Swami Bharati was declared the “Mahamandaleshwar” for South India at the Mahakumbh in Prayagraj. The Juna Akhada, with which he is associated, is one of the oldest Shaivite monastic orders.
Bharati says it was about time that South India had a Kumbh Mela. “I was given the post of Mahamandaleshwar last year to expand the activities of Akhada in South India, and the Kerala Kumbh Mela is part of that mission.”
About the political implications of the event, at a time that the BJP is making a strong push in the state, buoyed by its recent civic poll performance, Bharati says: “This festival will help all those who stand with Hindu dharma. If the BJP stands for dharma, it will benefit. If the Congress or Left take a similar stand, they can also make gains. We have the support of all sections. If the Hindu is politically weak here today, tomorrow he or she is going to be strong.’’
There is a line of pilgrims in front of Bharati’s chamber waiting to take his blessings. Suma, a homemaker from Ponnani in Malappuram, says she has come for the third time to watch Nila arati. “It is a dream come true for us who could not travel to the Mahakumbh Mela.’’
Retired government employee Sudhir, a native of Thrissur, also welcomes the idea of a Kumbh Mela, saying Kerala lacked it despite having several Hindu ashrams and prominent monks. “It will give a new energy to Hindu revivalism in Kerala. It will give Hindus a sense of security.”
However, Sudhir insists, “I don’t think this will help the Sangh Parivar.”
BJP Kerala vice-president and Malappuram leader V Unnikrishnan points to the active involvement of workers of the Sangh Parivar in the Mela, in response, calling it “a renaissance for Hindu”. “In the future, the BJP may make gains,” he adds cryptically.
Unnkrishnan also says that the CPI(M)-led state government has been cooperative after putting up some “hurdles” initially, “as they know that any such move would backfire”.
Calling the Thirunavaya festivities “a replica of the Mela held in Varanasi”, CPI(M) district secretary V P Anil says: “We are not going to either oppose or support it. If there is any attempt to exploit the event on communal lines, our party will step in.”
Congress Malappuram district president V S Joy says his party “does not see any politics” in the Mela.
Nava Mukunda Temple chief priest and the chairperson of the Mela organising committee, Sudheer Namboothiri, talks about how the attendance has surpassed their expectations. “We expected 10,000 people a day. Now the daily turnout could be around a lakh.”
This is a far cry from when they revived the Mamankam in 2016, Naboothiri says, pointing out that last year only people from within the Malappuram district came.
On the “enthusiasm” among the people, he adds: “After the state government and local CPI(M) leaders opposed constructing a temporary bridge across the river, the faithful came out in support. We have the backing of the Muslim community here too, and many of them are our volunteers… The Kerala Kumbh Mela has changed the destiny of the temple as well as the Bharathapuzha river.”