The struggles led by the Communist Party of India (Marxist), Dalit Hakkugala Samiti (DHS) and others against customs that are degrading for oppressed communities have received a major boost with the decision of religious authorities of the Sri Krishna temple in Udupi, Karnataka to do away with the obnoxious practice of Made Made Snana and its toned down version Ede Snana. Made Made Snana, commonly known as Made Snana, is a ritual in which people from lower castes roll on plantain leaves with leftovers of food served to Brahmins.
Made Snana has been a ritual practiced most prominently at the Kukke Subramanya temple at Subramanya in Dakshina Kannada district (with its headquarters Mangaluru / Mangalore) of Karnataka, and at the Sri Krishna Matha/temple in the neighbouring Udupi district. Both districts are situated on the south-western coast of Karnataka and form part of the Mysuru (Mysore) division.
The traditional belief regarding Made Snana has been that devotees will be cured of ailments if they roll on the leaves. “This is the most inhuman, caste-based, uncivilised social practice prevailing in Karnataka,” GV Sreerama Reddy, Central Committee member and Karnataka State Secretary of the CPI(M), said in an interview in 2015.
The CPI(M) has been on a warpath from 2009 onwards demanding the end of Made Snana. The first protest was held that year at the Kukke Subrahmanya temple following the Party’s initiative, under the banner of the Karnataka State Backward Classes Awareness Forum.
The Party and its mass organisations such as the Dalit Hakkugala Samiti (DHS) have also been protesting against Pankthi Bheda, the practice of maintaining separate lines for ‘upper castes’ and ‘lower castes’ while serving food.
In January 2012, the CPI(M) staged a big protest against Pankthi Bheda in Udupi. A protest demonstration was held in front of the Udupi Sri Krishna temple and a public meeting was held at the nearby Ajjarkad grounds.
In December 2012, the CPI(M) organized a padayatra (march) from Kukke Subramanya temple to the Udupi Sri Krishna temple to bolster popular support for a ban on Made Snana and Pankthi Bheda. In Udupi, the protestors were lathi-charged by the police, resulting in many activists getting injured and being admitted to hospital.
Cases were registered against 184 protestors including MA Baby, the CPI(M) Polit Bureau member who addressed the gathering in Udupi, Sreerama Reddy said. As a result of such protests, the two casteist rituals became a serious matter of discussion among students, youth, middle class, intellectuals and all progressive sections.
The CPI(M) also staged protests in Chikkaballapur, where Made Snana was being performed in some Subramanya temples. “In some cases the protestors physically prevented the ritual from being performed,” Sreerama Reddy recalled. Several CPI(M) activists were injured when some people supporting the ritual attacked them during a protest in Chikkaballapur in 2013.
The efforts of the CPI(M) and other mass organisations led to the Chikkaballapur district administration banning Made Snana in the district.
In December 2014, the Supreme Court stayed the performance of Made Snana, by staying an earlier order of the Karnataka High Court allowing the ritual to continue.
Subsequently in 2015, Made Snana at Kukke Subramanya temple was replaced by Ede Snana, whereby devotees roll over the prasadam (food offering) for the presiding deity instead of over leftovers of food eaten by Brahmins.
Activists, however, pointed out that just like Made Snana, Ede Snana is also regressive and inhuman. They demanded a ban on this practice as well.
“The CPI(M), Dalit organizations and progressive sections of society continued their struggles saying that “Made Snana” and “Ede Snana” are similar. Both practices are aimed at degrading human dignity and at humiliating the downtrodden classes of people in the name of religious sentiments,” the CPI(M) Dakshina Kannada District Committee said in a Facebook post.
Apart from the CPI(M), Dalit Hakkugala Samiti and Karnataka State Backward Classes Awareness Forum, organisations such as the Komu Souharda Vedike (Communal Harmony Forum) also played a major role in the movement against Made Snana.
Apart from progressive mass organisations, the movement also won the support of the monk Shri Veerabhadra Chennamalla Swami of Nidumamidi Matha.
The decision to do away with the ‘Ede Snana’ ritual at the Udupi Sri Krishna temple was taken on Thursday, 13 December 2018, by Vidhyadeesha Teertha Swami, the monk who heads Sri Palimar Matha and who currently occupies the Paryaya Peetha (Paryaya seat).
The occupier of the Paryaya seat is in charge of worship and administration at the Udupi Sri Krishna temple. The seat is rotated among the heads of the eight monasteries (Ashta Mathas) established by Madhavacharya (1238 – 1317), who was the chief proponent of the Dvaita (dualism) school of Vedanta philosophy.
The decision to end Made Snana and Ede Snana at Udupi has come as a result of protracted struggles, sustained campaigns and continuous pressure on government authorities and religious heads to bring down the curtains on the degrading practices. “This is seen as a big step towards taking forward a social reform movement led by the CPI(M),” the post by the Party’s Dakshina Kannada District Committee said.
