A massive gathering of devotees had come together on Sunday in Thiruvananthapuram to protest against the communist government in Kerala which has been ‘incessantly trying to destroy temple traditions and Hindu customs’ in the state.
#AyyappaBhakthaSangamam Largest Hindu gathering ever in the history of Kerala! Mata Amritanandamayi, Swami Chidanandapuri, Swami Prakashananda, TP Senkumar IPS etc speaking at Trivandrum. Lakhs of people couldn’t reach the venue as the ground couldn’t accommodate the huge crowd! pic.twitter.com/Zw1wuCBawO
— Organiser Weekly (@eOrganiser) January 20, 2019
Devotees, seers and spiritual leaders from across South India had gathered, making it one of the largest congregation of Hindus in the history of Kerala. Inaugurating the Sangamam, Mata Amritanandmayi said that while changes are required in temples, they should not forget the temples. She added that the recent incidents at Sabarimala temple were unfortunate and the root cause of the problem was ‘lack of knowledge about temple traditions’.
She added that temples require thantri, poojari and also the faithful. Lord Ayyappa is of Sabarimala is an eternal celibate and while changes are required, they should not be brought in by forgetting the temple.
ശബരിമലയെ തകർക്കാൻ ശ്രമിക്കുന്ന പിണറായി സർക്കാരിന് താക്കീതായി അനന്തപുരിയിൽ ജനലക്ഷങ്ങൾ അണിനിരന്ന അയ്യപ്പഭക്ത സംഗമം.#AyyappaBhakthaSangamam pic.twitter.com/Md0KfiGQhM
— BJP Pathanapuram Mandalam (@bjppathanapuram) January 21, 2019
Presiding over the function, Swami Chidananda Puri said that temple traditions could not be altered by a secular government. He criticised the ruling CPM government and said that the Hindus should be thankful to Kerala CM Pinarayi Vijayan for organising the Hindus of Kerala against the backdrop of Sabarimala issue. He even condemned the repeated criticism of Hindu priests and sannyasins by CPM ministers. Swami Paripoornanda said that Kerala CM can administer the people of the state but he can’t administer Lord Ayyappa.
Bharathbhushan, brother of Kanaka Durga, a CPM activist who entered the Sabarimala shrine earlier this month, was also present. He apologised to the devotees for the ‘sin’ committed by his sister. He even said that she won’t be allowed to come inside the house unless she puts an unconditional apology to Hindu society.
