SWARGA (Kasaragod): Shri Jatadhari 'Devasthanam' (abode of god) is nestled in the middle of arecanut plantations of Brahmins. There is no motorable road to reach the centuries-old place of worship and devotees have to walk around 200m along the perennial Badiyar stream to reach the abode of Jatadhari - a fearsome incarnation of Lord Shiva -- and believed to be the guardian spirit of Swarga in Padre village of Enmakaje gram panchayat.
Despite the 'Devasthanam' being the centre of village life, it remains shut for the past three years. "The upper castes of the village locked our Jatadhari and the Devasthanam because we dared to question the discriminatory customs practised here," said Krishna Mohana, 45, a former state-level badminton player and member of the Moger community. The Moger or Mugera is a Scheduled Caste community at the bottom of the caste hierarchy in the village, along with the Koraga, a particularly vulnerable tribe.
The discrimination begins at the doorsteps of the Devasthanam. Eighteen steps take devotees to the Shri Jatadhari Devasthanam and only members of a few communities are allowed to take them. They are Kannada-speaking Brahmins, Konkani-speaking Brahmins, Bunts, Tulu Gowda, Nair, Marathi, officially a Scheduled Tribe, Maniyani (Yadavs), Vishwakarma, Paatali, and Agasa -- the last four being other backward classes (OBC).
The 18 steps take devotees directly to the front of the Sanctum Sanctorum. But Scheduled Castes such Nalkadaya (Kopala), the caste which performs the ritual of Jatadhari 'Theyyam' (god), Moger and Baira; Scheduled Tribes such as Koraga and Mayila; and OBCs such as Tulu-speaking Billava (equivalent to the Malayalam-speaking Thiyyas) are prohibited from taking the steps to the front door. For the 'untouchable' devotees, there is a flight of stairs outside the boundary wall that takes them to the back of the temple courtyard. The narrow, unguarded stairs are so risky that a misstep will take them 15 feet down where the toilets are built. Blame it on centuries of conditioning or fear of Jatadhari, many people from the oppressed castes and tribes want the discriminatory customs to continue and hold Mohana and his ilk responsible for the temple being shut.
"I waited for my father to pass before thinking of taking the temple steps. Else, my defiance would have hurt him a lot," said Mohana. Denying access to the temple stairs is not the only discriminatory practice. The 'untouchables' are not allowed to directly place their donation (kanike) in the temple's brass offertory plate.
"We have to give our money to someone from a higher caste without touching their hand and they will put the money in the plate," said Jaganath 'Sanku' Poojari, a grocer at Swarga, and belongs to the Billava community.
During the 2017 Jatadhari Theyyam festival, a 65-year-old Sundara Poojari dropped his donation directly into the brass plate. "The farmer was forced to immediately apologise and make a 'thettu kanike'," said Satheesh Naik, 53, a social activist and member of the CPM. 'Thettu kanike' is an offering of repentance and the money is dropped on a wooden plate. But the most demeaning discrimination is seen during the feast held as part of Jatadhari Theyyam festival.
The temple feast -- considered as prasad by all devotees -- is served first to the Brahmins and then to the governing members of the temple. Once the members of the 'forward' communities finish feasting, the Brahmins serving food would start calling out the names of castes and tribes. The 'untouchables' remain invisible till their caste or tribe names are called. The feast starts around 2pm. By the time the Mogers and the Koragas are called according to the caste pecking order, it would be around 9pm to 10pm.
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"On festival day, our village has a holiday. Our children show eagerness to go to the temple and we have to restrain them till night. It kills their festive mood," said Mohana. The temple officials call the Mogers of the village 'Holaya' or Pulaya in Malayalam. They shout: 'Are there any Holaya?' "When our caste is called, we queue up for food with plastic bags or clothes or bowls. We have to place our bowls or bags on the floor and step back," said Mohana.
Once the food is served, they have to take their bowls and disappear into the woods. They are not supposed to eat near the temple. None of the people from the oppressed communities had ever thought of boycotting the feast because it is the prasad (devotional offering) of Lord Jatadhari. Devotees from the oppressed communities said they wanted the Devasthanam reopened. "It is not a good omen for the village to keep the Devasthanam closed. It is good if they allow us to directly make the offering (kanike). Otherwise also, it is fine. We are happy with the old system. But they should open the Devasthanam," said Jaganath Poojari.
Police sitting on the complaint
In September 2018, Mohana, Naik and several others from the oppressed communities wrote a three-page complaint pointing out the discriminations they face and submitted it to the Special Mobile Squad (SMS) of the Kerala Police that investigates complaints under the Scheduled Castes and the Scheduled Tribes (Prevention of Atrocities) Act. However, Kasaragod's SMS did not convert the complaint to an FIR.
The then DySP of SMS Harischandra Naik said he summoned all those who were controlling the temple to his office. "They signed an agreement to do away with the discriminatory practices. But when they returned to the village, they called a public meeting and decided to close the temple instead of doing away with the discriminatory customs," he said.
The officer, who is now the additional SP heading the district police administration, said the temple committee members must have signed the agreement because they feared arrest. He said an FIR was not registered because the Shri Jatadhari Devasthanam was a private temple controlled by four families.
Naik and Mohana rejected the claim. They said the temple has 47 cents and is registered in the name of Shri Jatadhari, not in the name of any family. "The land, the power connection, and the taxes are paid in the name of Shri Jatadhari. There was an attempt by four Brahmin families to usurp the temple but it did not happen," said Naik. The Brahmin families controlling the temple came to the village 120 years ago, but the temple itself has an oral history of at least 400 years, said Naik.
Forward Communities: Some in Denial
The Jatadhari Devasthanam is in Padre revenue village -- bordering Karnataka -- in Enmakaje gram panchayat of Kasaragod. From Kasaragod town, it will take a one-hour drive to reach Perla, the administrative headquarters of Enmakaje panchayat. It will take another 10 minutes to reach Galligopura on the Perla-Swarga-Puttur road. From Galligopura, a secluded road would take devotees to Badiyar, where the temple is situated.
The Enmakaje local body is controlled by the UDF but the BJP has around 4,500 more votes than the UDF in the panchayat. The LDF is making in-roads into panchayat by eating into votes of the BJP and the Congress and is a decisive force now. But none of the political fronts or parties aren't openly raising the issue of discrimination in the Jatadhari temple.
One of the first persons TNIE ran into on reaching Swarga was a much-revered doctor who helped expose the harmful effects of the aerial spraying of endosulfan and catered to the healthcare needs of the poor, irrespective of caste or religion. The doctor, who belongs to the Brahmin community, outrightly rejected any discrimination in the village and called the practice of untouchability in the temple "age-old customs". Those raking up the issue of discrimination were motivated by their politics, he said.
"But speak to the other side before writing your report," said the affable doctor who did not want to be named. "It's always like that. They don't see the 'ayitham' (untouchability)," said Balappa Gowda, 61, a Tulu Gowda farmer, waiting for a bus outside the doctor's clinic. He has easy access to the temple, can eat ahead of the rest of the oppressed devotees and take the stairs, and also donate money without middlemen because his community rears Nandi, the sacred bull of Shri Jatadhari for the festival. "I want the old customs to change. But we cannot take the call on that," he said.
Subrahmanya Bhat, a retired headmaster of a government-aided school, said all the discriminations in society cannot be blamed on Brahmins. "There are many people in all communities who do not want change. Marathis are a Scheduled Tribe but many in the community oppose allowing the Mogers and the Koragas from using the stairs to the temple or having food together," he said.
Subrahmanya Bhat, a Brahmin, is considered by the oppressed communities as someone who is on their side. "We had a wedding in our family. Two young Moger women sat for lunch along with the rest of us inside my house. I recognised them but we did not make an issue," he said to dismiss allegations of untouchability in the village. Earlier, there was a "social gap" between castes because "they drank a lot, ate meat, and did not maintain cleanliness. Now it is not like that. But things (discriminatory practices) will not change soon," he said.
Vivekananda Bhat, 55, is a member of the BJP and runs a grocery in Swarga. He has rented the room adjacent to his shop to the BJP to run its party office. Vivekananda Bhat is also a member of the influential committee of the Shri Jatadhari Devasthanam committee. "There is a system in place and caste-based roles in the temple. Changes do not happen here easily," he said.
Solutions offered by 'forward caste'
Both Vivekananda Bhat and Subrahmanya Bhat said they could not agree to all the demands of the Scheduled Caste and Scheduled Tribe communities. But they agreed that the discriminatory practice should go.
They proposed three compromises: One, all devotees, irrespective of their caste and tribe, should be allowed to directly offer money in the temple; two, the temple should introduce the buffet system for the feast so that anyone can come and eat any time instead of calling out the names of castes; and three, give access to the frontal temple stairway to all communities.
"Our proposals were not considered by the families controlling the temple," Vivekananda Bhat said. "They (the oppressed communities) should just climb the stairs. What will happen!" That is not how it works in a village where even a headache is feared as a curse of Jatadhari.
When a high number of cases of physical deformities in children was first reported in Padre village during the 1990s and 2000s, the residents were inclined to believe it was the anger of Jatadhari, said Sudheesh K, a teacher and member of the Nelikdaya community. Members of Nelikdaya -- an SC community -- perform as Jatadhari Theyyam during the festival but are considered untouchables in the village. Brahmins would not accept prasad even from the Theyyam (the guardian spirit) because they are considered untouchable, said Sudheesh.
The genesis of defiance
The 'Moolasthanam' -- the original source of the power -- of Shri Jatadhari is believed to be at Malathadka, 3km from the temple. Unlike the temple, the plot of 'Moolasthanam' is owned by Brahmin families. In 2018, they renovated the Moolasthanam shrine by collecting money from all members of society. Mohana said around Rs 1.5 crore was raised from the public belonging to all castes for renovating the shrine and organising the 'Punarprathista' or reinstallation the deity.
The retired headmaster Subrahmanya Bhat was an important member of the committee formed to organise the seven-day event. "We decided the function should be open to all and be held without any discrimination," he said. For the Punarprathista -- held from April 18 to April 24 in 2018 -- members of all castes had equal access to the Moolasthanam shrine, and everybody was allowed to directly make the monetary offering. "We introduced a buffet system so that anyone could come at any time," Bhat said.
It was a festival that brought the entire village together. "We were all happy. Even the Theyyam said this is how it should be and everybody is equal before the god," Mohana recalled. Ten days later, it was the annual Theyyam festival at the Shri Jatadhari Devasthanam. Encouraged by the Theyyam's comment during the 'Punarprathista' ritual at the Moolasthanam, Mohana took the flight of 18 steps to enter the temple along with the forward communities. But the members of the temple council took exception to it and asked the Theyyam if the 'Holayas' should have access to the temple. During the Theyyam ritual, the performer enters into a trance and devotees believe he is the personification of god. In this case, the performer becomes the Jatadhari -- the incarnation of Lord Shiva. Anything uttered by the Theyyam is believed to be the words of the Jatadhari. On that day, the Theyyam chastised Mohana and others for flouting the customs.
"During the Punarprathista, the Theyyam welcomed us because the Brahmins allowed us inside. But when the Brahmins questioned our presence in the temple, the Theyyam must have got the drift," he said. Unable to take the humiliation, Mohana, Shreenivasa Naik and several others from the oppressed communities filed a police complaint before the Special Mobile Squad. In their complaint, they accused five Brahmins, who control the temple, and two Tulu Gowda, who are members of the temple council of practising untouchability.
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The DySP of the Special Mobile Squad summoned them on September 11, 2018. But the Brahmins took up the police summons with the Theyyam again during a festival at an ancestral house (Tharavad). "That day, the Theyyam cursed us and threatened to destroy us for trying to change the custom. The curse scared us," said Mohana. The Theyyam then reassured the temple council members that Jatadhari was with them. At the SMS police station, the temple council members agreed to end the discriminatory practices. After returning to the village, they called a public meeting on October 25, 2018. "After the meeting, they locked the temple," said Naik.
Krishna Bhat, who belongs to one of the four families that control the temple, said the temple was shut because there was no one to take care of it. Bhat was the second accused in the complaint filed by the oppressed communities. "It is a blatant lie. He was on the forefront to oppose the entry of the Scheduled Castes and Tribes," said Naik.
After being abandoned for three years, the Devasthanam is entering a state of ruin from the inside.