Thiruvananthapuram: The Kerala government is set to host a one-day global summit of spiritual leaders and devotees of Ayyappa, revered as a god by Hindus, in Sabarimala next month to position itself as a centre of spiritual tourism as well as for the development of the temple dedicated to the deity.
The summit, to be inaugurated by Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan on 20 September, has, however, drawn questions from several quarters.
At a press meet Thursday, V.N. Vasavan, minister for Devaswoms (referring to administration of temple properties), said the government would invite his counterparts from neighbouring states as well as Tamil Nadu CM M.K.Stalin for the event.
Located in Kerala’s Pathanamthitta district, Sabarimala, a pilgrimage site, hosts one of the largest number of devotees annually.
The minister said the event will highlight the concept of ‘Thathwamasi’, a Sankskrit phrase meaning ‘you are that’ and a philosophy ingrained in the Sabarimala temple.
“Thathwamasi in Sabarimala highlights the message of secularism. We want to highlight that and make the place a centre of spiritual tourism. And, we aim to make it a global pilgrimage centre,” Vasavan said.
He added that the decision was taken by the Travancore Devaswom Board as part of its platinum jubilee celebrations. The gathering, he said, will be held according to the customs and rituals of the temple, without any discrimination of caste, colour, or class.
Travancore Devaswom Board president Adv. P.S. Prasanth said the Sabarimala Master Plan, approved by the Kerala Cabinet in January, will also be discussed in detail with the delegates to seek their suggestions.
The Rs 1,033-crore master plan proposes three-phase development of Sabarimala focused on infrastructural uplift, crowd management and ecological preservation.
The summit decision comes ahead of crucial local body and assembly polls in Kerala and also assumes political significance as it comes seven years after the Sabarimala protests of 2018, which resulted in the ruling Left Democratic Front (LDF) winning one of the lowest numbers of seats in the state in the 2019 Lok Sabha elections.
In September 2018, the Supreme Court had delivered a landmark judgment allowing women of all ages to enter the Sabarimala shrine, leading to widespread protests by sections of devotees. The issue took a political turn after two women activists of menstruating age entered the shrine in January 2019.
The LDF, which had initially supported the SC verdict and promised to uphold constitutional law, came under attack as both the BJP and the Congress aligned over the traditional stand banning women of reproductive age from entering the temple. Led by its then state president K. Surendran, the BJP even held statewide protest marches, positioning itself as a defender of the Hindu faith.
The LDF felt the political heat in the 2019 Lok Sabha elections held months after the protests, winning only one of Kerala’s 20 seats (Alappuzha), while the Congress-led United Democratic Front (UDF) won 19. The LDF managed to draw only 35.29 percent of the vote share, compared to Congress’s 47.48 percent.
State-based political analyst C. R. Neelakandan said the LDF may face political questions for holding such a spiritual conference now.
“Their initial stand on the Sabarimala verdict backfired in the 2019 elections. This (summit) event can’t be viewed solely as a pilgrimage tourism initiative. The Left Front has been leaning towards Hindutva politics following the setback in the Lok Sabha polls. This should also be seen in that light,” he told ThePrint.
Although the LDF made history with a consecutive win in the 2021 assembly polls, it again managed to win only one of 20 seats in the 2024 Lok Sabha elections, despite a campaign centred on minority rights and opposition to the Citizenship (Amendment) Act.
The election saw a significant surge in BJP’s vote share in Kerala, with notable support from upper-caste and Ezhava Hindu voters. The LDF secured a vote share of 33.34 percent, while the UDF won 45.21 percent. The BJP-led NDA secured a vote share of 19.24 percent, recording an increase of 4 percent.
Speaking to ThePrint, BJP’s state vice-president K.S. Radhakrishnan termed the summit as an attempt to appease the Hindu vote bank in the run-up to the next year’s Kerala polls.
“They are showing a pro-Hindu and anti-Muslim face these days to get the Hindu vote bank,” he said, adding that the state government should focus on building basic amenities rather than transforming the pilgrimage site into a tourism hub.
(Edited by Nida Fatima Siddiqui)
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