How coastal Karnataka came to chant Jai Shri Ram

For 45-year-old Ramachanda Kulal, who runs a tours and travels agency in Bantwala near Karnataka’s Mangalore district, business has never been so good. His 20 cabs and two mini buses are all booked till June 2024. Over the next five months, Ramachandra’s fleet will ferry Ram devotees in and around Mangalore to Ayodhya, which is over 2,000 kilometres away.

“People will be stopping by other pilgrimage sites on the way, but they are more keen to visit the Ram Temple. Even train bookings are taking place and the rush is so high that I am considering increasing my fleet to accommodate more people,” he told The Federal.

The religious fervour which the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and the larger Sangh Parivar have been trying to rake is finding a huge resonance in the coastal belt of Karnataka too.

“Hundreds of youth are chanting ‘Jai Shri Ram’ slogans across the state. Vehicles with Jai Shri Ram painted on them are suddenly ubiquitous. Earlier, people doubted that Ram Mandir would be built. As it is becoming a reality now, people are rushing to the site even from Karnataka,” said Ganesh Bhat, a Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) worker from Mangalore. “The youth raising Ram slogans are not even affiliated to the Sangh but they are doing so because they are Ram devotees,” he added.

Ahead of the temple consecration on January 22, Ram Mantrakshate — sacred rice mixed with turmeric powder offered to gods in Hindu rituals — is being distributed among people in coastal Karnataka.

While the Sangh is helping people wanting to travel to Ayodhya with many affiliated, or independent Hindu groups, offering free pilgrimage or travel at discounted rates, one can see hundreds of youth on the streets and villages wearing saffron shawls and dhotis, with ‘Jai Shri Ram’ written on them. They are even greeting each other with Jai Shri Ram as a salutation.

Ahead of the temple consecration on January 22, Ram Mantrakshate — sacred rice mixed with turmeric powder offered to gods in Hindu rituals — is being distributed among people.

“We are happy that even people outside the Sangh fold are freely participating in the ritual while wearing saffron shawls, which have ‘Jai Shri Ram’ written on them,” said Ganesh Bhat.

How a southern state came to worship Ram

While Ram and Anjaneya temples are found across Karnataka, including Old Mysuru and north Karnataka, the fervour related to Ram Mandir inauguration seen in the coastal region is unmatched.

The entire coastal belt of Karnataka is gearing up for the Ram idol consecration.

“We are all preparing for performing special poojas including Rama Taraka Yajnas not only at temple, but also in the places where Bhootaradhane — a practice where people worship their ancestors and spirits, called Bhootas or Daivas — is predominant,” said Janardhana Poojary, administrative head of Koti-Chennaya Garadi (Daivaradhane).

“We are not BJP or Sangh supporters, but we believe in God and we are looking forward to celebrating the auspicious day of Ram Mandir’s inauguration,” he said.

Some, however, caution that while the enthusiasm around Ram Mandir is welcome, it could open the floodgates to bigger problems.

A Muslim political analyst and lecturer in a reputed college in the region, who chose to remain anonymous, said that Ram Mandir’s inauguration has created unity among all communities but the narrative saying mosques have been built over temples and should make way for Hindu places of worship can have dangerous implications.

“The temple movement will have a major impact on the upcoming parliamentary elections and will make the BJP stronger in the region. The worry is that some leaders of pro-Hindu groups are giving provocative speeches regarding the places of worship of some faiths being built on places held sacred by people of other faiths. The special drive undertaken by the local leaders may fuel communal tensions,” he said. “However, Muslim scholars have asked the community to be involved in the Ram Mandir celebration and try to maintain brotherhood with all communities,” he said.

The coastal districts, unfortunately, are pretty familiar with communal tension.

A senior police officer of the rank of additional director general of police, who doesn’t want to be named, told The Federal that the coastal regions are communally highly sensitive compared to other regions and we are keeping a strict vigil in the area. “If necessary, special police forces will be deployed when someone conducts jathas and other celebrations. Amid the fervour, we are cautious about preventing any untoward incident, which may happen because of miscreants,” he added.

The coastal districts of Karnataka — Udupi, and Dakshina Kannada — with a population of almost 12 lakh and 21 lakh respectively, have become ‘Hindutva laboratories’ of Karnataka. Both districts have been dabbling with communalism for decades, but the tilt towards Hindutva became majorly pronounced in the 1990s with the slogans of ‘Jai Shri Ram’ being raised often.

Thousands of young men got involved in the Ram Mandir movement and performed kar seva (voluntary labour) for the mandir. Hindu Samajotsava and such events were organised to gather Hindus in the name of Ram. As the mobilisation gathered steam, the Congress-held district metamorphosed into a BJP base. But the shift hasn’t been smooth.

The region has had a sizable population of Beary Muslims, who also speak their own language called Beary. Given their ‘Gulf connections’, members of the community enjoy a hold over business activities in the area. Slowly, the youth flocked to radical outfits such as Hindu Yuva Sene and Bajrang Dal. As the Hindutva bogey raised its head in the district, Udupi caught national attention with a series of communal clashes.

But the roots of the communal tension in the area dates back to 1975 when the Baba Budan Giri controversy sparked off. Budan Giri is a Muslim shrine on which Hindus also lay their claim as it falls in the Datta Peeta of Lord Dattatreya.

In 1990, when veteran BJP leader LK Advani carried out the Ram Rath Yatra, it caught the fancy of young Hindus in Udupi. The yatra was organised in support of Vishwa Hindu Parishad and other RSS-affiliated groups that were demanding Ram Mandir at the exact site where the Babri Masjid stood. Even though Karnataka was not on the route map of the yatra, youth from the region joined it and Jai Shri Ram slogans came to echo in the coastal districts.

LK Advani during his Ram Rath Yatra in 1990. Narendra Modi also seen in the frame.

When Ram came to Karnataka

While the yatra attendees brought Jai Shri Ram chants to the region, Ram’s arrival in Karnataka is rather interesting. The region, which has majority Tulu-speaking people, including Bunts, Billavas, Moolyas, and others, except Brahmins, have a matrilineal society. This land is known as Bhootaradhane. People of the region worship their ancestors and their spirits. The land is also known as Nagaradhane because people worship snake gods. It has a lot of temples dedicated to Shiva and Devis, including Dharamastala Manjunatheshwara, Kateelu Durga Parameshwari, and Mangaladevi. Additionally, these districts have temples of Ganapathi, and those dedicated to Daivas such as Ullalthi, Kallurti, and Panjurli.

There is only one Krishna temple in Udupi and it is maintained by Brahmins. But Tulu communities living there never considered Udupi Krishna as their family deity. Konkani-speaking Gaud Saraswat Brahmins worship Krishna as their god, and they have their own temples.

“There are no Ram temples in the region. A few small ones have sprung up after the Ram Mandir movement but people generally worship Shiva, Devi, Ganapathi, and their Bhoota or Daivas. Ram was never considered their deity. However, Ram became their ‘symbol of Hindutva expression’ after the Ram Mandir movement in the region,” Dr Ramesh Shetty, a Tulu scholar, told The Federal.

Interestingly, all Tulu communities have a connection to Tirupati temple in Andhra Pradesh, which is hundreds of miles away from the Mangalore coast. All Tulu communities consider Tirupati Thimmappa (Lord Venkatesh) as one of their important family deities, and everyone has Hundis (Mudipu) for Timmappa at their matrilineal homes, where they perform Bhootaradhane.

According to Tulu scholar Praveen A, Bhootaradhane and Tirupati Timmappa have a connection. Tulu Pardhanas — Tulu folk poems are a distinguishing feature of spirit worship or spirit possession, and these narrative songs paddana or pardana — mention Tirupati Timmappa whenever they are sung during Bhootaradhane rituals, he said.

“All Tulu communities have thus connected to Tirupati Timmappa, who is believed to be an avatar of Lord Vishnu. The Tirupati temple was renovated during the Vijayanagar Empire by emperor Krishna Deva Raya, and historians say that he belongs to the Tuluva dynasty. Krishnadevaraya, a Tulu speaker himself, was noted to be linguistically neutral as he ruled a multilingual empire. He was the son of Tuluva Naras Nayaka. Since then, researchers have said that the Tulu land has a connection to Tirupati. So, all Tulu families collect hundis and offer it at Tirupathi temple once in a year or two,” he said.

Lord Timmappa is considered an avatar of Lord Vishnu and Ram is also an avatar of Lord Vishnu. So, it became easy for the Tulu people to establish an emotional attachment towards Ram in the wake of the Ram Mandir movement. “The issue found resonance in the Tulu region, and Ram became the symbol of Hindutva expression and also identity,” Dr Karunakar Shetty, an Udupi-based history lecturer, said.

“The Sangh Parivar started work on connecting Ram to the Tulu people decades ago, and also succeeded in it. Now, majority households in the Tulu region sing bhajans on all auspicious days. The bhajans are dedicated to various gods, including Lord Ram,” Gajanana Shetty, a Bajrang Dal leader said.

Brahmins worship Vishnu

There are different sects of Brahmins in the region, including Shivalli Brahmins, Kota Brahmins, and Havyaka Brahmins, and most have been worshipping either Vishnu or Krishna as their family deity. The Shiva and Devi temples in the entire region have Brahmins as their temple priests.

“Over the years, they propagated ‘Satya Narayan Pooja’ in the region and every Tulu family performs or attends the pooja at least once a year,” said Dr Narayana Poojary, a Tulu researcher at Mangalore University. “This is probably how Sangh Parivar took Ram to the people. There is no Ram puja or worship, but every Tulu family believes in Satya Narayan Pooja and keeps Mudipu (hundi) for Tirupati temple. So, it was easy to build a narrative for Lord Rama during the Ram Mandir movement,” he said.

Today, the Sangh is busy distributing 'Rama Mandir Mantrakshate' across the state to capitalise on the pro-Hindutva sentiments in the region. Sangh workers have reached almost every household in the coastal region with Rama Mantrakashate.

The situation is such that the Tulu-speaking communities and others in the entire coastal region are talking about Ram Mandir. Even though some are opposed to it, Ram has reached every home.