Salaam Aarti to Namaskara: Greeting the ‘Right’ side of history in Karnataka

Situated in the midst of a thick forest on the foothills of Kodachadri in Shimoga district of Karnataka, believed to have been established by Adwaita philosophy proponent saint Adi Shankaracharya 1200 years ago, is the Sri Mookambika temple. For over two centuries now, every evening between 7 pm and 8.30 pm conches blow, bells ring and incense sticks and dhoop battis fill the air with effervescence at the temple as the priest moves a thali overloaded with diyas and camphor in clockwise motion amid a chorus of mantras. Those around join in the recitation — some with an understanding of the words, others with no clue to what the words mean.

Many legends surround the daily ritual. One of them says that Tipu Sultan, who was the ruler of the Kingdom of Mysore, visited the temple in 1763, and got so mesmerised with the saintly appearance of the idol inside that he bowed and said ‘salaam’ — an Arabic word which translates to ‘peace’ and is used as a greeting. Since then the evening aarti came to be called ‘Salaam Aarti’ and remained so till early December when the BJP-led Karnataka government decided to rename it as ‘Namaskara’.

The formal announcement of the name change came from the Karnataka Dharmika Parishad, which comes under the Department of Hindu Religious Institutions and Charitable Endowments.

The government has decided to rename not just Salaam Aarti to Namaskara, but also Salaam Mangalaarti to Mangalaarti, and Deevatige Salaam to Deevatige Namaskara. All three old names are believed to have been picked up during the reign of Tipu Sultan and some even believe that it was Tipu who imposed the nomenclature on the aarti as a mark of the subjugation of his Hindu subjects.

With one stroke of a name change, the BJP attempted to achieve two objectives. First, rid the ritual of its association with Tipu Sultan, a figure used by the party and its ecosystem to harp on the narrative that Muslim rulers were foreigners who came to plunder India, and who demolished temples and killed Hindus. Two, appeal to the Hindu voters by replacing the word ‘salaam’, perceived to be an Islamic word, with ‘namaskara’, perceived to be a Hindu word.

Imposition or gratitude?

Even as the Salaam Aarti became Namaskara there is little clarity on whether the names were Tipu Sultan’s impositions or were actually extended as a mark of love and respect for his ‘secular rule’ by his subjects.

T Gururaj, author of Kannada books Tippu and Namma Tippu: Vadanthi mattu Satsangati (rumours and truth), said there is no substantial proof in history which can establish that Tipu Sultan introduced Salaam Aarti in the temples of Karnataka, but there are plenty of clear hints. “There are some inscriptions on the pillars in Cheluvanarayana Swamy Temple in Melukote which say the ritual was introduced by Tipu, but those are yet to be substantiated,” Gururaj said. “There are also folk songs, Lavani, sung in Karnataka which praise Tipu Sultan and mention that it was Tipu who introduced Salaam Aarti, Salaam Mangalaraati and Deevatige Salaam in the temples of the region that he governed.”

“Tipu Sultan was a secular king which may be the reason he introduced the concept of Salaam Aarti. The other reason could be that it wasn’t Tipu who introduced it himself but when he was fighting the British, his well-wishers introduced the ritual in temples to pray that Tipu and his forces emerge victorious,” Gururaj told The Federal.

There is definite proof that Tipu was a devotee of Sringeri Mutt. In 1791 AD, Tipu Sultan gave protection to the mutt and its pontiff when Sachidananda Bharathi came under attack from the Maratha army. Owing to attack from Marathas, Sachidananda Bharathi went into hiding at Karkala in Udupi. But after the attack, Tipu Sultan not only brought back Bharathi to Sringeri but also offered donations in huge amounts to the mutt. He even got a sandalwood idol of Sharada consecrated.

“His secular credentials are proven by the fact that Tipu Sultan facilitated the Sahasra Chandi Yaga for the welfare of the country,” Gururaj told The Federal. Gururaj believes that these acts where Tipu Sultan showed care for his Hindu subjects and their religious beliefs indicate that the Salaam Aarti was in fact a mark of gratitude towards him.

Centuries after Tipu Sultan’s death, Salaam Aarti continued in Hindu temples beyond Sri Mookambika and was part of the rituals in Melukote Cheluvanarayana temple, Kollur Mookambika temple and Kukke Subrahmanya temple among several others.

Devotees divided

People have been part of the aartis over years without any complaints. “I have been a visitor to Kukke Subrahmanya temple since childhood. It’s been close to 40 years and it never struck me as a Muslim ritual just because it was called Salaam Aarti. For me, salaam is used to greet people just like namaskara. I have no objection to it being called Salaam Aarti since my relationship with my god is beyond how rituals are named,” said Janardhana Bangera, a resident of Kokkada in South Kanara.

Not everyone agrees with Bangera though. “Why do we have to use salaam in a temple?

Whoever wishes to use the word can use it in their prayer halls or mosques. We have enough words locally in Kannada and Tulu so why do we have to use a foreign word from Arabic? The government is right in correcting this historical wrong. It is a move to save local culture,” said Karunakara Shetty, a resident of Kundapur.

However, even the word namaskara has Sanskrit origins and is not a local word in that sense.

“The word salaam is not a Sanskrit word, so the members of the Parishad made Hindu religious places use the Sanskrit words while performing poojas. So, there is no nativity and Sanskrit is not a local word. If the Salam word is changed, then they shall not use Sanskrit, but a local Kannada word for Salaam,” said Raju Achari, Chamarajnagar.

But the priest of Kollur Mookambika temple, KV Sridhar Adiga, feels the use of the word salaam is integral to the rituals at the temple. “In Kollu temple, pooja is held twice a day.

One in the morning and the other in the evening. Then there is a special two-day pooja during Pradosh [a bimonthly occasion on the 13th day of every fortnight in the Hindu calendar], which Tipu Sultan is believed to have participated in and so it has become customary to say salaam during the Pradosh pooja. It is just a belief that has lived through centuries,” the priest said.

“We have been performing this pooja for the welfare of the country,” Adiga added.

But Dharmika Parishad member Kashekodi Suryanarayana Bhat disagrees on the purpose of the ritual. “Salaam Aarti was performed seeking the expansion of Tipu’s empire. Tipu had used it as an act of subversion of the Hindu masses. Namaskara will be organised to pray for the prosperity of India and its people.”

According to Bhat, the word “salaam” was imposed on Hindus during Tipu Sultan’s rule. The larger Sangh parivar has been demanding the name change for quite some time.

In March 2022, the Vishwa Hindu Parishad (VHP) had submitted a memorandum demanding the name change. A delegation led by VHP divisional secretary Sharan Pumpwell visited the Kollur Mookambika Temple and submitted a request to remove the name of the Salam Mahamangalarati held in the name of Tipu every day at the Kollur temple and other temples across the state.

The memorandum said, “Kollur Mookambika Temple has a historic background and it is one of the 108 powerful Hindu peethas. Offering mahamangalaarti in the name of Tipu, the fanatic who is accused of killing thousands of Hindus and demolishing hundreds of Hindu temples, will harm the temple’s sanctity. This has hurt the sentiments of crores of Hindus. Offering mahamangalaarti as a ‘salam’ symbolises slavery. So the temple administrative committee and the muzrai department should consider the matter seriously and replace ‘Salaam Mangalaarti’ with just ‘mahamangalaarti’.

Even the Melkote Chaluvanarayana temple administration wrote to the Muzrai department seeking name change of Salaam Aarti to Sandhya Aarti.

Immediately after that members of the Dharmika Parishad also claimed that there is a lot of insistence from the devotees to do away with the use of the word salaam.

Later, senior Agama Pandits of the Department of Religious Endowments, agreed that the name of poojas will be changed.

Karnataka Home Minister Araga Jnanendra justified the decision saying, “The practice started in the era of slavery and it must change.”

Tipu: the tug of war

With assembly elections due in Karnataka in 2023, the move is also being seen as BJP’s attempt to appease its Hindu vote bank.

Tipu Sultan has, in fact, remained a point of contention between the BJP and the Congress in Karnataka. In 2015, the Karnataka government led by former Congress Chief Minister Siddaramaiah decided to celebrate Tipu Sultan’s birth anniversary on November 20 as Tipu Jayanti – describing the ruler as one of the earliest freedom fighters.

The BJP hit back calling it minority appeasement. While the Congress and Janata Dal (Secular) contend that Tipu Sulatan was a patriot who fought hard against the British. But the BJP considers him a tyrant who victimised Hindus.

Earlier this year, the BJP government in the state led by Basavaraj Bommai renamed Tipu Express, which plies between Mysuru and Bengaluru since 1980, as Wodeyar Express.

The BJP has openly promoted ‘Tipu Nija Kaansgugalu’ (Tipu’s real dreams), a play written and directed by Rangayana director Addanda C Cariappa, since it portrays Tipu as a communal ruler. The play is being shown statewide. Additionally, the government is changing school textbooks too with specific reference to Tipu Sultan.

Can the BJP offset the anti-incumbency amid allegations of corruption, rising demand for reservations and growing infighting by demonising Tipu Sultan and changing names of things and rituals associated with him will be revealed in 2023. But for now conches will blow, bells will ring and incense sticks will burn in Karnataka’s temples not as Salaam Aarti but Namaskara.