Made Snana - An Obnoxious Ritual

This is an age old ritual being practiced every year on the Sixth day of the Margashira month ( i.e Shasthi ) that  generally  falls in early December in Dakshina Kannada districts of Karnataka.

This ritual is more popular at Kukke Subramanya, a temple dedicated to Lord Subramanya where it is practiced for 3 days while at at Udupi Sri Krishna Mutt & Vasuki Subrahmanya Temple, near Udupi it is done for a day.

The ritual at Kukke

The ritual is as follows, firstly Brahmins are served food on plantain leaves. After they have had their food, the Dalits including men , women and children roll over plantain leaves with leftover food on it under the belief that it would enable them to get rid of physical, mental and financial difficulties, It is even believed to cure one of skin diseases, I  would rather believe that  it aggravates it!

Many people have been clamouring for banning this obnoxious ritual. The District Administration was also inclined to do away with this detestable practice but dragged its feet before  finally giving  in to purported ‘religious sentiments of the devotees’. This ritual in fact has the support of the State Minister besides many seers of the various mutts. The protests this year have resulted in the protestors being assaulted.

In my opinion it is a loathsome ritual that makes a mockery of the dignity and self respect of vast sections of people under the erroneous belief based on superstition .The  ritual  is totally out of sync with the changed social order . It is hygienically repugnant, socially abominable and morally untenable. The banning of it does not brook any delay and the government should pass a rule forthwith putting an end to it once and for all.