It is not news when Prime Minister Narendra Modi or Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) president Amit Shah visits a temple or seeks benediction from the head of a mutt. But when Congress leaders do so, it raises eyebrows. According to a Congress leader, party president Rahul Gandhi and chief minister Siddaramaiah have visited 12 temples and met swamis of the most powerful Shaiva mutts, including Sringeri Sharada Peeta and Siddaganga mutt in Tumkuru.

The Gandhi family has a deep-rooted connection with the 1,300-year-old Sringeri mutt, for both religious and political reasons. Rahul’s grandmother Indira and father Rajiv had visited Sringeri and met the Sharadha Peetha seer. But Rahul and Siddaramaiah did not see it fit to visit Udupi Krishna Mutt. The vedics in Udupi are perplexed about it. “We do not know why Siddaramaiah and Rahul Gandhi didn’t visit our mutt. In fact, we were expecting them and keeping our establishment ready for them,” says Vasudeva Bhat, a Madhwa community elder.

Over 400 years ago, Dalit singer saint Kanakadasa was denied entry into the Krishna temple and perhaps present-day Congress politicos think that this tradition is still prevalent in the Udupi Krishna temple. They couldn’t have been more mistaken. The doors of the temple were opened to all in 1953 and, recently, even Muslim leaders were invited to host an iftar meal at the Krishna Temple by Paryaya Pevajar mutt swamiji, to the horror of the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS).

B Ramanatha Rai, five-time MLA from Buntwal who is known for his support for minorities and is contesting the seat again on a Congress ticket, has taken up campaigning in Hindu areas and visited the Udupi Krishna Temple to meet the Pejawar seer in February.

Aggravating sectarianism

Whether we like it or not, religion plays a major role in influencing Indian voters. Social media is abuzz with stories about religious polarisation. But in reality, religious institutions often reflect the prejudices of their congregations and thus exacerbate the sectarianism that divides them.

“There is no need for the country to be apprehensive about the so-called erosion of democratic values because of the intrusion of religious identities,” says Prof Muzzaffar Assadi, the former head of the department of political science at University of Mysore and vice-chancellor designate of Raichur University.

“These fears are a passing phase, surfacing only during important events like elections. They are stoked by religious institutions including mutts, mosques and churches. In the past, they were asking the voters to vote for secular parties who can give good governance, but in this election their sermons, weekly prayer meetings and even jathras and poojas contain some element of politics.”

Rahul Gandhi with Karnataka CM Siddaramaiah and energy minister DK Shivakumar visits Sri Renuka temple in Yellamma Gudda.

Some see elections as an opportunity to establish long-term objectives. “The number of Hindus is dwindling and in a little more than 30 years, when Hindus will have become a minority, India might have its first non-Hindu prime minister,” warns Rajashekarananda Swamiji of Vajradehi Mutt of Gurupur near Mangaluru. “If the mutts and temples do not act now there won’t be much left to do, and this holds good for all other elections in the future. So, the support from Hindu religious institutions for Hindu-majority rule is a must.”

Politics of identity

To create public hysteria about the majority community becoming a minority in as little as 30 years (a demographic impossibility), the mutts of various panthas and sects have begun sending out youths trained in communication, verbal and through social media, to spread the message. The recent proposal to give Lingayats minority status has only contributed to this ‘siege’ mentality.

“Divide and rule is an old term. Things have gone beyond that, now it is the era of creating an identity crisis by giving different names to the sects of the same religion,” says Prof. Assadi. “The political masters then give them a solution to come out of the crisis and instantaneously the political leader becomes a hero for helping protect the identity of a particular sect within a larger one in the same community. This is what exactly happened in the Veerashaiva and Lingayat case. This is happening in all regions, in the old Mysore region with the Vokkaligas, Mogaveeras on the coast, Billavas and Bunts in the immediate hinterland.”

Mutts can influence at least 30 per cent of Hindu voters in Karnataka, analysts believe, which is a swing that all the political parties look for. “Karnataka has enlightened voters in the south, the western coast and in the cities who are not likely to be influenced by the mutts to a great extent,” says H Jayaram, a political researcher.

“We cannot say that mutts will influence the voters to vote only for parties promoting Hindu causes. There are mutt heads who have become ideologues of different parties. The Vokkaliga religious heads follow the parties that promise agrarian agendas, while the mutts of the Shaiva lineage decide their support based on the caste factor. With the emergence of mutts dedicated to other backward classes, Dalits, and backward classes have also played their role in pressurising the political parties into fielding the candidate of their caste.”

Mutts as power centres

Religious thinkers in Hindu mutts feel that the division of the religion based on Vaishnava Pantha and Shaiva Pantha was the root cause, as these two streams progressively divided on various facets of life including clothing, way of living, food and even education and health care. The mutts that belong to Lingayat, Veerashaiva, Vokkaliga, Brahmin, Goud Saraswat Brahmins quickly organised themselves into political groups.

This movement also encourages backward classes, Dalits and other backward groups to create their own mutts and temples. These religious institutions grew into political power centres through politicians who gave them credence and, in turn, used them to wield caste power. BS Yeddyurappa, HD Deve Gowda and his son HD Kumaraswamy in the present context and Veerendra Patil and S Nijalingappa share a common heritage in being successful Karnataka politicians who thrived in, and in effect promoted, this political-religious milieu. Siddaramaiah is following a well-trodden path.

Photos: Vatal Anand and Mallangouda Patil

(M Raghuram is a Mangaluru-based freelance writer and a member of 101Reporters.com, a pan-India network of grassroots reporters.)