A young priest teaching Hindu scriptures to non-Brahmins has drawn the wrath of Brahmin groups who term the effort as a Vedic affront.
On November 12, Puthumana Maheswaran Nampoothiry had declared that he would impart Hindu mantra to all, irrespective of caste, colour, gender or creed.
The 24-year-old priest has initiated 144 people into the fold, presenting them with a sacred thread in a formal Upanayana ceremony.
Non-Brahmins outnumber upper-caste Hindus among his disciples, one of whom is a Catholic.
Mainstream Hindutva organisations like the Vishwa Hindu Parishad and the RSS-controlled Temple Protection Committee have endorsed Maheswaran Nampoothiry’s move.
But the Yoga Kshema Sabha, the once-progressive Brahmin movement led by the late Marxist ideologue, E.M.S. Namboodiripad, is up in arms, calling it a “proletarian gimmick”, while the Akshaya Kalapeetom has resolved to take the battle to the Supreme Court.
“Letting all and sundry perform sacred rituals would sap the Hindu religion of its essence,” said Kalapeetom president G.. Nampoothiry.
Maheswaran Nampoothiry, however, seems to have found favour with the general public. A section of the people fails to see it as an earth-shattering event as the Vedas do not discriminate on the basis of caste or lineage, there are some who believe that it is a velvet revolution in a revivalist society.
They call it the next best thing to happen to Kerala after the Temple Entry Proclamation in 1930 by the Chithira Tirunal Maharaja of Travancore, throwing open temples in south Kerala to untouchables.
The six-month course, comprising four steps, trains disciples in basic Hindu rituals. “It is one’s own interest that leads one to higher realms of Vedic gyan”, said Maheswaran Nampoothiry.
Many non-Brahmins hope the lessons will give them a passport to priesthood in the 1,300-odd temples in the state, including the famous hill shrine of Sabarimala in Pathanamthitta and the Sree Krishna Temple at Guruvayur in Thrissur.
However, there are some aiming for things higher. “It’s not just the job that lures me. Doors of wisdom have been opened to the underdog and given me an opportunity to reach excellence,” said Ramankutty, a clerk at the government secretariat.
According to G.. Nampoothiry, Brahmins are the only inheritors of Vedic wisdom. Non-Brahmins do not belong to the gotras, and what they have lacked for ages cannot be imparted through a crash-course.
“We are, therefore, against the radical move to dilute the Brahmin priestly lineage. It would be akin to letting the genie out of the bottle,” he said.
Maheswaran Nampoothiry cited last year’s Supreme Court verdict, striking down Brahmins’ exclusive claims to Hindu liturgy and rights to performing Vedic rituals.
The judgment had come on an appeal by Rajesh, a non-Brahmin priest employed by the Travancore Devaswom Board.
The Akshaya Kalapeetom is mobilising community opinion to challenge the verdict before a larger bench of the Supreme Court. G.. Nampoothiry has alleged that Maheswaran Nampoothiry’s prime motive is money.
Maheswaran Nampoothiry, who was threatened with dire consequences if he continued teaching Vedas to non-Brahmins, has had to seek police protection.
He said his next move would be to undertake a mass campaign to free the Vedas from the clutches of the Hindu clergy, “who claim the patent on Vedas”.
Maheswaran’s endeavour, however, is not the fist of its kind. In the 1970s, the late Gandhian, Easwaran Nampoothiry, had started a school. But it did not meet with any protest.