Vellayani Devi Temple devotees set up an aid post for police officers on duty using saffron color fabric. This was in response to attempts by Kerala police to ban saffron color from temple premises. Locals alleged that communists and jihadis are trying hard to destroy the temple and its customs and rituals. They accused the Kerala police of helping these anti-Hindu elements.  

Vellayani Devi Temple comes under the Nemom police station on the outskirts of Thiruvananthapuram city. The shrine near Vellayani Lake is dedicated to Bhagavathi Bhadrakali. It is famous for the Kaliyoottu Mahotsavam, which happens every three years and is celebrated over two months (about 56 to 65 days). It is one of the longest Temple festivals in Bharat. 

Though festivities happen yearly, the Kaliyoottu Mahotsavam procession occurs once every three years. 2023 is one such year, and the spectacle begins today, Friday. Hindus from all over the state are expected to participate in the celebrations.

The festival celebrates the ferocious holy war between Kali Bhagavathi and the demon Darika. One of the main rituals of Kaliyoottu is the Thottam Pattu. It requires 48 days to sing the Bhadrakali Thottam Pattu altogether. The priest in the temple is from the blacksmith community.

A massive police presence is needed here to control the traffic and avoid untoward incidents. Abrahamics have long frowned upon such lengthy Hindu festivals and have often tried to disrupt them. 

As a protest against police high-handedness, Hindu volunteers built the temporary police shed using the color saffron and utilized similar decorations. Red carpets were also used so the police personnel could monitor the situation comfortably.  

Last day, Nemom police insisted saffron color not be used in the temple. Saffron flags have been banned since 2017. Local alleged that back then, communist Hindus brought jihadis who removed the saffron flags. Devotees did not want trouble during their temple festivities and have not erected saffron flags since then.

This year, police asked volunteers to remove everything saffron-colored while the decoration work was in progress. At first, Vellayani Devi devotees thought it might be part of the plastic ban. They had anyway arranged for decorations made of cloth.

Devotees were shocked when they contacted the police station. Officers informed them that it was not about the fabric, but the color was the issue! 

Strangely, the police also told them that nobody had complained. This meant that the police had arbitrarily devised this objection, allegedly to please their communist masters. Devotees reminded the police that saffron is used in all temples from Kanyakumari to Kashmir, but the police remained adamant.   

Incidentally, the same Kerala police have not moved an inch even after Kerala High Court asked whether the state government is mocking the high court by not implementing the orders to remove illegal flex boards and banners from public roads. The court said the authorities are trying to beat the court by delaying the implementation of its orders and warned that patience should not be seen as a weakness. These scathing comments came earlier this week, and the CPM puts up most such posters.

By then, decoration work on most premises had been completed. Arches made of saffron-colored cloth were erected for decoration. Police suggested they remove all this and decorate it with multiple colors. This was when Hindus understood that it was not the decorations that mattered but the color scheme.

A discussion was held between the police officers and the temple officials following the strange suggestion. Although the temple authorities said that a decision could be taken only in concurrence with the devotees, the police were adamant about removing the decorations. Local Hindus have donated lakhs of rupees for the festivities. 

The festival committee members said that the police asking them to remove the poles was unusual since they had not received a single complaint. They alleged that the administration was behind this evil move. Hindu bashing has become common, and the communists know the importance of saffron for the Hindu community.  

Saffron is a symbol of Hindutva. Devotees asked why there are such interventions only during Hindu temple festivals or against Hindu rituals and customs. Local Hindus are not happy with alleged police tyranny. 

There are several allegations against the temple officials themselves. Recently, authorities painted the compound wall and the temple premises red, but office bearers did not oppose or respond.

In early 2021, communists removed the Vellayani Devi Murthi from the temple and tried to carry it in the trunk of a car. Fortunately, the temple Tantri intervened and stopped the CPM workers, Hindu In Name Only (HINO) members of the governing committee, from doing so. Irate CPM workers then grabbed the Tantri and pushed and shoved him around. They claimed they had instructions from Devaswom officials and were taking out the centuries-old Murthi for ‘repairs.’

Devotees alleged that it is suspicious that the centuries-old Murthi was removed without even conducting a Devaprashanam. Usually, repairs to the Murthi are done inside the temple itself. Even though there are two strong rooms in the temple, the mystery remains that the CPM activists tried to carry the idol in a car and beat up the Tantri, who stopped them.

Following the controversy, BJP leaders intervened and protested. BJP State Secretary Adv. Suresh pointed out that neither the traditional Vahanakriya nor the Ashtamangalyadeva took place before removing the Murthi. He alleged that after the communists got a befitting reply following the Sabarimala controversy, the Marxist party set its sight on Vellayani Temple as its new target. 

In late July 2021, the murtis of the Kaipalliyil Nagarukavu – Madan Nada temple were destroyed, and unknown vandals desecrated the temple at Navaikulam in Thiruvananthapuram district. In April 2021, Popular Front of India (PFI) terrorists allegedly attempted to destroy Hindu rituals and communal harmony in the area by scribbling graffiti inside the Perunthra Bhagavathy Temple near Vamanapuram in Thiruvananthapuram. In December 2022, Andhra Pradesh natives celebrated Christmas by lighting candles inside the Thiruvananthapuram Sri Padmanabha Swamy Temple.

Are recent police atrocities a continuation of such attempts to destroy Hindu temples? Isn’t it high time since Keralite Hindus rescued their Temples from the evil clutches of the green/HINO communists?

Saffron is always discussed as the color that represents the Sangh Parivar. But many react without actually knowing the glory of the color saffron. It means the renunciation of worldly life, an integral part of Hindu philosophy.