A Dravidian rationalist devotee from Tamil Nadu is seeking the blessings and favors of Lord Narasimhamoorthi, an Aryan God, may sound strange. Come January 31, a caparisoned elephant representing Tamil Nadu Chief Minister M K Stalin would go round the centuries old Anayadi Narasimhamoorthi Temple at Sooranadu in Kollam district of Kerala. According to Venugopala Kurup, president of the Narasimhamoorthi Temple, representatives of the rationalist and atheist Stalin has paid Rs 9,000, the customary fee for parading the elephant to take a round of the sanctum sanctorum of the temple. The elephant has been numbered six, to match with the lucky number of the chief minister, said Kurup.
Though Stalin is unlikely to make it to Sooranadu, his close confidante M Subramaninan, the health minister and hundreds of DMK activists from Tamil Nadu are certain to take part in the divine function, according to Kurup.
“This pooja is performed for seeking the Lord’s favors and to get cured of serious ailments. The persons who booked the pooja in Stalin’s name told us that they want the chief minister to lead the DMK to victories in all elections ,” said Kurup.
Though the temple management got phone calls reportedly from the DMK office in Chennai, enquiring about the details of the offering, the temple staff did not take it seriously and briefed the callers about the age-old custom and tradition. It was only when a duo from Chennai called on the department of Devaswam, they understood the seriousness.
“The Gajamela in the temple is a famous rituals and we have paraded hundred elephants in the past. But because of Covid-19 related restrictions, the number of elephants have been kept to a minimum. Though 500 devotees had booked for the offering, we convinced the sixth person in the list to give way to Stalin which he obliged without any hotch,” said Kurup.
Though Stalin is a rationalist, his wife Santa Durga is a devotee and visits all churches, temples and mosques praying for the health and success of the former.
The shots of Durga sobbing uncontrollably during the swearing in of Stalin as chief minister in May 2021 had gone viral in the social media.