Pathanamthitta to host another Sabarimala meet as political stakes rise

Just a couple of days after the Global Ayyappa Sangamam, organised at Pampa by the Travancore Devaswom Board, Pathanamthitta is gearing up to host yet another gathering of Ayyappa devotees at Pandalam on Monday.

Former Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) Tamil Nadu president K. Annamalai is scheduled to inaugurate the event, named the Sabarimala Protection Summit, at 3 p.m. BJP leader and MP Tejaswi Surya will also address the gathering.

According to E.S. Biju, spokesperson of the Hindu Aikya Vedi, representatives of over 120 community organisations will attend the event, along with members of the Sabarimala Tantri family and 25 other Hindu monks. The proceedings will begin with a seminar on ‘Devotion, Development, and Safety at Sabarimala,’ in which around 1,000 delegates are expected to participate. The evening conclave, he added, will see the participation of over 10,000 people.

Unlike the recent sangamam at Pampa, this event by Sangh Parivar-affiliated groups takes the form of a protest against what they term ‘attempts by the Left government to thwart the hill temple and its devotees.’

Pandalam Palace stance

This mobilisation by right-wing outfits draws clear parallels with the BJP’s political surge during the 2018 Sabarimala agitation. All eyes are now on whether the Pandalam Palace, which abstained from the Global Ayyappa Sangamam, will associate with this protest event. The palace had cited rituals following the demise of two family members as the immediate reason for not attending the Sangamam, while also expressing discontent over the non-withdrawal of cases registered in connection with the protests against the Supreme Court’s ruling on women’s entry to the temple in 2018.

Other community organisations such as the Tantri Samajam and the Yogakshema Sabha too have raised similar demands. It is still not known which of these groups will be present at the meeting on Monday.

Strong presence

Pandalam, a municipality in Pathanamthitta, is one of the only two civic bodies in the State currently ruled by the BJP. In the 2020 local body elections, the BJP won Pandalam largely on the momentum gained from the 2018 Sabarimala protests. The party, which commands a strong presence in and around Pandalam, had also retained power in Kulanada, a neighbouring panchayat, following a series of protests related to the Sabarimala issue.

It, however remains to be seen whether this latest round of mobilisation by the Sangh Parivar will enjoy the same traction today.