How Karnataka’s maths replicate the interaction of energy, piety, and politics
Rising like a mesa amid the flat and arid countryside that surrounds it, Yettappa’s Hill looms ominously as one approaches it by slender and dusty mud tracks surrounded by fields of groundnut and corn some 15 km from Challakere city in Chitradurga district in central Karnataka. Atop the hill is a shrine to Yettappa, the deity of the Kadu Golla group, and the climb to the highest is thru a rocky goat path. Consistent with the group’s beliefs, there isn’t any anthropomorphic sculpture or illustration of Yettappa; as a substitute, a collection of granite stones positioned vertically in a semicircle, and festooned with recent marigold garlands, reveal the religious significance of the positioning.
“Yettappa is essential for us and we need to set up a gurupeetha (a math led by a guru) at this location,” mentioned Boodihalli Rajanna, the Challakere taluk president of the Kadu Golla Sangha (KGS) as he accomplished a quick ritual on the shrine which was open to the weather however for the quilt offered by a lone tree. A couple of days earlier, KGS members from throughout Karnataka had gathered right here to debate points dealing with the group. On the occasion, the Sangha’s State president, Rajanna (no relation to Boodihalli Rajanna) mentioned, “A number of castes throughout Karnataka have their very own gurupeethas. For the Kadu Gollas, the pilgrimage centres of Yettappa and Junjappa are akin to gurupeethas and due to this, we should develop Yettappa’s Hill and make it a gurupeetha.” He added, “Our group has tribal traits and now we have been struggling to get Scheduled Tribe standing for a few years. There are efforts to divide the group however we must always unite and be certain that this demand is fulfilled.”
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Based on Rajanna, there are 1,250 Kadu Golla hattis (unique settlements) throughout Karnataka, most of them in Tumakuru and Chitradurga districts. These settlements on the periphery of villages have helped protect the distinctive cultural world of the group. Their settled counterparts are the Ooru Gollas. In Kannada, ooru means village and kadu means forest. The Gollas (each Ooru Gollas and Kadu Gollas) are labeled as a Backward Caste and are a part of Class 1, signifying their “most backward” standing.
A battle for SC, ST standing
Over the previous few many years, varied communities throughout the nation have been striving to realize Scheduled Caste and Scheduled Tribe standing buoyed by the concomitant advantages that such a tag would safe for these caste and tribal teams. Whereas such negotiations are a part of India’s social realpolitik and symbolise the success of its deep democracy, Rajanna, in his assertion, attracts a hyperlink between the institution of a gurupeetha or mathto the group’s demand for ST standing. Different communities in Karnataka too have used the establishment of the mathematics to additional their political agendas however haven’t related the 2 within the blunt method that Rajanna has executed.
Kudalasangama Panchamasali Peetha Pontiff Sri Jaya Mruthyunjaya Swami with members of the Panchamasali Lingayat group throughout a protest to demand inclusion within the 2A reservation class, in Bengaluru in 2021.
| Picture Credit score:
Murali Kumar Ok.
This linkage shall be acquainted to individuals who have carefully adopted the distinctive improvement of assorted caste maths, or mathas, in Karnataka, even by teams that didn’t have such a practice or tradition. On the face of it, the maths are established to entrench a caste’s religious practices and supply a locus for worship, however students have additionally identified that they’ve develop into areas to astutely additional the group’s pursuits. Thus, the mathematics and the guru who heads it are sometimes enmeshed within the pursuit of energy and in negotiating on behalf of the group with the State.
An historic historical past
Mathshave an historic historical past within the Karnataka area, with the oldest ones, arrange and patronised by Brahmin subcastes, going again greater than a millennium. The Sringeri Math, or Sringeri Sharada Peetham, in Chikkamaggaluru district is alleged to have been based by Adi Shankaracharya, the eighth century Vedic philosopher-saint. Followers of different distinguished Brahmin saints similar to Ramanujacharya and Madhwacharya, who belonged to or traversed the area, additionally based maths to unfold the Vedic philosophies of their gurus and contributed to the sharpening of the prevailing cleavages between these Brahmin subcastes.
Within the twelfth century, Basavanna and his friends, the vachana writers, emerged as trailblazers in north-eastern area of present-day Karnataka with their radical creed that opposed Vedic caste stratification. For this, the Lingayats, as Basavanna’s followers got here to be recognized, have been persecuted and the motion nearly collapsed earlier than it was resuscitated in later centuries. The Lingayat maths performed an important position on this revival to the extent that the establishment of the mathematics is now intrinsically recognized with the Lingayat group in Karnataka. The matadipathi, orpontiff, emerged as a robust and influential group chief and probably the most well-known Lingayat maths have had an unbroken lineage of gurusdown the centuries. Some established Lingayat mathsembrace the Siddaganga Math in Tumakuru, Tontadarya Math in Gadag, Suttur Mutt in Mysuru, and Murugha Math in Chitradurga.
Members of the Kadu Golla group in prayer atop Yettappa’s Hill.
| Picture Credit score:
Vikhar Ahmed Sayeed
This was the scenario till the linguistic reorganisation of states in 1956 when Kannada-speaking territories have been merged to kind Mysore (as Karnataka was recognized till 1973). The incorporation of territories from the erstwhile Bombay Presidency and the Hyderabad princely State with the Mysore princely State meant that the Vokkaligas, the big peasant group dominant in south Karnataka, contiguous with the Mysore princely State, have been overwhelmed politically by the Lingayats within the newly shaped province of Mysore. Chafing at this flip of occasions, within the Seventies the Vokkaliga group coalesced across the Adichunchanagiri Math situated in Mandya district, which helped unify the group and catalyse its pursuits.
B.L. Shankar is a veteran politician who’s now within the Congress. In a public dialogue earlier this yr, he mentioned, “After the unification of Karnataka, Vokkaligas couldn’t develop into Chief Ministers and there was a concern that Vokkaligas would lose political energy to the Lingayats. It was within the Seventies and early Eighties that Balagangadharanatha Swamiji, who was the top of Adichunchanagiri Math, began figuring out with Vokkaliga politicians and mobilising them.”
Highlights
- Over the previous few many years, varied communities have been striving to realize Scheduled Caste and Scheduled Tribe standing buoyed by the concomitant advantages that such a tag would safe for these caste and tribal teams.
- Mathshave an historic historical past within the Karnataka area, with the oldest ones, arrange and patronised by Brahmin subcastes, going again greater than a millennium.
- Someday within the Nineties, the Lingayat pontiff of the Murugha Math, Shivamurthy Murugha Sharanaru, started to supply deeksha (the initiation course of amongst Lingayats) to novitiates from backward castes and even Dalits. After this era, maths mushroomed in Karnataka.
- When elections strategy, politicians throughout get together strains make a beeline to the maths to hunt the blessings of the pontiffs.
Mushrooming of maths
Someday within the Nineties, the Lingayat pontiff of the Murugha Math, Shivamurthy Murugha Sharanaru, started to supply deeksha (the initiation course of amongst Lingayats) to novitiates from backward castes and even Dalits. The Japanese scholar Aya Ikegame studied this train and wrote that the mathematics’s pontiff “started to provoke disciples from decrease castes, in addition to Dalits and Adivasis… and inspired them to start out their very own maths”.After this era, maths mushroomed in Karnataka with varied decrease castes organising themselves round their very own math.
Pontiff of Adichunchanagiri Mutt Sri Nirmalanandanatha Swamiji speaks at a protest by farmers’ outfits in Mandya. He prolonged his help to the continuing agitation in opposition to the discharge of Cauvery water to Tamil Nadu.
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By Particular Association
Ok. Kariswamy, a Kannada freelance journalist, mentioned the Devangas (weavers) have been the primary to arrange their very own math, adopted by different backward caste communities similar to Kurubas (shepherds), Valimikis (traditionally hunters), Upparas (salt makers), Lambanis (nomadic tribe labeled as Scheduled Caste in Karnataka), Madivalas (washermen), Madigas (Dalit subcaste), and Vishwakarmas (goldsmiths).
Kariswamy chronicled this wave in 2000, and since then different backward castes and subcastes have arrange their very own maths, and having one is now essential within the journey of cohering a caste. Many just lately shaped maths declare historic and legendary vintages which might be typically fictional however nonetheless pivotal within the strategy of the caste’s identification formation. The maths mushroomed so quick that there isn’t any genuine rely of their quantity now.
The Kadu Gollas’ want to ascertain a gurupeetha should, subsequently, be situated on this lengthy trajectory of mathsin Karnataka. There may be already a Golla math in Chitradurga, which has nascent connections with the Yadava, or cowherd, group of North India. This math was patronised by each the Ooru Gollas and the Kadu Gollas up to now, however the Kadu Gollas resented their group’s subsumption throughout the broader Golla identification. So, having their very own gurupeetha is seen as the easiest way to set themselves aside, protect their tribal traits and distinctive cultural practices, and bolster their declare for ST standing.
A Kadu Golla farmer rides his motorbike with Yettappa’s Hill within the background. The Kadu Golla group’s holy web site is situated round 15 km from Challakere in Chitradurga district.
| Picture Credit score:
Vikhar Ahmed Sayeed
No person denies the deep connection between politics and the maths and their pontiffs in Karnataka. For the reason that late Eighties and Nineties, the backward caste maths have develop into representatives of their group, giving its members, who was once ignored by well-established theologians and politicians of the dominant castes, the possibility to advance their worldly pursuits. The gurus are handled reverentially by the identical individuals who didn’t respect them up to now. The extent of energy every math can get for its members is perhaps unclear, however the pontiff is assured a seat on the bargaining desk.
There may be additionally one other form of aspiration at play. A few of the marginalised caste maths aspire to succeed in the standing of the extra established Lingayat and Vokkaliga maths, that are sprawling, rich establishments that run a bunch of academic establishments and hospitals, with their affect equalling that of the State within the small cities. Most of the older maths have an amazing monitor report of social service, however they’ve additionally gathered financial clout alongside religious cachet and political connections.
Former Chief Minister B.S. Yediyurappa was the primary main chief who explicitly acknowledged and took benefit of this connection between maths and politics when he straight doled out budgetary grants for Lingayat mathsthroughout his tenure as Chief Minister between 2008 and 2011, and to a lesser extent throughout his stint as Deputy Chief Minister between 2006 and 2007. The façade of the invisible line that divided faith and politics was emphatically damaged, nevertheless it paid dividends. The pontiffs faithfully stood by Yediyurappa at any time when his Chief Ministership was threatened.
Election blessings
When elections strategy, politicians throughout get together strains make a beeline to the maths to hunt the blessings of the pontiffs. This was seen through the Meeting election earlier this yr and can recur earlier than the Lok Sabha election subsequent yr. Whereas students contend that the maths’ skill to sway votes is exaggerated, politicians want to play it protected.
In 2018, then BJP Nationwide President Amit Shah after which BJP Karnataka State President B.S. Yediyurappa meet Shivakumara Swami, then chief pontiff of Siddaganga Mutt, in Tumakuru.
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PTI
Earlier this yr, Karnataka noticed how influential these pontiffs might be when Nirmalanandanatha Swami of Mandya’s Adichunchanagiri Math forbade BJP politicians from spreading the pretend historical past of two Vokkaliga troopers killing Tipu Sultan in 1799 through the Fourth Anglo-Mysore Battle. This fable, created over the previous few years, acquired a patina of fact after being repeated by BJP politicians however was not repeated after the pontiff’s curt rebuke. Seers of maths additionally get routinely concerned in modern politics once they lead agitations that demand a rise in reservation to learn their caste members.
Students have additionally identified the delicate affect that maths have had on Karnataka society. First, the formation of maths has elevated caste consciousness within the State, emphasising the prevailing fractures inside society. As caste members coalesce round a math and its pontiff, they start to privilege their variations with different castes. Second, the formation of a math helps within the strategy of Sanskritisation that aids merging with a broader Hindu identification. “Sanskritisation” is a time period propounded by the sociologist M.N. Srinivas referring to the method by which decrease castes search upward mobility by mimicking the rituals and practices of the higher castes.
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Aditya Bharadwaj, a Bengaluru-based journalist, recalled that in 2022 Training Minister B.C. Nagesh within the earlier BJP authorities held a gathering with Hindu seers, and one of many Brahmin seers mentioned that solely satvik meals (vegetarian meals with out onion and garlic) needs to be served in colleges and no eggs needs to be offered. “Madara Chennaiah, a Dalit pontiff, didn’t object to the assertion. This exhibits that these maths function inside a form of Brahminical framework, which they communicate to the group,” he mentioned. Due to this fact, the aspirational rise in social hierarchy that the brand new maths envisage additionally results in adjustments in cultural practices throughout the group when these gurus start to imitate the non secular rituals of the dominant caste.
Based on Kariswamy, there was nothing “revolutionary” or “progressive” in Shivamurthy Murugha Sharanaru’s encouragement of backward castes to kind their very own maths within the Nineties. “None of those gurus have something to do with Basava’s anti-caste philosophy; they carry out privileged caste rituals and play down their very own wealthy non-Sanskritic tradition. These maths are solely catalysing the Sanskritisation of the backward castes.” The Dalit poet Siddalingaiah, who handed away in 2021, as soon as remarked on the brand new maths: “The backward castes had the liberty to assume progressively as a result of that they had no maths. As an alternative of letting our friendships, schooling, books, and movies form our personalities, we are actually letting the maths do it.”
Again on Yettappa’s Hill, chatting with the Kadu Golla leaders, it turns into clear that they haven’t thought by the varied cultural questions that the formation of a gurupeetha will increase. For them, the mathematics fulfils an instrumental objective, which is to bolster their demand for recognition as a Scheduled Tribe. Their single-minded objective exhibits how essential the establishment of the mathematics has develop into within the politics and society of Karnataka.
