Tamil Nadu Chief Minister M K Stalin has been named as the sixth devotee to offer a ‘ceremonial elephant parade’ in Kerala’s famous Narasimha temple, Pazhayidom Narasimha Swamy temple. The elephant parade is a temple ritual offered to Bhagwan Narasimha Swamy by devotees as an expression of their gratitude and devotion when their prayers are answered.
The ceremony will take place on January 30. The annual elephant pageantry at the Anayadi Pazhayidam Sri Narasimha Swami Temple is well-known for the grand display of eighty-odd caparisoned elephants, attired in their festival outfits, and the traditional temple orchestra. Due to the Covid situation, only ten elephants will participate in the ceremony.
The representatives of MK Stalin visited the temple and booked the ceremony by paying a sum of Rs 9000. Even though Stalin will not attend the ceremony, according to the sources, the Tamil Nadu state Health Minister will likely to visit the temple and participate in the ritual. MK Stalin’s name has been officially announced in the notice issued by the temple authorities, according to which he is the sixth devotee to offer the ritual this year.
DMK’s hypocrisy exposed
DMK is well-known for its atheism and iconoclasm. When Stalin took oath as Chief Minister, he refused to take oath in the name of God but did 'swear by his conscience'.
In Tamil Nadu, atheism began to gain popularity with EV Ramasamy. Later, it has become part and parcel of the Dravidian ideology. "He who created god is a fool, he who propagates god is a scoundrel, and he who worships god is a barbarian," said Periyar, who was the first known advocate of atheism in the Dravidian movement.
Following the footprints of EVR, Tamil Nadu state's first chief minister, and DMK founder, CN Annadurai, also upheld his atheistic credentials throughout his political career. However, he practised moderate atheism, somewhat different from EVR’s extremism. "I don't break coconuts to make an offering to Ganesh, nor do I break his idols," Annadurai famously said in Tamil.
DMK patriarch MK Karunanidhi was also considered to be a staunch atheist as he never missed an opportunity to abuse Hindu beliefs and hurt the sentiments of Hindus. "Who is this Ram? In which engineering college did he study and become a civil engineer? When did he build this bridge? Is there any evidence for this?" asked Karunanidhi while addressing a public gathering in support of the Sethusamudram project.
