Gandhi denied entry into Kumari temple

The upcoming Gandhi Jayanthi will mark the 150th birth anniversary of Mahatma Gandhi, known as the Father of the Nation, who believed that everyone is equal and deserves equal rights and opportunities. But did you know that he was once denied permission to enter the inner shrine of a temple located in Kanniyakumari in 1925.

Gandhi was not allowed to enter the inner shrine of Bhagavathy Amman temple in Kanniyakumari, not because of religion or caste issues, but because he had visited a foreign land. The temple authorities cited his visit to England, as the reason and denied him permission. Records show that Gandhi offered his prayers to the deity standing outside the inner shrine.

Gandhi, who was in the princely State of Travancore (south Kerala) during his south India tour, visited the famed temple and articulated his anguish in an article in Navjivan, a weekly newspaper, Gandhi published. He wrote in the article ‘Darshan of Kanniyakumari’ (dated March 29, 1925), that he could circumnavigate the shrine but was denied permission by the man-in-charge of the temple from proceeding further.

“...Even there my happiness was not untainted by sorrow. I could make a complete circle, but I was not permitted to go to the inner shrine because I had been to England,” he wrote.

To many who did not know this piece of history, Kanniyakumari, located on the southern tip of the subcontinent, is a confluence of three seas: The Bay of Bengal, the Arabian Sea and the Indian Ocean. It was a part of Travancore kingdom during the colonial era and was merged with Tamil Nadu in 1956.

It must be noted that Hindus during the colonial period considered it a taboo to travel abroad and those who violated the belief, were denied entry into the temples in Travancore. Such people could only enter the shrines after performing special purification rituals.

The article, which began with a positive description of Travancore and its geography, concluded with an appeal that such practices should be removed and reminded that it was the duty of every Hindu to do so. An upset Gandhi stated, “How can this be tolerated? Could Kanniyakumari be polluted? Has this practice been followed since ancient times?”

“My inner voice cried out that this could not be. Moreover, if it had been, it would be sinful. That which is sinful does not cease to be so or become meritorious through its antiquity. Hence, I was more convinced that it was the duty of every Hindu to make a mighty effort to remove this stigma,” he further added.

Gandhi hailed the beauty and tranquillity of the place and mentioned that he saw the spot where Swami Vivekananda meditated.

Later, Travancore’s visionary king Sree Chithira Thirunal Balarama Varma, stopped the restrictions imposed in the name of foreign trips. In 1933, eight years after Gandhi was stopped at the temple, the king went for an extended trip overseas, including England, Belgium, Germany, Switzerland and Italy and met dignitaries like King George V in London and Pope Pius XI at the Vatican.

Four years later, the king invited Gandhi as a special guest at a function in Travancore to mark the historic temple entry proclamation, in which all the temples in the kingdom were opened to the lower caste Hindus.

K Ayyappan Pillai, then a young boy and 106 years old today, recollected seeing Gandhi during his Travancore visit in 1937. “I still get excited remembering that day...Gandhiji came and took part in the public function at the present University stadium here. Later, he visited the temples with downtrodden people,” said the freedom fighter and Gandhian.

The king’s proclamation, issued on November 12, 1936, covered 1,526 temples managed or controlled by Travancore. Gandhi again made a trip to Kerala five more times to the princely States of Travancore, Cochin and Malabar in the year 1920, 1925, 1927, 1934 and 1937.