Made Made Snana

Made Made Snana (ಮಡೆ ಮಡೆ ಸ್ನಾನ), also Made Snana, is a religious practice observed in some Hindu temples of Karnataka. Made (ಮಡೆ) in Tulu Language refers to the left-overs after a meal, and the word Snana(ಸ್ನಾನ) in Kannada & Tulu means "bath".^[1]

Practice

Temples in South India, hold communal meals for people of all sects, during special religious occasions. These meals, are typically of the traditional South Indian variety, where people are served food over plantain leaves on the temple floor. The ritual of Made Made Snana involves devotees rolling over the plantain leaves, once food has been partaken by Brahmins and other devotees. The devotees then take a Holy dip in the nearby Kumaradhara River, after which the ritual is said to be complete.^[2] The practice is said to be more than 500 years old.^[1]

It is believed that the ritual rids one of bad Karma, skin diseases and other ailments.^[2][3]

Made Made Snana is predominantly practiced on certain festive days in Subramanya temples of Karnataka, but has also been performed at vaishnavite places such as the Krishna Math, Udupi.^[1] The practice is actively practiced in the Kukke Subramanya Temple, and in the Subramanya temples of Kalavara, Kundapura Taluk and Ramanathapura, Hassan District.

The constitutional status of the practice has yet to be decided in the Indian courts.^[4]

Controversy

The practice in the prominent Kukke Subramanya Temple has generated controversy in the State of Karnataka, where certain groups are demanding a ban on the practice,^[5] despite strident opposition from the very community the groups claims to represent.^[3]

The practice is generally performed by Hindus of all varna, including the Brahmins.^[3][6] The protestors however claim to be campaigning against Dalit "oppression" at the hand of Upper-caste Hindus, especially the Brahmins.^{[7] [8]} The groups protesting the practice include, the Karnataka State Backward Classes awareness Forum, and the communist party, CPI(M).^[9] The groups claim to be protesting, the "casteism". "barbarism" and "superstition" of the practice, and against the caste-based segregation followed during the communal meals. The Pejawar Swami has also expressed opposition to the continued practice of the ritual.^[10] It has also been reported that neither the Government of Karnataka, nor the Kukke Subramanya Temple administration endorses the continued practice of the ritual. ^[11]

The imposition of a ban, however, has been challenged in the courts by the very community the protestors claim to be defending. It has been continually challenged in the court by, the Rajya Adivasi Budakattu Hitharakshana Vedike(ರಾಜ್ಯ ಆದಿವಾಸಿ ಬುಡಕಟ್ಟು ಹಿತರಕ್ಷಣ ವೇದಿಕೆ), a tribal Adivasi (classified as Dalit) rights group, who have questioned the motives in banning a practice voluntarily undertaken by people from all walks of life:^[3]

"“People from Brahmin communities and people hailing from all other communities perform this ritual out of
  their own wish. It is a sort of cathartic communication with the supreme divine for many. The ritual should 
  never be gauged in terms of logic because it is a subjective matter governed by sentiments and belief system
  of the people performing it,” says Rajya Adivasi Budakattu Hitharakshana Vedike president Bhaskar Bendodi who
  has been fighting a legal battle to protect the ritual.
  
  He questions the intention of the intellectuals who remain silent throughout the year and plunge into action 
  against the ritual only when the temple is all set to organise it during three days of ‘Shashti’ festival."

It has also been reported that members from the forest tribe, Malekudiyas, who traditionally decorate the Temple Ratha for the procession, refused to do so, were the stay on the practice, not lifted.^[3][12] Udayavani reports a member of the community as saying,

"The Malekudiyas of the region refuting the charges of the intellectuals that atrocities are inflicted 
 on the Dalits in the name of the ritual, say that no dalit is put on a gun point by anybody to perform
 the ritual."

Not surprisingly, the practice continues to draw devotees from all over the state, while simultaneously drawing harsh condemnation on the Internet.^[13]

Government action

The Government of Karnataka sought to bypass the courts by including a provision banning the practice, in the Anti-Superstition bill tabled -and subsequently dropped- in the Winter assembly of 2014.^[14] The legislation also included draconian laws, which allowed the state to gain administrative control of Hindu Temples & Mutts over arbitrary transgressions.^[15]

The bill contrasts with the Communal violence bill of the Congress Party at the Centre, which if enacted, would've blamed Hindus by default for instances of communal violence, even though statistics support exactly the opposite.^[16] The Government of Karnataka, controlled by the Congress Party, has also failed to mention anything about the Homeopathic colleges, some of which are funded by the state government, nor was a ban on such colleges promulgated in the "Anti-Superstition" bill.^[17][18]

The Congress Party & its allies (which includes the CPI(M)), have therefore, been accused of causing social strife by raising needless anti-Hindu, anti-Brahmin sentiments for political gain.^[3][15] It should be noted in this context that the Chief-Minister of Karnataka, Siddaramaiah belongs to the Kuruba community, one of the dominant groups in Karnataka politics (the other being Lingayats); Brahmins form the lowest income group in Karnataka, and consequently insignificant in its political discourse. ^[19]

References