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N Sathiya Moorthy in Chennai
The participation of the Tamil Nadu Housing and Urban Development Minister C Durairaj in a bizarre ritual, in which children are first buried alive, then taken out and revived, has kicked up a controversy.
The J Jayalalithaa-led ruling All India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam considers atheism as one of its guiding principles.
The ritual took place at Perayur village, some 45 km from Madurai, from where the minister hails.
The ritual, which takes place once in seven years at the village temple dedicated to female deities Muthukuzhi Mariamman and Kaliamman, dates back to 400 years.
The villagers claim that there have been no reports of any casualties till now. This year 105 children underwent the ritual.
As per tradition, the child is wrapped in a yellow cloth after the family bathes him/her in 'auspicious' turmeric water.
The temple priest then sprinkles holy ash on the boy or the girl. The child is then buried in a sandpit already dug by the family, but formally identified for them by the priest. The priest then offers aarti (offering) to the presiding deities, and the child is then taken out from under the sand.
In all, the whole exercise from burial to revival takes only about a minute, but doctors do not rule out possible stoppage of blood to the brain, or choking under the sand.
The presence of the state minister brought the local media to the scene, who lost no opportunity in the playing up the apparently religious act of Durairaj, much to the discomfort of the Tamil Nadu chief minister.
Under the first Jayalalithaa government, ministers were known to have eaten 'sand' as food outside temples, and worn neam leaves, all to ensure victory and continuity for amma's rule.
Jaya's rival and Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam chief M Karunanidhi, during his chief ministerial stint, had pulled up a ministerial colleague, 'Anthiyur' Selvaraj for participating in a 'fire-walk' offering in 1996.
Incidentally, though Karunanidhi claims to be an atheist, his family members are known to offer prayers at temples.
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