Rajagopal's autobiography says Ramayana month observance only 36 years old

Thiruvananthapuram: It has been only 36 years since the month of Karkidakam of Malayalam calendar, has been turned into Ramayana month. The practice was initiated at a the Virat Hindu Conference held under the aegis of RSS in 1982 at Ernakulam. It was P. Parameswaran who put forward the proposal to line up all the castes in Hinduism in a 'Hindu Unity' agenda, as testified in BJP leader O. Rajagopal's autobiography, Jeevithamritham.

"Different castes of Hindu communities who were so far fighting each other for minor issues, sat together for Hindu unity. To maintain a sense of unity among the Hindus, Parameswarji put forward a proposal to observe the month of Karkidaka as month of Ramayana, as a ritual practice. The proposal was approved. A practice started at a humble scale, is now celebrated across the state like a public festival," Rajagopal's autobiography notes.

BJP's mouthpiece, Janmabhumi, has acknowledged this. A feature titled 'thus was born a month of Ramayana', published on 19th May 2017, points out that the Virat Hindu Conference Executive Committee took the decision to observe the month of Ramayana.

However cultural leaders in the state, including Sukumar Azhikode, and other organisations came out against theagenda of observing Ramayana month.

It was pointed out that Ramayana reading was a practice confined to savarna houses while backward communities were outside the convention. In the wake of Babri Masjid demolition, lecture series interpreting the diversity of Ramayana was held. Hence, Hindutwa agenda was put behind and Ramayana month observation got reduced to a routine.

CPM accuses that the new controversy regarding (the alleged CPM's) observation of Ramayana month is being created as part of restoring the lost agenda. A senior CPM leader told Madhyamam that the controversy is instigated with an eye on 2019 L ok Sabha polls and that it can be derived easily by probing the route of the news.