Pejawar seer supports any law against ‘Made Snana’

Pejawar seer supports any law against ‘Made Snana’

Mangalore Today News Network

Udupi, Dec 19, 2015: Vishwesha Tirtha Swami of Pejawar Mutt, the senior-most seer among the Ashta Mutts (eight mutts) of Udupi, said that he would support any law ushered in by the government to ban the practice of ‘Made Snana’.

‘Made Snana’ is a ritual where devotees roll over leftovers on plantain leaves on which Brahmins have had their meals. The Pejawar seer’s comments come in the backdrop of the ritual being performed by 19 devotees around the Subrahmanya shrine in the Sri Krishna Mutt/Temple complex on Dec 17, Thursday.

The seer told media  from Chennai where he is on the pre-Paryaya tour, that he did not support the practice of ‘Made Snana’.

Instead, he had suggested an alternative in the form of ‘Ede Snana’, where devotees roll over plantain leaves which have ‘prasada’ offered to the deity.

The practice of ‘Made Snana’ is common in most of the Subrahmanya temples in Udupi and Dakshina Kannada districts. But the ritual has faced a lot of opposition and also raised issues related to caste. “Hence, the practice of ‘Made Snana’ should be given up,” he said.

The seer, who would be ascending the ‘Paryaya Peetha’ at the 800-year-old Sri Krishna Mutt/Temple on January 18, 2016, for the fifth time, said that during his Paryaya, he would replace the ‘Made Snana’ with ‘Ede Snana’ at the Subrahmanya shrine in the Sri Krishna Mutt/temple complex.

He said he had no knowledge on whether the existing stay order by the court on the practice of ‘Made Snana’ was limited only to the Kukke Subrahmanya temple or was applicable throughout the State.