Centre files affidavit in Supreme Court seeking ban on Made Snana ritual

Mangalore Today News Network

New Delhi, Sep 14,2016 : The Union Government has filed an affidavit before the Supreme  Court seeking a ban on the controversial practice of Made Snana wherein devotees roll over leftover food on plantain leaves after Brahmins partake food, with the blind belief that such a ritual would ward off skin ailments.

It may be recalled here that this practice was in vogue at the famous Kukke Subrahmanya Temple where last year legally permissible Yede Snana was held in place of Made Snana.   Yede Snana is a practice of devotees rolling on the prasadam of Lord Subrahmanya served on plantain leaves.

As the issue of Made Snana is before the Supreme Court, the  Union Government which has filed an affidavit has said that `This practice was inhuman and superstitious."

But believers of this practice say no one is forced to perform the ritual and it was left to one’s belief.

But  the argument of the Centre is that "Such practices cannot be justified in the  name of religious freedom as enshrined in the 25th schedule of the Constitution.  "It may be a matter of one’s belief. Ultimately, the  dignity of an individual is more important. This practice is against Constitutional values, equality  and dignity of humans,’’ the affidavit.

 Apart from  Kukke Subrahmanya  Temple, Made Sana ritual  was also  practised in  the Neroor Sadashiva Brahma Temple in Karur district in Tamil Nadu.