Walk of Shame-Chandragutti

This subject troubled us deeply. And the blog comes in handy to express our views on the topic we feel strongly about. We chose not to mix this subject with the "Chandragutti" post for two reasons. Firstly, it would have been a lengthy post; secondly this topic demands a separate narration. The "subject" we are referring to is none other than Bettale Seve (Nude Worship) to Renukamaba Temple at Chandragutti. A Seve/worship is a form of service provided by the devotee to God/Goddess. As mentioned in our early post, Chandragutti holds an annual festival (Jatre) mostly in the month of March. During this period thousands of devotees used to partake in Nude Worship. The majority of the participants were women of Dalit-Bahujan Caste. They were conditioned to believe that by completing harake (vow) in this form will fulfill their wishes; if not they had to face the wrath of Goddess Renukamba and tragedy will ensue in a most unexpected way. So, the worshipers used to take bath in Varada river and walk towards the temple situated at distance of 4 kilometers on foot. A few men and non-dalits perform too, but the count is minimal.

Legend: Renuka, wife of sage Jamadagni had the gift to collect water in unbaked pots (even sands) by the power of her chastity. One day while returning home from collecting water, she saw a gandharva (male nature spirit/excellent singers) taking bath in river and she was sexually attracted to him. She immediately lost her magical power because of infidelity. Jamadagni learned about this and ordered his sons to behead her. The eldest four sons refused to budge. Parashurama, the fifth son decides to carry out father's order and chases his mother. While running, Renuka's clothes get torn from thorns in the jungle. Now completely nude, she takes shelter in a nearby cave embracing a Shiva linga and unifyig with it. However, Parashurama succeeds in beheading her. And he kills his four brothers at his father's command. Now pleased with his son's obedience, Jamadagni asks for a boon and Parashurama requests for his mother and brothers to be brought back to life, which Jamadagni obliges. 

  

Another myth goes something like this. Renuka had a maid named Mathangi. Before embarking on a journey to kill all the Kshatriyas (warriors), Parashurama asks Mathangi's son, Beerappa to take care of his mother. But, Beerappa turns out to be a lecherous man and tries to molest Renuka. Now Mathangi saves Renuka and offers her clothes to cover up. The folklore of Mathangi being the protector is essential to the bettale seve at Chandragutti. Devotees visit Mathangi shrine, close to Renukamba temple after taking a dip in Varada River, where they are given new clothes.

In 1986, Dalit Sangharasha Samithi, NGOs, and women's organizations opposed the Bettale Seve. The activists tried to stop the worship at Varada River where women were getting naked. This angered supporters of temple priests and they joined hands with anti-social thugs to thrash the activists. They went berserk, stripping policewomen and forcing them to walk towards the temple in nude. The incident was widely covered by the media and forced the Karnataka government to pass a prohibitory order under section 35 of the Karnataka Police Act 1963. "Under the section, which grants the state the ‘power to prohibit certain acts for prevention of disorder’, the state disallowed any public congregation within a five-kilometer radius of the temple". They made it clear "Bettale seve is illegal, practicing the same can put them behind the bars.

A committee appointed by the government investigated the case and came to the conclusion that there is no such sanction in Hinduism for Bettale Seve. In 1989, it is said for every thousand devotees, 1500 thousands police and home guards were positioned to prevent any untoward incident. Now nude worship has been strictly prohibited.

A local man narrates how thousands of men used to gather around the temple to catch a glimpse and leer at naked women. We cannot believe such inhuman and backward ritual was in practice just 30 years ago. Brandishing religion to instigate fear in mankind is an old technique practiced and it is still at large. It is impossible to change the mindset of people who were conditioned to believe in certain rituals. They fail to understand the exploitation of upper caste or patriarchal society. While sitting outside the temple, we could only imagine and be sympathetic towards the fellow human beings who had to go through this walk of shame years together. We were ashamed to say we live in a civilized society where three-fourth of population is oppressed by blind beliefs, bigotry, caste-system, patriarchy, and hypocrisy.  

We will leave you with a brilliant Kannada poem written by Mudnakudu Chinnaswamy, which was translated by Prof. Rowena Hill.

"The usual male priest

was praying to the deity – right, mother?

"The whole time I'm inside the sanctum,

the life in me is rotting away,

I have no entertainment," he said.

Ellamma appeared to him –

"Ask your heart's desire", she said.

"Once a year at your festival

the womenfolk should go naked

in your presence. The whole body

should be revealed to us,"

he replied.

"Granted," said Ellamma, and holding

her sari tight around her,

she climbed the hill.

In this way

an atrocity

was sanctioned by the gods and became

"service in the nude"