Buttermilk for religious harmony

Stall put up to promote religious harmony during Chithirai festival

Days after the CPI (M) announced that it would promote ‘religious harmony’ at temple festivals, its affiliated unit Democratic Youth Federation of India (DYFI), along with Tamil Nadu Minorities Welfare Committee, put up a stall to distribute buttermilk to devotees coming for the Chithirai festival in Madurai on Thursday.

Besides the DYFI functionaries, including its State secretary S. Bala, Minorities Welfare Committee district secretary K. Alauddin and Parish Priest of St. Mary's Church Mariyanathan Samikannu distributed buttermilk to the devotees who passed through the church on their way to Meenakshi Sundareswarar Temple.

“We felt elated when the devotees, dressed up like Lord Kallazhagar, got the buttermilk served by the Parish Priest,” said commitee vice-president U.S. Abudhahir.

Mr. Bala said, “Festivals are not meant to promote hatred, but only to share love and affection.”

Though it was not new for the DYFI to put up stalls to distribute water and buttermilk during the Chithirai festival, this year the federation made it a point to consciously organise it in a way that could reflect the “prevailing religious harmony among the people of Madurai,” he said.

During its recent 23rd State conference in Madurai, the CPI (M) had declared that it would support “secular people” to get into administrative committees of temples. Besides, it had said, it would organise cultural programmes to promote religious harmony at festivals to counter the dominance of Sangh Parivar at such events.