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As polls near, Kerala politicians flock to this famous ‘hand’ temple
The legend is that after the 1975-77 Emergency, when former Prime Minister Indira Gandhi lost the election and the party symbol, the cow and calf, she chose one of the hands as her party symbol after hearing about the temple and stormed back to power.
Come election season, and the Emoor Bhagwati temple on the outskirts of Palakkad witnesses an unusual rush. Candidates and their hangers-on, even ticket-seekers, throng the temple to seek the blessings of the idol — two hands, believed to be those of Goddess Parvati.
The reason for the popularity of the temple goes back at least four decades. The urban legend is that after the 1975-77 Emergency, when former Prime Minister Indira Gandhi lost the election and the party symbol, the cow and calf, she chose one of the hands as her party symbol after hearing about the temple.
In 1982, after storming back to power, she visited the temple for thanksgiving and presented a big temple bell, said temple manager P Mohanasundaran.
One of the hands symbolises Goddess Parvati’s fearlessness and other, the ability to come out of any difficulties, said the manager, although he refused to name those who have been visiting the temple in recent days.
Going by the CPI(M)’s dialectical materialism, naturally, leaders of Congress and the Bharatiya Janata Party top the list of visitors.
It is obvious for politicians to throng the temple in trying times, said another official at the shrine. Also known as Hemambika, the temple’s goddess is worshipped as Saraswati in the morning, Lakshmi at noon, and Durga in the evening.
Besides Kerala, politicians from neighbouring Tamil Nadu, Karnataka and Andhra Pradesh also flock to the temple. The government’s Malabar Devasom Board manages the temple.
“For us the temple is part of our history. It is believed that former Supreme Court judge PS Kailasam and his wife Soundara Kailasam, also a Tamil poet and mother-in-law of former minister P Chidambaram, told Indira Gandhi about the temple and its legend. Gandhi then consulted party strongman K Karunakaran, former CM of Kerala, and decided to make one of the hands the party symbol,” claimed district Congress committee president VK Sreekandan. Gandhi visited the temple on December 13, 1982, he added.
Many politicians claim privately that a visit to the temple brings them luck. The district Congress committee wants Congress president Rahul Gandhi to offer prayers at the temple when he campaigns in the state.
