Kamala Harris’s ancestral village in Tamil Nadu prays for her success
People from Harris’ maternal grandfather’s village in Tiruvarur district performed a special prayer for her and erected banners with her photos.
Democratic vice presidential nominee Kamala Harris who believes ‘everything is at stake’ in the American presidential election has strong support from her ancestral hamlet in a southern corner of Tamil Nadu.
On Tuesday morning people from Harris’ maternal grandfather’s village in Tiruvarur district performed a special prayer for her and erected banners with her photos. The authorities of Dharmasastha Temple and local leaders also offered as annadhanam (free food for the poor) idli-sambhar.
Senator Harris had said that idli-sambhar is her favorite south Indian dish which she relished during her childhood visits to Chennai with her mother Shyamala Gopalan who was born in the city. Harris particularly struck a chord with her roots when she called out to her ‘chithis’ (referring to a parent’s younger sister in Tamil) during her speech in August at the Democratic National Convention.
The village has been celebrating by conducting poojas and erecting flex banners ever since Joe Biden announced Harris as his running mate. “We want her to win. Her achievements are a pride for India and particularly our village,” said Arulmozhi Sudhakar, a local village head of Thulasendhirapuram, Painganadu in Tiruvarur district. Harris’ grandfather PV Gopalan was born in this village and her family has been offering donations to the temple.
In 2014, her aunt (Dr Sarala Gopalan, who lives in Chennai) donated Rs5,000 to the temple in the name of Kamala Harris.
“Every 12 years we renovate the temple and seek donations,” temple in charge S V Ramanan told HT. The remote village came to limelight after Harris’ historic nomination to US national office (as first African-American woman and first person of Indian origin) was announced. If Harris wins, Ramanan hopes it would draw more attention from the local government to channelise funds and improve the conditions of the village.
