‘Salaam Aarati’, ‘Salaam Mangalarathi’ and ‘Deevatige Salaam.’ Any Hindu devotee would find these words strange. But rituals with such shocking Islamic terminology do exist in several temples of Karnataka.
Now, taking note of demands of various Hindu outfits, the Karnataka government is soon going to say adieu to such Islamic terms used in Hindu temples. The government is going to issue an official circular to rename Salaam Aarati, a ritual started by Tipu Sultan, to Aarati Namaskara.
Shashikala Jolle, Minister for Hindu Religious Institutions and Charitable Endowments told the media that the Ministry will issue a circular to all the temples following this ritual.
End of Salaam Mangalarathi
Acting on the opinions of senior Agama Pundits, the department will rename Deevatige Salaam as Deevatige Namaskara, Salaam Arathi as Arathi Namaskara and Salaam Mangalarathi as Mangalarathi Namaskara. The rituals until now were being performed in the name of 18th century Jihadi tyrant Tipu Sultan.
Kashekodi Suryanarayana Bhat, Member of Karnataka Dharmika Parishat, said that the Islamic tyrant had forced names like ‘Salaam Aarati’ on temples. Since then, temples conducted these rituals for the welfare of the state administration. But, now onwards, it will be for the welfare of the people.
Popular temples of Puttur, Subramanya, Kollur, Melkote, and others in the then-Mysuru kingdom conducted this ritual. In future, this Aarati will be called ‘Aarati Namaskara’.
Tipu: Tyrant or Patriot?
The BJP government and the opposition have different takes on Tipu Sultan’s history. This current development is also in line with the BJP’s stance on the then ruler of the Mysore kingdom. The BJP has shown documented historical records to establish that Tipu was an “anti-Hindu” despot.
He murdered, pillaged and forced Hindus to convert to Islam. Tipu Sultan demolished numerous Hindu temples during his reign. He forced temples to conduct rituals with Islamic terms like ‘Salaam Aarati’.
While the Congress tries to portray Tipu as a “valiant hero” and “patriot” who lost his life resisting the British. The historical documents tell a different story. BJP has built its case on letters written by the tyrant himself. BJP counters that fighting the Britishers to save his own kingdom does not lessen his atrocities on Hindus.
