Ram Rajya vs Ram Rajya

An attack on a priest who wants to liberate temples from the government by a fringe outfit that calls itself the army that will establish Ram Rajya embarrasses the Hindutva camp

- Shahina K.K.

AT first glance, the Chilkur Balaji temple looks rather humble. There are no imposing walls or soaring towers—the temple features instead a medium-sized gopuram (tower-like gate) decorated with characteristic Dravidian sculptural elements and simple white-washed walls adorned with depictions of Hindu deities.

Many of the devotees are here hoping the deity’s blessings would help them go abroad, especially to the United States. Indeed, so popular is this belief that Venkateswara Balaji is now also known as the ‘Visa God’. Prayers offered at this temple are said to ease the visa application process. Some others have come seeking better health or to circumambulate the temple 108 times (pradakshina) to thank the deity after recovering from illness.

Along the pathway leading to the temple, vendors compete for attention, calling out to the passing devotees and persuading them to buy their coconuts for ritual offerings. However, unlike at most other popular temples, there are no VIP queues and no donation collection box (hundi).

The temple made headlines recently when the priest, C.S. Rangarajan, survived a physical assault on February 7 after a group of 20-22 men in black clothes who had saffron shawls wrapped around them barged into his residence. Besides asking for a hefty donation, they demanded that the priest hand over details of the visitors to the temple so they could be approached to sign up for the ‘Rama Rajyam Army’.

In a video that the attackers shot and shared online, Rangarajan can be seen facing verbal abuse and physical assault, while the gang’s leader and chief of the fringe outfit, Veer Raghava Reddy, is heard claiming to be a descendant of the mythical Ikshvaku dynasty, the ancestral bloodline to which Lord Rama belonged.