Row over P. Jayarajan’s Kodungallur temple visit continues; BJP criticism meets researcher’s clarification

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Writer and researcher   Vinil Paul says CPI(M) person  P. Jayarajan’s sojourn  to the Kodungallur temple was being misrepresented arsenic  an enactment  of faith, portion    it was really  portion  of an ongoing probe   project.

Writer and researcher Vinil Paul says CPI(M) person P. Jayarajan’s sojourn to the Kodungallur temple was being misrepresented arsenic an enactment of faith, portion it was really portion of an ongoing probe project.

The contention surrounding Communist Party of India (Marxist) [CPI(M)] person P. Jayarajan’s sojourn to the Kodungallur Sree Kurumba Bhagavathy temple shows nary signs of easing, with the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) stepping up its disapproval adjacent arsenic a researcher has travel guardant with a elaborate clarification.

BJP person B. Gopalakrishnan, successful a Facebook station connected Wednesday, questioned the intent down the visit.

“No 1 has said that communists are barred from visiting temples. But wherefore spell secretly? Why ellipse the temple and connection ritualsthrough others without anyone knowing?” helium wrote.

He besides made a veiled notation to caller temple sojourn by caretaker Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan’s son.

Meanwhile, writer and researcher Vinil Paul connected Wednesday offered a sharply antithetic perspective, besides done a Facebook post. He said the sojourn was being misrepresented arsenic an enactment of faith, portion it was really portion of an ongoing probe project.

“The effort to represent the Kodungallur sojourn arsenic a spiritual pilgrimage is politically motivated,” helium wrote. “Mr. Jayarajan and I person visited respective temples arsenic portion of a survey to recognize however section deities and people worship practices successful Kerala were absorbed into the Brahmanical framework.”

According to him, the fieldwork spans aggregate districts and focusses connected temples that person historically resisted Brahmanical dominance. “This is not a one-time sojourn but portion of a continuing probe effort. I person accompanied him during parts of this fieldwork,” helium noted.

Mr. Paul added that sites similar Kodungallur are not simply places of worship but “historical texts” that uncover layers of Kerala’s caste politics, taste transitions, and powerfulness structures.

“Critiquing Sanatana dharma is not an onslaught connected believers. It is astir questioning humanities structures that justified caste hierarchy, inequality, and the marginalisation of women,” helium wrote.

As governmental reactions and world explanations proceed to collide, the statement astir Mr. Jayarajan’s sojourn has present expanded beyond a azygous incidental into a wider treatment connected religion, politics, and past successful Kerala.

Published - May 13, 2026 08:40 p.m. IST

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