Mangaluru/Udupi: For the first time a fringe group has taken up a truly appreciable social work. At least a thousand volunteers throughout the state have taken up a task of ridding the Ashwattha Kattes (Peepul Trees) of discarded photos of the Hindu gods and goddesses, idols and relics. This strange custom of the Hindu society had irked the devout Hindus seeing the photos of the gods they worship being dumped by the roadside even though it is on the pedestal built around the holy Ashwattha tree.
According to the activists of Yuva Brigade (formerly Namo Brigade) the volunteers have gone from place to place in Bengaluru, Mysuru, Hubbballi, Dharwad, Belagavi and all the district headquarters in the state and cleaned up the Ashwattha Kattes and gathered the photos. “We have several truck loads of these photos, idols and religious items. The task before us now is to separate the glass and wood parts of the photos dispose them off in way that will not harm the environment, and give a respectable end to the depictions of gods and goddesses” Sripathy state coordinator of the campaign ‘Kana Kanadallu Shiva’ (Shiva in every particle) told News Karnataka.
Volunteer of Mysuru Radhakrishna said, “this is not the end we will start collecting such items from every home and deliver a message to each house not to discard their religious items by the roadside even if it is on the Ashwattha Katte which is considered holy place. There is nothing mentioned in the religious tenets of Hinduism that the weathered religious items could be discarded at the bottom of the Ashwattha tree or otherwise. We will create awareness about this uncivilised and non-religious act”.
The Yuva Brigade which has taken a statewide presence will educate the youth in rural areas to take up ‘Kana Kanadallu Shiva’ campaign in every village. The organisation will also begin a campaign against printing the photos of the gods and goddesses on the bags used for packing prasadams, which will begin at a later date the volunteers say.
