The Kerala police has issued an order asking a temple not to use a single colour in the decorations. The incident happened during the famous Kaliyut festival at Vallayani Devi temple near the capital city. The Nemam police said in the order given to the secretary of the temple management committee that only one colour should not be used for the festival decoration and the decorations should be done in a politically neutral manner.
The 70-day-long Kaliyut Mahotsavam is celebrated as a grand celebration. It is customary to decorate all the areas that the procession passes through with flagpoles. Saffron-coloured flags are used for decoration during festivals not only there but in all the normal temples. Although the order does not specifically mention the color of the police, it is clear that the intention is that saffron alone is not enough.
The BJP alleged that the police’s strange response was to create trouble in the areas where the temple is located in the Thiruvananthapuram Municipal Corporation, which includes Kalliyur, Pallichal and Nemam. The Travancore Devaswom Board has been carrying out the temple festival beautifully for many years by an advisory committee democratically elected from among the devotees. But this year, even before the start of the festival, inappropriate instructions came from the police. The BJP alleged that the government’s interest in using the police to destroy the rituals of Kaliyut Mahotsav, which is celebrated by devotees as a whole, regardless of caste, religion, class, color and politics, is behind it.
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