Kochi : The first ever Sopanam singer appointed by Devaswom Board, Vinil Dasan, was threatened by Sangh Parivar against singing the ritualistic song Sopanum at Sree Karthiyani Bhagawati temple in Cherallanoor, Kochi. Vinil experienced the brunt of casteism when appointed at the temple in July of last year.
Sopana Sangeetham are short notes sung by the steps(Sopanam) to sanctum sanctorum of the temple in accompaniment of beats from an hour-glass shaped ethnic drum. The RSS controlled Advisory Committee is believed to be behind the Sopanam incident, which was only the beginning of his ordeal there.
Vinil initially received a phone call that threatened him against an ‘untouchable’ singing Sopanam at the temple. When Vinil reported at the temple for work next morning, a couple of miscreants deflated his bike tyres and ripped opened its seat. The cloak and rest rooms of the temple were also locked out. This was followed by a volley of cast-based insults over social media. The police registered case against four Sangh Parivar men in the incident.
Still on probation, Vinil never took a day off from work until then. And yet, complaints were lodged with the Devaswom Board stating he stayed away from work for once and further that he was poor at singing Sopanam. As harassment from the Advisory Committee mounted, Vinil placed before the Board his own complaint in writing. A probe against this is yet to conclude anything.
In the meantime, the temple hired a former employyee on contract basis to handle activities related to the its annual festival scheduled between 5 Feb - 10 March. Alongside, the temple authorities asked Vinil to go on compulsory leave. The Asst. Commissioner intimidated him into signing the leave application, Vinil said.
As drama thus played out one after other, Devaswom Board stepped in, cancelled Vinil’s leave and asked him to resume work. Vinil has approached the High Court over the incidents. Vinil is son of Kaitharum Menopadam Kallikadan Dasan.
