Made Made Snana
# Made Made Snana

Made Made Snana (ಮಡೆ ಮಡೆ ಸ್ನಾನ), also Made Snana, is a religious practice observed in some Hindu temples of Karnataka.

## Practice

Temples in South India, hold communal meals for people of all sects, during special religious occasions. These meals, are typically of the traditional South Indian variety, where Hindu people are served food over plantain leaves on the temple floor. The ritual of Made Made Snana involves devotees rolling over the plantain leaves, once food has been partaken by Brahmins. The devotees then take a holy dip in the nearby Kumaradhara River, after which the ritual is said to be complete. The practice is said to be more than 500 years old.

It is believed that the ritual rids one of bad Karma, skin diseases and other ailments. Devotees say it is good stress relief.

Made Made Snana was predominantly practiced on certain festive days in Subramanya temples of Karnataka, but has also been performed at vaishnavite places such as the Krishna Math, Udupi. The practice is actively practiced in the Kukke Subramanya Temple, and in the Subramanya temples of Kalavara, Kundapura Taluk and Ramanathapura, Hassan District.

The Supreme Court of India has stated the Karnataka High Court order allowing such rituals to continue. Since the conventional Made Made Snana is now illegal, a modified version known as "Ede Snana", in which devotees roll over "prasada" (food offered to the deity) or consumed by cows is still practised.

## Controversy

The practice in the prominent Kukke Subramanya Temple has generated controversy in the State of Karnataka, where certain groups and individuals, including the State president of the Backward Classes Awareness Forum, K S Shivaram, who suggested that the practice symbolizes slavery, are demanding a ban, calling it a campaign against “blind beliefs”. The practice is generally performed by Hindus of all varna, including the Brahmins. The protestors however claim to be campaigning against Dalit oppression at the hand of Upper-caste Hindus, especially the Brahmins. The groups claim to be protesting the casteism, superstition of the practice, and against the caste-based segregation followed during the communal meals. Udupi Matt's Pejawar Swami does support this superstitious act. It has also been reported that neither the Government of Karnataka, nor the Kukke Subramanya Temple administration endorses the continued practice of the ritual.

The imposition of a ban, however, has been challenged in the courts by the very community the protestors claim to be defending. It has been continually challenged in court by the Rajya Adivasi Budakattu Hitharakshana Vedike (ರಾಜ್ಯ ಆದಿವಾಸಿ ಬುಡಕಟ್ಟು ಹಿತರಕ್ಷಣ ವೇದಿಕೆ), an Adivasi (classified as Dalit) rights group, who have questioned the motives in banning a practice voluntarily undertaken by people from all walks of life:

It has also been reported that members from the forest tribe, Malekudiyas, who traditionally decorate the Temple Ratha for the procession, refused to do so, were the stay on the practice not lifted. Udayavani reports a member of the community as saying,

Not surprisingly, the practice continues to draw devotees from all over the state, while simultaneously drawing harsh condemnation on the Internet.

## Government action

The Government of Karnataka sought to bypass the courts by including a provision banning the practice, in the Anti-Superstition bill tabled -and subsequently dropped- in the Winter assembly of 2014. The legislation also included laws, which allowed the state to gain administrative control of Hindu Temples & Mutts over arbitrary transgressions.

