'Bali tharpanam' ritual: Left leader urges voluntary outfits in Kerala to help devotees

As Malayalees are gearing up to perform 'bali tharpanam' ritual paying homage to their ancestors tomorrow, a senior CPI(M) leader from Kerala on Wednesday put out a social media post elaborating on the features of the traditional practice and urged voluntary service organizations to provide help to the devotees for the same.

The ruling party's Kannur strongman P Jayarajan, in the post on Facebook, said the 'Bali' ritual does not have any religious connections and it's purely related to the humans who have come molded through myths and the beliefs attached to it.

Humans might have various kinds of beliefs but some people are trying to ''confine them in narrow communal compartments'', he said, adding that society should be vigilant about such trends.

The senior Marxist party leader's Facebook post went viral on social media as it has a detailed account of the ancient ritual, performed by the Hindu community on the 'Karkidaka Vavu' day every year.

''Voluntary organizations should provide necessary services at all places where believers gather to pay homage to their ancestors,'' Jayarajan said.

He said such places should not be left only to those ''who wear the mask of service to hide their faces of terror''.

The word 'bali' means 'great sacrifice', the Left leader, who is also the vice-chairman of the Kerala Khadi Board, elaborated.

Cutting across gender and age barriers, people belonging to the Hindu community perform the traditional ritual on the banks of rivers and seashores across the state.

According to Hindu belief, departed souls attain ''moksha'' (liberation) if the ritual is performed on 'Karkidaka Vavu' day.

(This story has not been edited by Devdiscourse staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)