Leuva Patels take out processions in Saurashtra as Khodaldham inauguration ceremonies begin

Hordes of Patidars welcomed and cheered the procession on Nana Mava Road as chariots carrying idols of goddess Khodiyar and Hanumann passed by. The procession included more than 40 tableaux depicting rural life of Patidars, gods and goddesses, Sardar Vallabhai Patel and some based on themes of saving the girl child etc. Thousands of bikers also joined the procession as mobile DJs kept them company. The enthusiasm among the youth was palpable as they rode on the roof and even windscreens of their cars while other dangled precariously form doors of their cars. They shouted “Jai Sardar,” a slogan which has come to be associated chiefly with the Patidar quota stir of late as the those lining sides of the roads responded and cheers. There were also chants of “Jai Khodiyar” invoking the goddess.

Some stretches of the 150-feet ring road as well as around 50 km section of National Highway 27 beginning from Rajkot city to near Kagvad village was declared one-way to manage vehicular traffic. Around 7000 motorbikes, 3000 cars and scores of luxury buses, trucks and tractor trailers were part of the procession, which, organisers claimed was around 40 km-long. After around six hours, the procession culminated at Khodaldham, the temple complex developed by SKT in Kagvad village. The temple has been built at the cost of around Rs 60 crore, say SKT office-bearers.

Similar processions of other 19 were also taken out simultaneously from Amreli, Bhavnagar, Junagadh, Gir Somnath, Jamnagar, Surendranagar and Vadodara districts also. They too converged at the Khodaldham where opening ceremony was held in the afternoon. On Wednesday and Thursday, 21 couples will take part in havan and on Friday, they will be joined by 1,008 others on Thursday as part of the pranpratishta mahotsav. The idols will be installed at their designated places inside the temple on Friday and temple will be thrown open to devotees on Saturday morning with hoisting of flag and performance of the maiden maha aarti. That will also mark the culmination of the temple inauguration ritual.

The foundation of the temple was laid in 2012 when Gujarat Assembly elections were held. It will be inaugurated in 2017 when the state goes to poll again. But the organisers have been claiming that the mobilisation of the Leuva Patel community for the temple inauguration is apolitical.

The series of ceremonies of temple inauguration began on the same day Patidar Anamat Andolan Samiti (PAAS) convenor Hardik Patel also returned to Gujarat after spending six months outside state as directed by the Gujarat High Court while granting him bail in sedition case. The leaders of PAAS and Sardar Patel Group, another organisation of Patidars have been trying to unify the Kadva Patels and Leuva Patels, the two sub-caste groups of Patel community since launching their agitation in July, 2015 demanding the community be recognised as other backward class (OBC) and be given attendant benefits of reservation.

While north Gujarat region is dominated by Kadva Patels, Saurasthra region, which is politically important is dominated by Leuva Patels. The temple inauguration is arguably the largest mobilisation of Leuva Patels in recent times. Kadva Patels too had got together for a similar cause when they inaugurated temple of their patron deity goddess Uma at Sidsar village in Jamjodhpur taluka of Jamnagar a few years ago.

Patidar quota stir had found support in Saurashtra also with Morbi emerging as epicentre in the region. On Thursday, Lalit Vasoya, Saurashtra convenor for PAAS said the Khodaldham inauguration did not impact their plans for receiving Hardik. “Pranpratishtha mahotsav is a five-day event whereas Hardik reception was an affair of a few hours. We had enough people from Saurashtra who accompanied us to Himmatnagar to welcome Hardik. People in 28 luxury buses, 14 mini buses and 380 cars came to Himmatnagar from
Saurashtra. But from Wednesday onward, a PAAS team will start volunteering at Khodaldham,” said Vasoya.

On the other hand, SKT secretary Hansraj Gajera also claimed that the Hardik event had no bearing on the pranpratishtha mahotsav. “So, far we have not received any reports of the Hardik return affecting our events. Ours is not a government programme but a religious and social event. Not only the procession from Rajkot but others from other districts were a huge success. At least five lakh people visited Khodaldham and had prasad (food offered at the temple),” he said.