1. Kanyakumari Devi Shila to Vivekananda Rock Memorial: Banasura, a demon by birth, once ruled the southern tip of the Indian subcontinent. A powerful king, he performed intense tapasya and sought the boon of immortality from Brahma. When immortality was denied, Brahma declared that only a Kanya Kumari (virgin girl) could kill him. Emboldened by this boon, Banasura grew fearless and unleashed widespread destruction. He conquered Indra, ousting him from his throne, and banished the devas from their divine abode. The devas—embodiments of nature’s primary elements, Agni (fire), Varuna (water), and Vayu (air)—became disorganised. Without Indra (ether) to govern the Pancha Bhootas, chaos engulfed the universe. In response to the pleas of the oppressed, Shakti manifested as Kumari at the southern tip of the subcontinent, a region later named Kanyakumari in her honour. She undertook tapasya on this Shila (rock) in the mid-sea, aspiring to marry Shiva at Shuchindram. As an adolescent girl filled with devotion, she won Shiva’s consent for the union. Preparations were made, with the muhurtam (auspicious time) set for Brahma Muhurtam, just before dawn.
Shiva began his journey from Shuchindram for the ceremony. However, the sage Narada, knowing that only a virgin goddess could slay Banasura, intervened. As Shiva’s procession reached Vazhukkumpaarai, Narada mimicked a rooster’s crow to signal daybreak. Mistaking it for the end of the auspicious time, Shiva returned to Shuchindram. Kumari, left waiting, felt humiliated and overwhelmed by grief, pain, and anger. In her fury, she destroyed everything around her, hurling food and smashing her bangles. Legend holds that the scattered food particles gave rise to Kanyakumari’s colourful sands. Regaining her composure, she resumed tapasya on this Shila (rock) in the mid-sea. When Banasura learned of Shakti’s presence, he travelled to Kanyakumari to claim her as his bride by force. A fierce battle followed, and Kumari vanquished him. After defeating Banasura, she revealed her true form as Parvati and reunited with Shiva. Her divine presence endures in the Bhagavati Kumari Amman Temple.
The goddess is deeply tied to the town of Kanyakumari, located at Tamil Nadu’s southernmost tip. The Vaishnava saint Vadiraja Tirtha, in his Tirtha Prabhanda, depicts Kanya Kumari as Lakshmi, who descended to earth to defeat Banasura. Devi Kanya Kumari is also mentioned in the Ramayana, Mahabharata, Sangam works like Manimekhala and Purananuru, and the Narayana (Mahanarayana) Upanishad, a Vaishnava text within the Taittiriya Samhita of the Krishna Yajur Veda. Thus, Kanyakumari has been a sacred Hindu site for millennia. It is believed that Swami Vivekananda swam from the Kanyakumari shore to this mid-sea rock, where he meditated for three days and nights, attaining enlightenment. Drawing on this narrative, the RSS, in collaboration with the Rama Krishna Mutt, sought to claim this Hindu sacred rock—where Maa Kanyakumari performed her tapasya—and transform it into secular Vivekananda Rock Memorial.
RSS leader Eknath Ranade was entrusted with overseeing the project. Upon its completion, it was inaugurated by then-President V.V. Giri in 1970. In 1972, the RSS established the Vivekananda Kendra in Kanyakumari, guided by the philosophies of Swami Vivekananda and Gandhi. Through these efforts, they have effectively taken control of this Hindu sacred site. 2. Sri Ramajanmabhumi: The Sangh Parivar’s actions elsewhere mirror this pattern. Their role in the Sri Ramajanmabhumi movement is well-documented: collecting billions of rupees from unsuspecting Hindus, turning the sacred site into a de facto Vishva Hindu Parishad (VHP) headquarters, and transforming it into a lucrative Temple enterprise destroying its sanctity.
Read: https://x.com/MNageswarRaoIPS/status/1733883733739282769…
Read: https://x.com/MNageswarRaoIPS/status/1746394023042969736…
3. Kashi Corridor Project: Similarly, in 2021, under the guise of the Kashi Corridor Project, the RSS installed a statue of Bharat Mata—complete with a map of India as its backdrop—within the sacred premises of the Kashi Vishwanath Mandir. Notably, Bharat Mata is not a traditional Hindu deity but a secular symbol of India, reflecting the RSS’s concept of Rashtriyata (nationalism).
Read: https://x.com/MNageswarRaoIPS/status/1555110041824284672… These representative examples highlight how the RSS has been repurposing Hindu sacred sites to promote its vision of territorial nationalism (bhaugolik rashtriyata). Isn’t this similar to how Buddhists in ancient times transformed Hindu sacred sites and Temples into their own Viharas and Temples, and how, since medieval times, Muslims demolished Temples to build Masjids and Mazhars on those locations?
