Writing about the recently-concluded Hampi festival, the SpIndian Express boldly asks:

Who’s the Charioteer?

The Hampi festival is an annual cultural extravaganza that began 15 years ago with the Hampi Ustav in 1995. This year’s festival holds a special significance because it marks the 500th year of Sri Krishnadevaraya’s coronation in 1509-10. But the festival per se is not what prompted this Indian Express piece. Among others, the real reason is that it is the BJP government that organized, oversaw, and ensured that it was a huge success. And it was a huge success no matter what the media wants you to believe. Thankfully, we’ve not yet reached a stage where we’re completely ashamed to even take pride in local traditions, heroes, and accomplishments to the extent that we disown them. Every tiny hamlet, village, boulder, hill, and cave in the remotest corner of India has what you call a sthala purana or local legend/tale/story. If you are the scholarly type, you typically dig into the authenticity, truth, historicity or otherwise of that sthala purana. But to the inhabitants of that hamlet, it is a living truth–it provides them the heroes they need, and gives them the values and ideals that guide their lives. To that extent, these legends, heroes, and artifacts are worship-worthy. You might with the might of your scholarship, prove that it is legend/tale/fiction but you can’t negate the real experience that’s wedded to the lives of these inhabitants. On the negative side, if your scholarship has ideological/political backing coupled with lung power, you’ll succeed not just in showing how amazing your scholarship is but, tragically, in destroying a generations-old value system that made people better people. It’s a different matter that your scholarship doesn’t provide an equivalent alternative.

Which is exactly what the Indian Express article sets out to do.

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