Kapala hill: The politics of a statue project

BENGALURU: An uneasy calm prevails at Kapala hill, situated adjacent to Harobele village in Kanakapura taluk of Ramnagar district, about 80 kilometres from Bengaluru where a statue project of Jesus Christ has run into huge trouble with Hindu outfits opposing it claiming the church will utilise the project to build on its religious activity in the region.

With Kapala turning into a communal flashpoint, the jurisdictional Satanur police are present round the clock and are monitoring the movement of suspicious persons. They maintain that five CCTV cameras too have been installed as a precautionary measure. Meanwhile, the huge cutting machine has stopped  work on the 114 feet tall statue of Jesus, being built at a cost of '4.75 crores and when completed, will be the tallest stone statue of Christ in Asia. Even workers have stopped work fearing a backlash. There is a conflict of opinion about the benefits the statue will bring; while local residents believe the project will help the region emerge as a tourism hotspot, the BJP and Hindu outfits assert that the church will utilise this to expand its reach in Kanakapura, which is part of the Old Mysuru region in Karnataka.

What is interesting to note is that there has been harmony all through in Harobele, which has a  3,500 strong population residing in 750 houses. In fact, it is difficult to distinguish between the Christians who constitute a big chunk of the population and the Hindus as all the women wear bindis, bangles, mangalya sutras and toe rings. Even Christian women follow the Hindu  tradition of shedding their bindis, bangles and mangalya sutras after the death of their husbands.

Asha, a Hindu explains that she had come to Harobele village 15 years ago after her marriage and does not know what conversion is. “Let there be a statue of Jesus, what’s wrong in it,” she wonders.

Reddy Balaraju, a local Christian is literally in tears at the mention of the controversy. “We have experiencing miracles after prayers at the hill. We feel our prayers are answered there. The statue of Jesus will not create a conflict among religious beliefs,” he contends.

Mary, a nun and a Kannada teacher serving in the school run by the church in Harobele, explains that as many as 2,000 students study here from Class 1 to 10. “No attempt was ever made to impose any religion on them. Students from all surrounding villages studied here,” she explains. Susheela, an elderly Christian woman adds that they are not scared of attacks and do not fear a backlash from the majority community because of the statue. “We can also organise people and fight. But, our God has taught us that if we are slapped on one cheek, we should show the other cheek,” she explains.

“All these years we did not know what discrimination was. Suddenly, we are told that we are Christians and cannot do certain things. We feel like we are outcastes. Don’t treat us like minorities, treat us like equals. Now I know the pain of Muslims, who are always targeted,” Chinnaraj, another local resident maintains.

 It was Father Lacerus who set up 14 stations symbolising the crusification of Jesus with stones and crosses in 1906 on the hill. Recently, villagers, both Hindus and Christians, built shelters to depict the last journey of the Lord. All the villagers gather near the hill on Good Friday and pray near each station.

Father I Antappa, in his book ‘The birth of Christianity in Kanakapura taluq and surrounding areas’ and B.S. Talawadi in his work titled ‘The history of Christians of Karnataka’ have mentioned that Harobele was a Christian village since 1660. The authors have quoted Jesuit letters  to substantiate their claim (communication from here to Rome).

Popular sculptor D. Vijikar has been assigned the statue project with Harobele Kapala Hill Development Trust seeking a soil report from Indian Institute of Technology, Chennai.   

Bhadre Gowda Rajanna, a resident of the neighbouring Mallalli village, sums up the prevailing sentiment in Kapala hill which is surrounded by Shivaladappa hill, Muneshwara hill and Kabbalamma hill. “Let’s give one hill to Jesus,” he says adding, “I wear both the Rudrakshi and the cross, I believe in both gods.”.