A lookback at the history of how Congress got their Hand symbol
Does the younger generation in Congress party know how their party got the symbol of Hand? Here is the answer: The Grand Old Party got it from a small temple called Hemambika Temple in Palakkad district. This temple in the town of Palakkad is also known Emoor Bhagavathy Temple and is popularly known as Kaipathy (Hand) Temple.
This fact is known only to a few senior leaders of Congress in Kerala. The symbol Hand was selected by the former Prime Minister Indira Gandhi when she was out of power, in the late seventies, after visiting this temple. Here the deity is two hands, believed to be the hands of Goddess Parvathy, seeking help, while drowning in water. Parvathy jumped into the water fearing attacks from demons, and Lord Shiva came to rescue her seeing the hands, say the epic tales about the historic temple.
Those days, Indira’s Congress symbol was Cow and Calf and the party lost the symbol after 1977 elections due to a split. The rebel leaders such as former Karnataka Chief Minister Devaraj Urs also put a claim on the existing symbol.
While on a visit to Kerala, the former Kerala Chief Minister K Karunakaran escorted Indira to the temple and the uniqueness of the deity ignited her creative mind. The visit to this non-descript temple was not pre-arranged and it was Karunakaran who took her to this temple when Indira landed in Palakkad town to address a rally. Senior leaders of Kerala say the epic behind the deity – help-seeking Goddess Parvathy’s hands while drowning in water – fascinated Indira, who was facing all kinds of difficulties from the then Janata Party government.
Here is a music video about the temple: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8b1j1Enf3bY
The beauty of the unique deity fascinated Indira Gandhi and prompted her to choose a Hand as symbol of her party. In the 1980 elections, the Hand become the Congress symbol, which brought Indira back to power. After winning the election, Indira always remembered this temple and Karunakaran used to give offering to the temple on her behalf till her death.
DK Shivakumar's video slapping party worker goes viral, BJP attacks Congress Karnataka Congress chief D…
'Was pushed, locked in Congress office room': Radhika Khera after resigning A few days after…
Samajwadi Party workers climbed onto Maharana Pratap’s statue Trouble brews for the Samajwadi Party as…
Rahul Gandhi picks Rae Bareli For a composer, Ra Ra Ra…may be a lyric but…
Manhunt on at Poonch to neutralize terrorists after attack on IAF convoy On Sunday, the…
One IAF personnel 'killed in action' and four others received bullet injuries One Indian Air…
This website uses cookies.
View Comments
Hazrat Imam Hussain (Ali), who was martyred in the field of Karbala, is considered a symbol of Islamic valor, Islamic struggle and Islamic sacrifice.
Idol or photo worship is haram in Islam.
That's why instead of worshiping any photo or idol, only the image of this 5-fingered hand is worshiped as the top mark.
Congress made this symbol of Islamism its election symbol.
99% Hindus were not aware of this. While all the Muslims knew this thing from the beginning.
But no one used to tell that Hindus out of fear that they would stop voting for Congress.
The Muslims remained attached to the Congress, Owing allegiance to the religious mark of the Muslims, while the Hindus remained attached to the Congress due to lack of information and long term association with the Congress.
do check out this sir, and confirm it
That is a beautiful shot with very good light :-) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vIJzPyBZiQA
Folklore in TN has a different story. IG wanted to meet Swami Chandrasekara Saraswathi of Kanchi during emergency and he refused to meet her. Later she came during Morarji Desai government and he had shown his blessing hand (did not speak to her) and she then picked-up Hand as the party symbol.
Time has come for Congress to look for a new symbol. Now the hand reminds people of only corruption!
many families consider the goddess of this temple as their kula-deivam