First Blog: MADAN UTSAV - INDIA'S VALENTINE'S DAY

Kamadeva or Madan, Hindu's adored God of love, with his consort Rati - the Goddess of passion - and his friend Basant who provides the perfect whiff of spring for love to blossom, descends to earth on the fifth day of the shukal paksh of the Hindu month of Magh - the Madan Utsav Day, on which he is worshipped.
He has a sugarcane bow with a string of honeybees, and floral arrows decorated with five kinds of fragrant flowers. Anyone struck by his arrow is overwhelmed with love and passion. We have his temples; we have Kama-sutra a treatise on sex acts inspired by him; and we have loved-places like Khajuraho with erotic carvings that depict the Kama-sutra.
Hindu mythology says that the demon Tarakasur was tormenting the Devtas. Brahma told Kamadeva that only Shiva's son could slay this Demon. Kamdeva then shot Shiva in the heart with his arrow. Shiva was overwhelmed with passion and thus was born Shiva-Parvati's son, Kartikeya, who slew Tarakasur. But Shiva was enraged and burned Kamadeva into ashes with his third eye. At Parvati's urging Shiva gave life back to Kamadeva but without a physical form, a body. Since that day, Kamadeva, known as Atanu - the one without a body - roams the world without a body.
This year Madan Utsav fell on St. Valentine's Day. Hence the question: shouldn't Madan Utsav be the Valentine's Day in India?

Having Madan Utav as the Valentine's Day will placate the Rightists and the Leftists, both violently opposed to Valentine's Day. Rightists say it is West's attack on Indian culture. They threaten violence on practitioners of Valentine's day and its facilitators like shops selling Valentine's cards and gifts. And not empty threats either: they have caught couples roaming in the parks and cut off their hair or shaved their heads, blackened their faces, and threatened that the girl will be forced to either marry the boy or tie a Rakhi on his wrist; and they have ransacked the offending shops and burned cards and gifts. Shiva Sena is in the lead in this campaign closely followed by VHP, Bajrang Dal, Sri Ram Sena, ABVP, Students Islamic Organisation of India, Hindu Munnani, Hindu Mahasabha and Hindu Makkal Katchi.

To the Leftists, Valentine's Day is a front for "Western imperialism," "neo-colonialism," "the exploitation of working classes through commercialism by multinational corporations;" it disconnects the working classes, and rural poor, socially, politically, and geographically from the hegemonic capitalist power structure.

Valentine's Day remains a middle class affair; the lower economic class, the vote bank, remains untouched by it. Hence the zeal of the Rightists and the Leftists to climb aboard the anti-Valentine bandwagon.

How did this Western 'virus' catch on in India? Since the Middle Ages till the 1990s, public display of sexual affection was frowned upon, forbidden. But with the economic liberalisation emerged a new middle class, with access to foreign TV channels and publications and dating sites, and TV channels, such as MTV, with dedicated radio programs and love letter competitions. Living away from families, gave the young, especially the women, a choice in relationship. And so Valentine's day became popular among this class. An opportunity that was exploited and promoted by the commercial establishments: Valentine's Day is a $20 billion plus business worldwide.

St Valentine's day was a day of sacrifice, not a day of romance, since its origin in 5th century till Chaucer in his poem Parlement of Foules (1382) linked it to romance. He wrote: For this was on seynt Volantynys day, Whan euery bryd comyth there to chese his make ["For this was on St. Valentine's Day, when every bird cometh there to choose his mate."]. French Duke of Orleans’ poem to his wife in 1415, “I am already sick of love, My very gentle Valentine.” And in Shakespeare's Hamlet (17th century) Ophelia sings, “Tomorrow is Saint Valentine’s day, All in the morning be time, And I a maid at your window, To be your Valentine.”

Valentine was a priest and a physician in third century Rome when Emperor Claudius II outlawed marriage for young men because single men made better soldiers than those with wives and families. Valentine saw the injustice of the decree and performed marriages for young lovers in secret. He also helped Christians escape Roman prisons where they were often beaten and tortured. When His acts were discovered, Claudius had him executed. While in prison, Valentine healed Julia, the blind daughter of his jailer Asterius, and perhaps fell in love with her. Before his death, he wrote her a letter signed, “From your Valentine,” an expression that is still in use today. Thus his appeal as a sympathetic, heroic and – most importantly – romantic figure.

February 14 was declared St. Valentine’s Day at the end of the 5th century by Pope Gelasius. That may have been the day in CE 273 when Valentine died, or was buried. But more likely the Pope did it to “Christianize” the pagan celebration of Lupercalia, a Roman ritual of fertility and purification, celebrated at the ides of February, or February 15.

Valentine's day remained a celebration of sacrifice till the 14th century when Chaucer first linked it to romance. Its popularity as a day of romance began to become widespread from around the 17th century. By the middle of the 18th, it was common for friends and lovers of all social classes to exchange small tokens of affection or handwritten notes, and by 1900 printed cards began to replace written letters.

And by 1990s it came, or rather, began to become popular, among the middle class in India.

KAMADEVA also called MADAN