Chennai: Special prayers were conducted on Monday at the Dharma Sastha Temple in Painganadu-Thulasendrapuram village, from where Kamala Harris’ grandfather hailed, as the US vice-president appeared the frontrunner to clinch the Democratic Presidential candidature after incumbent Joe Biden pulled out of the race.
Residents of the village, 350 km from Chennai, who celebrated Harris’ election as VP in 2020 by drawing rangolis in front of their homes and conducting mass feeding programs, held a special pooja between 9:30 am to 10:00 am on Monday. The villagers are likely to hold special poojas everyday till the Democratic party’s official candidate for the US Presidential election is announced.
“We are very happy that the granddaughter of P V Gopalan, Kamala Harris, is likely to be the US Presidential nominee. We organised special poojas to pray that she is able to get the nomination and eventually triumph against Donald Trump,” Rajesh, a resident of the village, told DH over the phone.
Names of Kamala Harris and her maternal uncle Balachandran Gopalan figure prominently in the list of people who donated Rs 5,000 each for the temple’s renovation. The temple management regularly sends vibudhi (sacred ash) and kumkum to Balachandran and Sarala Gopalan, Harris’ aunt, and invites them for festivals.
Though having migrated from the village long back, the Gopalan family had never lost touch with the village, having been contributing money to the temple's consecration and other festivals.
Anand, another resident, said it is a proud moment for them as a descendant of the ‘son of the soil’ is likely to fight the US Presidential elections. “We are very happy and hopeful that Kamala Harris will be chosen by the Democrats as their presidential nominee. We prayed before our temple deity who is very powerful,” Anand added.
Kalidas Vandaiyar, whose grandfather is said to have shared close ties with Gopalan and his family, said he will visit the village once Kamala Harris is officially declared as the candidate and perform a special pooja. Vandaiyar had organised grand celebrations in the village in 2020.
Dr Sarala Gopalan and Balachandran Gopalan were not reachable on Monday.
She had told DH in August 2020 that Harris was someone who never forgot her roots. ”Since my sister is not alive today, we will always be available for Kamala and Maya, whenever they need us," she had said.
Gopalan's daughter Dr Shyamala Gopalan married a Jamaican Donald Harris and the couple had two daughters Kamala Harris and Maya Harris, a lawyer by profession.
Kamala Harris and her sister had accompanied Dr Shyamala to Chennai often to meet their grandparents at their home in upscale Besant Nagar. Gopalan had taken them for a walk on Elliot's Beach in Besant Nagar.