Ancestral Indian Village Prays for Kamala Harris Victory

Residents of the village of Thulasendrapuram in southern India, ancestral home of the maternal side of vice presidential candidate Kamala Harris’ family, prayed for her victory at a Hindu temple on Tuesday as Election Day got underway in the United States.

Harris’ maternal grandfather P.V. Gopalan, described by the candidate as “one of my favorite people in the world,” hailed from Thulasendrapuram. Gopalan, who died in 1998, was a high-caste Indian and lifelong civil servant dispatched to Zambia in the late 1960s to assist with a flood of refugees from newly-independent Rhodesia. Harris visited Gopalan at his Zambian residence and corresponded with him for the remainder of his life, citing him as an inspiration for her own career.

The L.A. Times noted in October 2019 that Harris claimed in her memoir that Gopalan was involved in India’s independence movement, but the rest of the family disputed that characterization, describing him as a dutiful civil servant and noting that he would have lost his job if he had agitated for the end of British rule.

AFP found about sixty locals praying at the main temple in Thulasendrapuram on Tuesday, with posters of Harris hung outside:

“The entire village is rooting for her,” villager Rajesh told AFP.

“We are hoping for her to win, which is why we are offering special prayers here.”

“We are immensely proud that she is from this particular village,” added Arulmozhi Sudhakar.

The Hindu described Thulasendrapuram as normally “sleepy” and “nondescript,” but said it was “soaked in religious fervor” and gripped with “election fever” on Tuesday. Residents of the neighboring village of Painganadu reportedly joined the special pooja, or worship ritual, held to wish Harris victory.

“The pooja lasted for over four hours, with abhishekam of milk, honey, turmeric powder, coconut water, lime and holy ash performed separately for Sri Dharma Sastha,” Painganadu resident and Rotary Club president J. Sudhakar told The Hindu.

Abhishekam is the ritual bathing of a sacred idol, in this case an idol of Dharma Sastha, a deity popular in southern India. 

“A victory for Kamala Harris would not only be a big day for the United States but also for Thulasendrapuram village and for our country,” said Sudhakar, who added that local residents were hopeful Harris would visit Thulasendrapuram if her ticket wins the U.S. election.