Cochin had never seen the likes of it. Even the political parties which hold rallies at the drop of a hat have never pulled in as large a crowd as the Vishal Hindu Sammelan last fortnight for which an estimated 5 lakh people converged on the city, in an amazing display of Hindu solidarity.

The rally was also remarkable for the amount of planning which went into it. For days before, saffron bhagwa jhandas, the standard of orthodox Hinduism, had come up all over the city. And the political graffiti which decorate most of Cochin's walls, was painted over with Om signs.

Careful Planning: It was also probably the most elaborately staged rally held in the city. At the north end of Cochin, the people who had come from Malabar formed a long column which was called 'Ganga'. At the southern end, another long column, formed by the hordes from Travancore, snaked its way towards the centre of the town.

The place where they met was symbolically described by the organisers as the Triveni sangam, where the large crowd was addressed by the President of the Virat Hindu Samaj, Karan Singh and Swami Chinmayananda.

The greatest achievement of the Rashtriya Swyamsewak Sangh (RSS) which was the prime mover of the rally, however, was that it was able to cut across caste barriers. It was the first time that the two dominant communities of Kerala, the Ezhavas and the Nairs, joined together, even if only temporarily, forgetting their traditional differences.

Long before the rally was held, it was clear that it was likely to have serious repercussions on the stormy caste-ridden politics of Kerala. The Marxists whose vote bank comes from the backward Ezhava community were particularly keen that the sammelan should not succeed.

A vies of the Cochin procession: Psychological solidarity A vies of the Cochin procession: Psychological solidarity

Over the last few months the Marxists have seen an erosion of their support to the RSS, especially in Malabar., the Communist Party of India-Marxist (CPI-M) newspaper wrote acid editorials denouncing the meeting. So much so, that the organisers of the conference have protested to the Press Council of India.

Minor Problems: The success of the sammelan came despite several minor problems it encountered. It nearly got embroiled in local scandals. Just one week earlier, the president of the sammelan, M.K.K. Nayar, was arrested. Nayar, a retired IAS officer who was the controversial former chairman of Fertilisers and Chemicals Travancore Ltd was arrested in connection with the marks list scandal which has rocked Kerala.

Nayar joined a host of other well-known personalities in the state who have been implicated in the scandal. He was arrested for allegedly getting his son a forged marks list for the pre-degree examination held in 1970. Nayar claims that a conspiracy has been hatched by certain policemen, who infiltrated into the force during Marxist rule, to disgrace him by arresting him on false charges. Said Nayar: "I will fight it out in the courts, but the Hindu renaissance can never be controlled."

Several demands were made at the sammelan. Karan Singh groused about the Government's decision to drop Maha Shivaratri and Ramnavami from the list of holidays this year. Singh claimed that the sammelan was a new thrust against untouchability and atheism.

Swami Chinmayananda who also addressed the meeting called upon Hindus to be proud of their religion. He added that the repercussions of Meenakshipuram would be felt in a few years. Other speakers demanded that independent devaswom boards should be appointed to manage temples in Kerala.

But the demands were perhaps only incidental. The main thing was the psychological effect created by the sammelan. And if this effect lingers long enough it could have a marked effect on the coming Assembly elections in the state.