Mother of conventions

In a short period, the convention became a great event for the Christians cutting across all denominational barriers. People from far-off places would trek to Maramon on foot or in bullock carts and boats, the common modes of transport those days. Many of them would camp on the banks of the river for the entire duration of the convention. For the people of Maramon, Ayroor, Koz-hencherry, Aranmula and other nearby places, it was common to have a large number of `Mar-amon’ guests those who came primarily to hear the Christian discourses. Feeding the guests was never considered a burden.

Rather, they made provisions for such guests, who were, however, content with simple food. The convention was never an all-Christian affair, for Hindus contributed to it in manifold ways. Many of them considered it their privilege to extend hospitality to the participants. One of them, the head of the Korkatt family of Kozhencherry, used to spend a fortuneevery year providing free butter milk to those attending the convention. Imagine the quantity of curd that was required to quench the thirst of tens of thousands of people for a whole week! It was never a burden for the family. Countless other Hindus and Muslims chipped in with materials to build the huge convention pandal (shamiana), built entirely through shramdhan.Listening to discourses and devotional music was only one aspect of the convention, for many people saw it as a unique cultural event. It was an occasion when families met and kept abreast of one another’s progress. Small wonder that soon after the convention many marriages were solemnised in the churches in the region. One reason why the convention became such a hit with the people was that the organisers kept the level of discourse pretty high. And in keeping with the syncretic tradition, any disrespectful reference to any other religion or denomination was taboo. Eminent theologian Stanley Jones was almost a permanent fixture till his deathand among the great men who spoke at Maramon included Sad-hu Sundar Singh from the Punjab.In due course, the convention spewed a host of small and big conventions in Kerala. The Hindu convention at Ayroor, a few miles upstream, is one such. The Ayroor convention begins the day the Maramon convention ends. Though over a lakh of people assemble at Maramon every day, there is pin-drop silence in the pandal and there has never been an instance when policemen have had to intervene. Nor was the forum ever allowed to be used for political or partisan purposes. It was this noble tradition that was sought to be vitiated by the communally surcharged this year. And it is a tribute to the secular credentials of the Keralite that in this 104th year of the convention, it is slated for a peaceful conclusion on Sunday. That is till next February.