Prayers for Kamala Harris at ancestral Indian village

THULASENDRAPURAM, India: Villagers from the southern Indian ancestral home of US vice-president hopeful Kamala Harris prayed Tuesday for her victory in an election on the other side of the globe as polls opened.

Harris, 56, was born in California, but was often taken to India by her mother -- breast cancer specialist Shyamala Gopalan -- and has spoken about the positive influence of her grandfather.

Her maternal grandfather P.V. Gopalan, a senior Indian civil servant, was born in Thulasendrapuram village in Tamil Nadu state. At the village’s main temple on Tuesday, some 60 locals offered prayers, bathed an idol of Dharma Sastha -- an avatar of Hindu god Ayyappan -- and served food as part of a ceremony.

On nearby streets and outside the temple, large posters featuring Harris had been erected. "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. "After she wins, we want her to visit this village and come to this temple. We even have plans for special prayers when she comes."

Harris is already a trailblazer as California’s first Black attorney general and the first woman of South Asian heritage elected to the US Senate. In Chennai, the city Harris’s mother Shyamala called home before moving to study at Berkeley in California, apprehension was building in the hours before the vote.

“All my life, especially when I was young, we had looked up to America,” said N Vyas, a retired professor of medicine who was the Gopalan’s upstairs neighbour for years before they moved. “Now we are worried there will be trouble after the election.” While My Vyas said his wife was looking forward to learning the election results, the 75-year-old “was waiting for a miracle”.