Dinkoism (), the Dinkoist religion, or Dinkamatham is a

parody religion A parody religion or mock religion is a belief system that challenges the spiritual convictions of others, often through humor, satire, or burlesque (literary ridicule). Often constructed to achieve a specific purpose related to another belief sys ...

and

social movement A social movement is either a loosely or carefully organized effort by a large group of people to achieve a particular goal, typically a Social issue, social or Political movement, political one. This may be to carry out a social change, or to re ...

that emerged and evolved on

social network A social network is a social structure consisting of a set of social actors (such as individuals or organizations), networks of Dyad (sociology), dyadic ties, and other Social relation, social interactions between actors. The social network per ...

s organized by independent welfare groups in the Indian state of

Kerala Kerala ( , ) is a States and union territories of India, state on the Malabar Coast of India. It was formed on 1 November 1956, following the passage of the States Reorganisation Act, by combining Malayalam-speaking regions of the erstwhile ...

. Adherents describe Dinkoism as a genuine religion. ArtbySaikiran

History

According to a report in ''

India Today ''India Today'' is a weekly Indian English-language news magazine published by Living Media, Living Media India Limited. It is the most widely circulated magazine in India, with a readership of close to 8 million. In 2014, ''India Today'' laun ...

'', Dinkoism was established in 2008 in Kerala by a group of

rationalists In philosophy, rationalism is the epistemological view that "regards reason as the chief source and test of knowledge" or "the position that reason has precedence over other ways of acquiring knowledge", often in contrast to other possible s ...

with the intention of ridiculing "the absurdity of blind religious faith". The community planned to become politically active. A report in ''

The New Indian Express ''The New Indian Express'' is an Indian English-language broadsheet daily newspaper published by the Chennai-based Express Publications. It was founded in 1932 as ''The Indian Express'', under the ownership of Chennai-based P. Varadarajulu Naidu ...

'' said Dinkoism is gaining members through Facebook. The

BBC The British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) is a British public service broadcaster headquartered at Broadcasting House in London, England. Originally established in 1922 as the British Broadcasting Company, it evolved into its current sta ...

described Dinkoism in 2016 as an atheist movement with significant growth on social media.

Description

The religion purports to worship

Dinkan Dinkan is a fictional anthropomorphic superhero mouse who appears in an eponymous Malayalam Comics, comic story series in children's magazine ''Balamangalam''. Some modern day Rationalism, rationalists of Kerala use Dinkan to mock organized r ...

, a comic book character. Dinkoists celebrate the character—a

superhero A superhero or superheroine is a fictional character who typically possesses ''superpowers'' or abilities beyond those of ordinary people, is frequently costumed concealing their identity, and fits the role of the hero, typically using their ...

mouse that appeared in 1983 in defunct

Malayalam Malayalam (; , ) is a Dravidian languages, Dravidian language spoken in the Indian state of Kerala and the union territories of Lakshadweep and Puducherry (union territory), Puducherry (Mahé district) by the Malayali people. It is one of ...

-language children's magazine '' Balamangalam''—as their God for the purpose of exposing superstitions and fallacies and practices of traditional religions.

Events and protests

The concept of Dinkoism has spread through social media but the movement has also organised protest events. On January 30, 2016, a group of Dinkoists, under the banner of ''Mooshikasena'' (Rat Army) held a mock protest in front of Dhe Puttu restaurant owned by popular actor

Dileep Gopalakrishnan Padmanabhan, better known by his stage name Dileep, is an Indian actor, producer, comedian and entrepreneur who predominantly works in the Malayalam film industry. He has also acted in Tamil, Hindi, and Kannada films. He has ...

alleging his upcoming film Professor Dinkan hurt their religious sentiments, mocking similar protests happening worldwide. Earlier Dinkoism was in news when an expatriate Dinkoist living in California obtained a license plate with the inscription DINKAN for his car, out of his devotion for Dinkan. In 2016, J. Devika wrote an article about the concept of Dinkoism and the logic of the market.

Conferences

Dinkoists of Kozhikode organised a conference at the Sports Council Hall,

Mananchira Mananchira Square is a man-made freshwater pond park situated in the centre of the city of Kozhikode in Kerala, southern India. The pond is 3.49 acres (14,120 m2) in area, is rectangular in shape and is fed by a natural spring. History Mananch ...

on March 20, 2016. They organised a variety of entertainments with a theme of

tapioca Tapioca (; ) is a starch extracted from the tubers of the cassava plant (''Manihot esculenta,'' also known as manioc), a species native to the North Region, Brazil, North and Northeast Region, Brazil, Northeast regions of Brazil, but which has ...

. E. A. Jabbar, a prominent rationalist, endorsed Dinkoism. In April 2016, 25,000 Dinkoists were expected to gather for a convention called a "Dinkamatha Maha Sammelanam" to "present their rights as a minority community". Dinkoists have received threatening messages as well as opposition from believers of other religions.

References

External links