The lack of electoral success of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) in the South Indian state of Kerala is often explained through the idea of Kerala ‘exceptionalism’, a broad term used to explain the unique historical, political, and developmental trajectory of the state. However, such explanations do not adequately address the systematic and concerted attempts by Hindu nationalist organizations to transform the cultural sphere of Kerala into a fertile ground for its future electoral politics. Through an ethnographic study of three Hindu nationalist organizations in the civil society sphere of Kodungallur, a multi-religious town in central Kerala, this article explores the politics and implications of their cultural interventions. The article argues that, peeved by an ‘absent Hindu atmosphere’ in Kerala, these organizations are trying to construct new forms of sociality and subjectivity and a grassroots public sphere embedded in Hindu nationalist ideology in Kodungallur. Often described by these organizations as ‘apolitical’ and ‘cultural’, these interventions are indeed a critique of the Kerala public sphere which is characterized by religious pluralism and secular sociality. Hence, the attempt to create a ‘Hindu atmosphere’ by these organizations is a deeply political endeavour aimed at creating an exclusivist Hindu hegemony in the cultural sphere, which they assume will pave the way for their electoral hegemony in Kerala in the long run.

印度人民党 (BJP) 在印度南部喀拉拉邦的选举中未能取得成功，通常是通过喀拉拉邦“例外主义”的概念来解释的，喀拉拉邦“例外主义”是一个广泛的术语，用于解释该邦独特的历史、政治和发展轨迹。然而，这样的解释并没有充分说明印度教民族主义组织系统地、一致地试图将喀拉拉邦的文化领域转变为未来选举政治的沃土。本文通过对喀拉拉邦中部多宗教城镇 Kodungallur 民间社会领域的三个印度教民族主义组织进行民族志研究，探讨了它们的文化干预的政治和影响。文章认为，由于喀拉拉邦“缺乏印度教氛围”，这些组织正试图在科敦加鲁尔构建新形式的社会性和主体性以及嵌入印度教民族主义意识形态的草根公共领域。这些组织经常将其描述为“非政治”和“文化”，但这些干预措施确实是对以宗教多元化和世俗社会性为特征的喀拉拉邦公共领域的批评。因此，这些组织试图营造“印度教气氛”是一项深刻的政治努力，旨在在文化领域建立排他性的印度教霸权，他们认为从长远来看，这将为他们在喀拉拉邦的选举霸权铺平道路。