Chennai: In the first meeting of Tamil Nadu Chief Minister Karunanidhi's cabinet after his party came to power, the cabinet has decided to pass a government order to ensure that people from any caste and not just Brahmins can become priests in Hindu temples.
The decision is a reminder of the core Dravidian ideology of DMK.
DMK had brought in a legislation on this issue way back in 1972. But some provisions of that were struck down by the Supreme Court in 1975.
In 1974, optional prayers in Tamil and not just Sanskrit was also introduced.
Many years later, in 2002, after hearing a case from Kerala the supreme court had categorically ruled that caste cannot be a barrier and anyone trained to perform the rituals can become a priest.
In Tamil Nadu, where the ministry for Hindu religious and charitable endowments governs majority of the temples, the DMK says this move is aimed to ensure anyone qualified is not denied a chance because of caste.
According to DMK organisation secretary T K S Elangovan, while non-Brahmins have become priests, temple priesthood still remains the bastion of Brahmins.
Forty-five-year-old Devadirajan's family have been priests for six generations; his argument is that inherited training is the only qualification for becoming a priest and tradition cannot be broken.
Devadirajan said, “We have been learning this for generations and we need to go to patshalas for this and only Brahmins can be trained in these patshala".
That is what the cabinet's decision hopes to change.
The question though is whether it is possible to practically implemented it in the core of the Hindu temple and hence at the heart of the Hindu society.
Comments
0 comment